时间:2018-12-24 作者:英语课 分类:2016年Scientific American(九)月


英语课

 


In the 1970s, researchers unearthing 1 an ancient synagogue at Ein Gedi, near the Dead Sea, discovered the structure’s Holy Ark—the container in which early Jews would have stored the Bible as they prayed.  The site was home to a large Jewish community from about 800 BCE until a huge fire there in about 600 CE. That fire blackened and burned the scrolls 3 in the ark. They crumbled 4 if touched. So the Israeli scientists locked them away. Until now.


Penina Shor at the Israel Antiques Authority reached out to computer scientist Brent Seales at the University of Kentucky to see if he and his colleagues could use new technologies to peer inside a scroll 2 without unrolling it. They call the technique virtual unwrapping. Brent Seales explains:


“First we have to find the layers within the scanned volume. Finding evidence of those layers is called segmentation. So there's a process for that. Once we find those layers we create a texture 5 on those layers that comes from the scanned volume itself and that's where the ink evidence gets situated 6 onto the layered surface. And then the final step is this unwrapping where we flatten 7 out that surface, which is not actually flat, it's three dimensional. So that we can merge 8 the pieces together and see the completely unwrapped scroll.”


They applied 9 this technique to the Ein Gedi scroll.


“So the first time we saw the text was in the lab and of course I don't speak or read Hebrew but we knew that it was writing because of the systematic 10 way the markings were lined up, our early versions were not as clear as what we were able ultimately to produce. But of course we were elated because we knew that we had a scroll in which we would see the writing.


“But I think the real joy came when Penina sent me back the result of having read our first results because then I knew that not only were we seen writing but it was readable because she and her team were able to identify it as a known text and at that point were absolutely jubilant I have to say.”


The Israeli scholars could clearly read the Hebrew. And they realized they were reading the book of Leviticus, one of the five books of Moses, the first five books of the Old Testament 11. It’s the earliest Biblical book found inside an Ark, and the earliest surviving book outside of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The finding is in the journal Science Advances. [William Brent Seales et al., From damage to discovery via virtual unwrapping: Reading the scroll from En-Gedi]


The researchers are thrilled not only with the discovery of the scroll’s writing, but with the potential to use this application to peer inside other scrolled 12 texts.


“I believe there are more discoveries to come. Damage and decay is the natural order of things. But you can see this sometimes, you can absolutely pull a text back from the brink 13 of loss.”


—Cynthia Graber


[Seales audio from a AAAS telephone news conference on September 20.]



1 unearthing
发掘或挖出某物( unearth的现在分词 ); 搜寻到某事物,发现并披露
  • And unearthing the past often means literally and studying the evidence. 通常,探寻往事在字面上即意味着——刨根究底。
  • The unearthing of "Peking Man" was a remarkable discovery. “北京人”的出土是个非凡的发现。
2 scroll
n.卷轴,纸卷;(石刻上的)漩涡
  • As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时,黄河的景象展现在眼前。
  • He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴,以表彰其所做出的成就。
3 scrolls
n.(常用于录写正式文件的)纸卷( scroll的名词复数 );卷轴;涡卷形(装饰);卷形花纹v.(电脑屏幕上)从上到下移动(资料等),卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 );(似卷轴般)卷起;(像展开卷轴般地)将文字显示于屏幕
  • Either turn it off or only pick up selected stuff like wands, rings and scrolls. 把他关掉然后只捡你需要的物品,像是魔杖(wand),戒指(rings)和滚动条(scrolls)。 来自互联网
  • Ancient scrolls were found in caves by the Dead Sea. 死海旁边的山洞里发现了古代的卷轴。 来自辞典例句
4 crumbled
(把…)弄碎, (使)碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 衰落; 坍塌; 损坏
  • He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。
  • Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了,我们的希望也破灭了。
5 texture
n.(织物)质地;(材料)构造;结构;肌理
  • We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
  • Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。
6 situated
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的
  • The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
  • She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。
7 flatten
v.把...弄平,使倒伏;使(漆等)失去光泽
  • We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
  • The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。
8 merge
v.(使)结合,(使)合并,(使)合为一体
  • I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
  • The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。
9 applied
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用
  • She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
  • This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
10 systematic
adj.有系统的,有计划的,有方法的
  • The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
  • The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。
11 testament
n.遗嘱;证明
  • This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
  • It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明,编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。
12 scrolled
adj.具有涡卷装饰的v.(电脑屏幕上)从上到下移动(资料等),卷页( scroll的过去式和过去分词 );(似卷轴般)卷起;(像展开卷轴般地)将文字显示于屏幕
  • Wherever the drop target can possibly be scrolled offscreen, the program needs to auto-scroll. 无论拖放的目标对象是否在屏幕之外,程序都需要自动滚动。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
  • If It'still is then you've not scrolled up enough lines. 如果还在说明你向上滚动的行数不够。 来自互联网
13 brink
n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘,边沿
  • The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
  • The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。
学英语单词
acetylthiocholine
adult stem cell
Annonay
Anoectochilus yungianus
auditory image
baileyana
ballets russes de monte carlo
be slaughtered
below bridge
bride-chamber
brownify
bulb eraser or degausser
but net
carbaborane
circullar morred net
comprehensive physical examination
condensation value
consecutive sequency computer
continuity of behavior
core end plate
coupled wave
Culross
defibrates
demand staging
determinantal
diffuser lip
dimenformon
Dipsocoromorpha
disk library
dispensational
Douglas protractor
electron doublet
elenctic
entertainment center
eocnomic statistics
erratic element
ethnopharmaceutical
exceptation
experimental media
extravolution
fragrans
galeoocorys echinophorella suzumai
galianoes
general-purpose flip-flop
hagiophobia
iglu
importer's entry of goods
in curia
indicated hydrogen
ion back-scattering spectroscopy (ibs)
Johor Lama
Kamskoye Vdkh.
kinnekinic
kithnos (kythnos)
Konotop
kyongsangs
lapidofacies
liquor up
loop algorithm
Mactra
maintenance pack
make-up water dealkalization
Malantouen
mental job
mentigerous
MIS structure
mixer leverman
molecular linkage
moment arm
nationally-recognised
NEUT (neutralizing)
Nieuw-Vennep
no-gos
nonspecific afferent system
not so
ormsbee
parasitic otitis
pig-nose turtles
postpartum examination
prismognathus davidis cheni
psychopathia chirurgicalis
punctiform colonies
radiohydrology
raised point
redus
soccage
sound change
span-wise lift distribution
statement line
supranationality
suskind
tea card
ten-o'clock
to turn down
under frequency operation
under the leadership of
uninsured
uphill work
valvular vegetation
white-heart
Zborov
zircon flour