SSS 2010-01-19
时间：2018-12-24 作者：英语课 分类：Scientific American(一)月
Most of us blink without thinking. But people who’ve sustained strokes or combat injuries can lose their ability to blink. Which is important for lubricating and cleaning the eye. Surgery is an option—a small piece of muscle transplanted from the leg can sometimes work. But the operation takes 10 hours and has its own dangers. So scientists at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center are developing artificial muscles to help patients blink again, work discussed in the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.
The blink system starts with what researchers call an eyelid 1 sling 2, a small piece of muscle or fabric 3 that holds the eyelid. The sling attaches to bone around the eye. It’s then linked to an electrostatic polymer—basically a piece of flexible plastic that expands or contracts via voltage change. A tiny battery hidden in a natural hollow in the temple powers the polymer. Electrical current keeps the muscles contracted and the eyes open. Kill the current and the lid closes.
Here’s the creepy part—the mechanism’s been tested on cadavers 4, which are blinking away. But now that the principle is proven, in the next years real patients could be on the brink 5 of a blink.
—Cynthia Graber
- She lifted one eyelid to see what he was doing.她抬起一只眼皮看看他在做什么。
- My eyelid has been tumid since yesterday.从昨天起，我的眼皮就肿了。
- The boy discharged a stone from a sling.这个男孩用弹弓射石头。
- By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。
- The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
- I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。