英語沙龍十年合集珍藏版第三輯Bacteria1) Could Help Detect Mines2)

所屬教程:英語沙龍十年合集珍藏版第三輯

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Bacteria¹⁾ Could Help Detect Mines²⁾

An aircraft flies over a no man's land sown with land mines，scanning it with an energy beam that pinpoints each mine and records its location．That done，the aircraft flies over again，this time detonating³⁾ each mine with a hit from a directed energy beam．

That is the future of land－mine location and destruction as envisioned by two scientists，Hudgins and Krock，who work at the Arm strong Laboratories at Brooks Air Force Base near San Antonio．

They contend that land mines could be “sniffed out” by artificial means，in the same way bombs can be sniffed out by dogs．When a land mine is buried，Krock said，its chemical contents alter the soil very soon around it，resulting in a buildup of bacteria．He is to develop a sensor to substitute for the olfactory⁴⁾ abilities of dogs．

A directed energy beam would scan the area from above．Inside the aircraft，a spectroscope⁵⁾ would “read” the data and record where the bacteria around land mines is located．Then，combining laser technology and directed energy beam，the mines would be detonated from the sky，and no people or animals would be needed to perform the high risk jobs of finding and destroying them．

Using soil samples collected from around land mines found in Bosnia，Krock detected bacteria that he thinks would be a reliable identifier of land mines．Hudgins said the E－８Joint STARS aircraft was a good aircraft for detecting the land mines．The Joint STA RS is a flying radar station designed to locate and target enemy ground forces．An official of the aircraft company said he thought outfitting the aircraft to detect land mines was doable⁶⁾．But the company could do nothing without direction，and a contract from the Air Force．

Forming a partnership with a company，the two scientists are developing the technology，which，however，has not been ratified⁷⁾ by the military authorities and other agencies⁸⁾．

細菌能幫助探測地雷

一架飛機在一塊布滿地雷的無人居住的陸地上空飛過，用能源束對每顆地雷進行掃描、定位并作下記錄。上述工作完成后，飛機再次飛過來，這一次是用定向能源束的沖擊力引爆每顆地雷。

這是美國圣安東尼奧市附近布魯克斯空軍基地阿姆斯特朗實驗室的兩位科學家，赫金斯和克羅克設(shè)想的地雷定位和起爆前景。

他們堅持認為，既然炸彈能夠被狗嗅出來，那么地雷同樣可以靠人工手段“嗅出”?？肆_克說，地雷被埋進土中之后，它的化學物質(zhì)很快會改變它周圍的土壤，從而導(dǎo)致細菌的集結(jié)?？肆_克將研制一種傳感器用以代替狗的嗅覺功能。

定向能源束從上空掃描雷區(qū)，飛機里面的分光鏡“讀出”數(shù)據(jù)，并記錄下地雷周圍細菌的具體位置。然后結(jié)合使用激光技術(shù)和定向能源束，從天空就可以起爆地雷。這樣，就不再需要人和動物去干尋找和起爆地雷的高危險性工作了。

抽取從波斯尼亞收集的地雷周圍的土壤作樣本，克羅克對細菌進行了探測，認為細菌是可靠的地雷識別者。赫金斯說，E－８聯(lián)星飛機是探測地雷的理想飛機。該飛機是個旨在測定和瞄準敵人地面部隊的飛行雷達站。該飛機制造公司的一位官員說，他認為裝備這種飛機去探測地雷是可行的。但是，沒有命令，沒有空軍簽的合同，公司是不能干的。

兩位科學家正在和一家公司合伙開發(fā)這項技術(shù)。不過，這項技術(shù)還需要軍方和其他機構(gòu)批準和認可。

NOTE 注釋：

bacteria [bAk5tiEriE] n. 細菌

mine [main] n. 地雷, 水雷

detonate [5detEuneit] v. 引爆

olfactory [Cl5fAktEri] adj. 嗅覺的

spectroscope [5spektrEskEup] n. [物] 分光鏡

doable [5du:Ebl] adj. 可做的, 可行的

ratify [5rAtifai] vt. 批準, 認可

agency [5eidVEnsi] n. 機構(gòu)