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


英语课

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky. Got a minute?


Baseball players sometimes cheat! One popular method has been to cork 1 the bat. You drill out some of the core of the bat, and replace the heavy wood with light cork. You can then swing the lighter 2 bat faster, and thus hit the ball further.


Of course, most ballplayers aren't physicists 3, so they don't realize that by making the bat lighter, they're reducing the collision efficiency. You swing faster, but get a limper contact. In theory, anyway.


So physicists led by the University of Illinois’s Alan Nathan tested corked 4 bats under controlled conditions. The doctored lumber 5 actually usually causes the ball to go less far, they found. The work appears in the online forum 6 the Physics arXiv. So for a power hitter to cork his bat is a bad idea.


But the researchers note that, ironically, a corked bat might result in more homers from non-homer hitters. Who can watch a pitch slightly longer before swinging, make up for the lost time with a faster swing and achieve more solid contact more often. So a corked bat is a bad idea for Sammy Sosa, who got caught using one. But a good idea for, say, Bucky Dent 7.


Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky.

 



1 cork
n.软木,软木塞
  • We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。
  • Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。
2 lighter
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级
  • The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色,色调明朗了一些。
  • The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。
3 physicists
物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )
  • For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说,这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
  • Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。
4 corked
adj.带木塞气味的,塞着瓶塞的v.用瓶塞塞住( cork的过去式 )
  • Our army completely surrounded and corked up the enemy stronghold. 我军把敌人的堡垒完全包围并封锁起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He kept his emotions corked up inside him. 他把感情深藏于内心。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 lumber
n.木材,木料;v.以破旧东西堆满;伐木;笨重移动
  • The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
  • They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。
6 forum
n.论坛,讨论会
  • They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
  • The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。
7 dent
n.凹痕,凹坑;初步进展
  • I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事,但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
  • That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大,用不着把它锤平。
学英语单词
acoustical propagation constant
adiabatic constant
air-spaced coax
Anglo-normans
antijamming measure
antonius piuss
ascochyta toberae hara
Auger electron image
badies
Bavay
biddix
biomass-fired boiler
camera framework
ccv
centrifuger
chalk eaters
closeup
command chaining function
cooperation index
copper insoluble metal
Ditrichum
drive lock ring
dyphyllin
encourage investment
EPFM (elasto-plastic fracture mechanics)
exclusive type area
Farrer
Furovag
gastrointestinal gas expansion
general equilibrium theory
granular component
graylisting
haal
hochenberg
hourglass screw
indictee
insulating non-polar rope circle
interactive productivity facility
international trade system
internet book information
ipsalazide
job watch
jonathan trumbulls
kaneroside
karloff
lever-type pressure grease gun
lysosomal disease
makaira mazaras
marinization
misborn
moorad
moscow' typhosa
Nervus fibularis profundus
net income before tax
Newton's ring
not worth shucks
ole-
overelaborating
parallelization tester
prerequisite course
proving a will
racketeered
randia nipponensis makino
raw material crises
reflective paraplegia
Rename folder
renniet
Rosina
round top
saint-michel
savill
SCC
school support
second balcony
shinrimei radishes
shortly before noon
silk screen
solvolytic reaction
soupspoon
speak with tongues
stamped shares
straight through processing
strawmanning
superhelical
superplease
tac-log group
tear-off band
template method
terminal subspecies
thallous cyanide
toluenesulfonyl toluidine
trademarkcopolsil
trailing-edge drag
twin-row faller
us tanning
visceral inspection truck
viverriculas
volt per meter
well-type scintillator
Welsh language
winter cherry
within-family