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
a brass farthing
antishame
arrested developments
Aunggyantha
back arc subduction
back geared upright drill press
below minimums
Berenice's Hair, Berenice's Locks
bloodfeuds
blooming train
ceded share
Chanti
claw couping
Clerodendrum garrettianum
closed array
closed circuit alarm device
colloquialize
colting
counter adaptation
crossbar matrix switch
cytopon
Delitua
dente de cheval
detonations
development biology
diesel electric drive
dismalities
duplicaria fictilis
easement
edema bullosum vesicae
enterprise group
estrins
framework-knittings
gauge callipers
gitterman
guilford zimmerman temperament survey
heterodynamic
homedebtor
Hwang Woo Suk
image modulation
imbauba
isopycnosis
itochus
last hearing
last texter
launch reserve scheme
Lessini, Mti.
life is like a boat
Ma-ugon
McVitie's
measurement of length
mediant triad
mesaticephalic
microwave tower
naphthylmethylene
Niuatoputapu
non-powered
nonyl trichlorosilane
open loop response
order Aepyorniformes
organic impurity test
organic non linear optical material
pachymete
plaquemines
polemoniaceaes
prerender
Pressler's indicating percent formula
probabilistic explanation
propellant terminal
pulse forming
recalescent point
reedley
regenerative deflection
resection of exteriorized intestine
Restenil
saivo
Senchō
shipway
shousha
Sinbad the Sailor
snottie
sociometrist
sphagnum girgensohnii
spring hanger bracket
squish lip
stepped plate
sync stretch tube
take form
tap-room
theoretical forecasting
timidest
toxic waste area
U-bent
uk attitude
undergroundings
unguentarian
up-draught
utchari
vittis
ward politician
zev