时间:2018-12-11 作者:英语课 分类:万花筒2009年


英语课

If you know anyone who is deaf, then you know the cochlear implant 1 has offered hope and help for some people. This next story may be the equivalence where restoring sight is concerned. While the science is very different and very tricky 2, the promise here is enormous. Nothing short of restoring sight for those who don’t have it. We get our report tonight from our chief science correspondent Robert Bazell.

"We're, basically, you’re gonna see squares on this screen."

"OK."

Catherine Blake has been totally blind but can see again.

"Correct." (computer voice)

Not a lot.

"I was able to sort my clothes."

But enough to make a big difference in her life.

"That would be right.""I was able to actually point the moon out in the sky. These are the glasses that make everything work."

Blake's vision comes from a tiny TV camera mounted on her sunglasses. They send images to electrodes placed on the back of her eyes.

"Here it is."

For 20 years, Dr. Mark Quimi and his team at the University of Southern California have been working towards the amazing goal of restoring the vision to the blind. The challenges are immense.

"The key of this is not only the hardware but the software. How do you take an image from the camera and convert it into this neural 3 code, of this Morse code of the eye and then stimulate 4 the nerve cells in the retina.

But recently the team has achieved great improvement into the device, going from 16 electrodes to 60, enabling better sight. With this demonstration 5, Dr. Quimi shows me what the patients see. First is the total blindness.

"Could you tell which of my hand is moving?"

With the 16-electrode device, the patient sees nothing but rows of light. But they change with movement, allowing the patient to avoid hitting large objects. Next with the latest device, I make out Dr. Quimi.

"I can see tie and a face on top of it."

"Correct."

And then parts of an eye chart.

"F, maybe, yeah. Two Fs? Yeah, two Fs? T. O."

"That’s progress. The idea is that more electrodes and more sophisticated device, you can actually begin to read large letters."

Soon the glasses will go.

"The typical prototype…"

Armand Tanguay, an electrical engineer is developing cameras to be implanted directly in the eye lens.

"We think it’s a pivotal future generation step to be able to supply the best possible vision to the blind."

A system many scientists believe will restore better and better sight to millions like Catherine Blake.

"OK."

Robert Bazell, NBC News, Los Angeles.


 



1 implant
vt.注入,植入,灌输
  • A good teacher should implant high ideals in children.好教师应该把高尚理想灌输给孩子们。
  • The operation to implant the artificial heart took two hours.人工心脏植入手术花费了两小时。
2 tricky
adj.狡猾的,奸诈的;(工作等)棘手的,微妙的
  • I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手,你能帮我吗?
  • He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题,只做了个笼统的表述。
3 neural
adj.神经的,神经系统的
  • The neural network can preferably solve the non- linear problem.利用神经网络建模可以较好地解决非线性问题。
  • The information transmission in neural system depends on neurotransmitters.信息传递的神经途径有赖于神经递质。
4 stimulate
vt.刺激,使兴奋;激励,使…振奋
  • Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
  • Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。
5 demonstration
n.表明,示范,论证,示威
  • His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
  • He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。
学英语单词
acovenose
ammonia refrigerant
angle of stream line
animal husbandman
antique fair
arbuz
Asmalon
athletic centre
autolatries
automatic-frequency control circuit
ballups
be on one's mettle
bosquets
boudoir
cable repair ship
Camelot
catlap
cell coverage
change control domain
clicked off
Clorets
condenser tube anti-corrosion device
consultants' office
Crown-fire
deacylative
dump area
effective anisotropy
exploring needle
extension of upper limb
family cunoniaceaes
fast facsimile
Federal Internet Exchange
flare-out guidance unit
fluorinated
fully procedured trouble shooting aid
geomorphological history
glaze resistor
glycerin trilaurate
granilite
gray nuclei
had as well do sth
hini
Humulum lupulum
jerkass
katinka
kelex
kiangs
kou lan
lachnopodus subacutus
lime flax fibered mortar
Llanfillo
long johnss
long peduncle
looney-tunes
maggiano
main guard
mephenesin
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mysoped
oil line filter
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overflow of tears
pericarditis epistenocardiaca
pet door
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pollution from land-based source
pont l'eveque
power residue method
Ralstonia
recuperates
repuit
reticulate venation
retortment
russula purpurina
sensitive item
sequential switching circuit
shell bean plant
Shinshūshin
sinkiangs
six-packs
slop detection
smoke exhauster
snootily
Spanon
Storozh
STTL (schotky transistor-transistor logic)
tablet digitizer
tela mesencephalica
terminal cold storage
the narrow house
time surface
two shots
undirectional coupler
vacuum drive gyroscope
ventilation requirement
viscous motion
warehouse management system
weathermost
weide
weight standard
wire-haired terrier
writer dynamometer