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科学美国人60秒 SSS Dogs Teach Bomb-Sniffing Machines New Tricks

时间:2017-03-06 06:32:23

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(单词翻译)

 

Old Yeller was a great smeller. Dogs in general have superior smelling abilities. They detect dead bodies, illegal drugs and explosives—even cancer. But dogs don't just have great olfactory1 gear. Another reason they're amazing chemical detectors3? [sniffing5 sound] … is the sniff4

"And it turns out almost every breed of dog does this at 5 Hz. Five times a second." Matthew Staymates, a mechanical engineer and fluid dynamicist6 at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Sniffing, he says, is really a two-part process. “Inspiration, expiration7, right? Inhale8, exhale9, inhale, exhale." That second part, the exhale, is key. 

"So when the dog is actively10 sampling or sniffing on the ground, there is a turbulent air jet that exits each nostril11 during the exhale phase. Just like when you and I exhale there's an air jet that comes out of our nostrils12. But the dog is down on the ground and those air jets are vectored down and toward its rear. And in the world of fluid dynamics13, if I pulse an air jet in one direction I basically pull air with it." So the dog is creating a pressure differential that effectively pulls new scents15 toward its nose.

Staymates and his colleagues discovered that effect using a 3-D–printed model of a Labrador retriever's nose, which they tested with fluid dynamics equipment. They then outfitted16 a commercial vapor17 detector2 with sniffing nostrils, inspired by the dog nose. And they found that the actively sniffing detector was 16 times better at picking up the scent14 of explosives, compared to just continuously drawing in air—the usual method. The results are in the journal Scientific Reports. [Matthew E. Staymates et al., Biomimetic Sniffing Improves the Detection Performance of a 3-D Printed Nose of a Dog and a Commercial Trace Vapor Detector]

Staymates says he hopes next-generation sensors18 take sniffing seriously. "There's nanosensors out there that can detect very, very small amounts of materials. One of the things that's been overlooked: is how do you get the molecules19 of interest to the detector? So you can have the most sophisticated detector in the world, but unless you can get material to it, it's not very useful." Adding a sniffer though…could be just the thing to make those detectors more dogged.

—Christopher Intagliata


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1 olfactory Z5EzW     
adj.嗅觉的
参考例句:
  • He is to develop a sensor to substitute for the olfactory abilities of dogs.克罗克将研制一种传感器用以代替狗的嗅觉功能。
  • Based on these findings, Keller suspects that each person has an olfactory blind spot.根据这些发现,凯勒推断,每个人都有一个嗅觉盲区。
2 detector svnxk     
n.发觉者,探测器
参考例句:
  • The detector is housed in a streamlined cylindrical container.探测器安装在流线型圆柱形容器内。
  • Please walk through the metal detector.请走过金属检测器。
3 detectors bff80b364ed19e1821aa038fae38df83     
探测器( detector的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The report advocated that all buildings be fitted with smoke detectors. 报告主张所有的建筑物都应安装烟火探测器。
  • This is heady wine for experimenters using these neutrino detectors. 对于使用中微子探测器的实验工作者,这是令人兴奋的美酒。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
4 sniff PF7zs     
vi.嗅…味道;抽鼻涕;对嗤之以鼻,蔑视
参考例句:
  • The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
  • When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候,他们会彼此嗅一会儿。
5 sniffing 50b6416c50a7d3793e6172a8514a0576     
n.探查法v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的现在分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了,一个劲地抽鼻子,打喷嚏。
  • They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了,呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
6 dynamicist 8151ad6671aa51591b680175f2ae58ca     
n.力本论者,物力论者,力学家
参考例句:
  • Fluid dynamicist Ronald Stouffer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Princeton, New Jersey, agrees. 国家海洋和大气管理局(新泽西州普林斯顿)的流体动力学家罗纳德·斯托弗同意这个看法。 来自互联网
7 expiration bmSxA     
n.终结,期满,呼气,呼出物
参考例句:
  • Can I have your credit card number followed by the expiration date?能告诉我你的信用卡号码和它的到期日吗?
  • This contract shall be terminated on the expiration date.劳动合同期满,即行终止。
8 inhale ZbJzA     
v.吸入(气体等),吸(烟)
参考例句:
  • Don't inhale dust into your lung.别把灰尘吸进肺里。
  • They are pleased to not inhale second hand smoke.他们很高兴他们再也不会吸到二手烟了。
9 exhale Zhkzo     
v.呼气,散出,吐出,蒸发
参考例句:
  • Sweet odours exhale from flowers.花儿散发出花香。
  • Wade exhaled a cloud of smoke and coughed.韦德吐出一口烟,然后咳嗽起来。
10 actively lzezni     
adv.积极地,勤奋地
参考例句:
  • During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
  • We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。
11 nostril O0Iyn     
n.鼻孔
参考例句:
  • The Indian princess wore a diamond in her right nostril.印弟安公主在右鼻孔中戴了一颗钻石。
  • All South American monkeys have flat noses with widely spaced nostril.所有南美洲的猴子都有平鼻子和宽大的鼻孔。
12 nostrils 23a65b62ec4d8a35d85125cdb1b4410e     
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
  • The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。
13 dynamics NuSzQq     
n.力学,动力学,动力,原动力;动态
参考例句:
  • In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利,你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
  • Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。
14 scent WThzs     
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉
参考例句:
  • The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
  • The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。
15 scents 9d41e056b814c700bf06c9870b09a332     
n.香水( scent的名词复数 );气味;(动物的)臭迹;(尤指狗的)嗅觉
参考例句:
  • The air was fragrant with scents from the sea and the hills. 空气中荡漾着山和海的芬芳气息。
  • The winds came down with scents of the grass and wild flowers. 微风送来阵阵青草和野花的香气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 outfitted a17c5c96672d65d85119ded77f503676     
v.装备,配置设备,供给服装( outfit的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • They outfitted for the long journey. 他们为远途旅行准备装束。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • They outfitted him with artificial legs. 他们为他安了假腿。 来自辞典例句
17 vapor DHJy2     
n.蒸汽,雾气
参考例句:
  • The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
  • This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。
18 sensors 029aee483db9ae244d7a5cb353e74602     
n.传感器,灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时,有很大变化。 来自辞典例句
19 molecules 187c25e49d45ad10b2f266c1fa7a8d49     
分子( molecule的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
  • Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里,大分子裂变为小分子。

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