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为什你的耳机总是缠绕打结
添加时间:2014-08-12 19:00:37 浏览次数: 作者:未知
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  • It happens every time: You reach into your bag to pull out your headphones. But no matter how neatly1 you wrapped them up beforehand, the cords have become a giant Gordian knot of frustration2.

    有件事似乎无所不在:你把手伸到包包里拿出你的耳机,但是无论之前你把耳机缠得如何整齐,耳机线总是会结成一个十分混乱的结。

    Along with your Netflix stream inexplicably3 buffering4 and Facebook emotionally manipulating you, tangled6 cords are the bane of modern existence. But until we invent a good way of wirelessly7 beaming power through the air to our beloved electronic devices, it seems like we’re stuck with this problem.

    除了Netflix的让人莫名其妙的流媒体加载技术和Facebook对用户的情绪控制实验之外,绕线耳机也应该算反现代科技的一个存在。但是除非我们能发明一种比较好的无线辐射技术用于通过空气介质来连接我们所钟爱的电子设备,否则我们只能继续忍受这个问题了。

    Or maybe we can fight back with science. In recent years, physicists9 and mathematicians11 have pondered why our cords are such jerks all the time. Through experiments, they have learned there are many interesting ways to explain the science of knots. In 2007, researchers at the University of California, San Diego tumbled pieces of string inside boxes in an effort to find the ways that a cord can become tangled as it wanders around in your backpack. Their paper, “Spontaneous knotting of an agitated12 string,” helps explain how random13 motions always seem to lead to knotting and not the other way around.

    或者我们能用科学予以还击。近年来,物理学家和数学家一直在反复研究有线耳机的缠绕问题。通过实验,科学家们发现有许多途径能够解释绳结科学。2007年,美国加利福尼亚大学的研究员在盒子里放置了许多线绳并摇晃盒子,以观察研究为什么耳机线在你的包里随便缠绕乱作一团的原因。他们的论文,“上下摆动的线绳能自然地打结”也解释了为什么随意的摇动总能让线绳打结,而不是有其他动作。

    Long floppy14 pieces of string can assume many spontaneous configurations15. A string could be nicely laid out in a straight line. Or it could have one end crossed over some section in the middle. There in fact happen to be a lot of configurations where the string wraps around itself, potentially creating a tangle5 and eventually a knot. With relatively16 few of these random configurations being tangle free, chances are higher that the string will be a mess. And once a knot forms, it’s energetically difficult and unlikely for it to come undone17. Therefore, a string will naturally tend toward greater knottiness18.

    长而松散的线绳能随机形成许多形状。一条线绳能被拉成直线,当然也也能从中间开始交错盘桓。实际上,当线绳自己缠绕起来之后,就能形成各种不同的形状,而这也为线绳乱缠乱绕甚至打结创造了一个潜在的契机。只要有几根这种不同形状的线绳互相交结在一起,那么线绳胡乱打结的几率将会大大提高。一旦出现了一个结,那么再把它解开就很困难了,甚至是不可能的。因此,自然而然地,一条线绳就总会比较容易打结。

    Humans have been tying things up with string for many thousands of years, so it’s no surprise mathematicians have been working on theories of knots for a long time. But it wasn’t until the 1800s that the field really took off, when physicists like Lord Kelvin and James Clerk Maxwell were modeling atoms as spinning vortices in the luminiferous ether (a hypothetical substance that permeated19 all space through which light waves were said to travel). The physicists had worked out some interesting properties of these knot-like atoms and asked their mathematician10 friends for help with the details. The mathematicians said, “Sure. That’s really interesting. We’ll get back to you on that.”

    人类用线绳捆系东西的习惯已经维持上千年,因此数学家们长久以来研究绳结的理论这事情一点也不稀奇。但是直到诸如开尔文男爵和詹姆斯·克拉克·麦克斯韦利用原子建模描述以太(一种假象的无所不在的光波传播介质)介质中的漩涡流的19世纪,这一领域才有所突破。物理学家们发现了这种类似绳结的球棍原子模型的一些有趣的性质,并找来他们的数学家朋友在细节上予以他们帮助。数学家们说:“行,这还真挺有趣,我们来帮你们吧。”

    Now, 150 years later, physicists have long since abandoned both the luminiferous ether and knotted atomic models. But mathematicians have created a diverse branch of study known as knot theory that describes the mathematical properties of knots. The mathematical definition of a knot involves tangling20 a string around itself and then fusing its ends together so the knot can’t be undone (Note: This is kind of hard to do in reality). Using this definition, mathematicians have categorized different knot types. For instance, there is only one type of knot where a string crosses itself three times, known as a trefoil. Similarly, there is only one four-crossing knot, the figure eight. Mathematicians have identified a group of numbers called Jones polynomials that define each type of knot. Still, for a long time knot theory remained a somewhat esoteric branch of mathematics.

    现在,150年过去了,物理学家早就抛弃了以太介质理论和球棍原子模型。但是数学家却创造了一个被称为“扭结理论”的分支学科,来描述绳结的一些数学特性。数学中对于绳结的定义是一个线绳自己缠绕且两端需要捻合起来,保证绳结无法被解开。根据这一定义,数学家将绳结分为了不同的种类。比如说,当一条线绳自己缠绕三次后,只能形成一种绳结,被称为三叶结。同样,缠绕四次也只能形成一种绳结,叫做八字结。数学家证明出了被称为“琼斯多项式”的一系列公式用以定义每一种绳结。一直以来,扭结理论在数学领域仍然是某种充满奥秘的分支学科。

    In 2007, physicist8 Douglas Smith and his then-undergraduate student Dorian Raymer decided21 to look at the applicability of knot theory to real strings22. In an experiment, they placed a string into a box and then tumbled it around for 10 seconds. Raymer repeated this about 3,000 times with strings of different lengths and stiffness, boxes of different size, and varying rotation23 rates for the tumbling.

    2007年,物理学家Douglas Smith和他当时的本科同学Dorian Raymer决定将扭结理论应用到真实的线绳中去。在一次使用中,他们在盒子里放置一条线绳并摇晃10分钟。Raymer以不同长度和不同软硬度的的绳子、不同尺寸的盒子、以及不同的摇晃频率重复了三千次。

    They found that about 50 percent of the time, a string would emerge from its quick spin with a knot in it. Here, there was a big dependence24 on the string’s length. Short strings—those less than about a foot in a half in length—tended to stay knot-free. And the longer a string got, the greater the odds25 of knot formation became. Yet the probability only increased up to a certain size. Strings longer than five feet became too cramped26 in the boxes, and wouldn’t form knots more than roughly 50 percent of the time.

    他们发现,一根线绳在快速摇晃后打结的概率会达到50%。而且,这也与线绳的长度有很大的关系。比较短的绳子——少于一个半英尺——一般不会打结。越长的线绳,打结的可能性就越大。但是这一概率随绳结变长到一定程度就停止了。超过5英尺的绳子在盒子里就会无计可施。

    Raymer and Smith also classified the types of knots they found, using the Jones polynomials developed by mathematicians. After each tumble, they took a picture of the string and fed the image into a computer algorithm that could categorize the knots. Knot theory has shown that there are 14 kinds of primary knots, which involve seven or fewer crosses. Raymer and Smith found that all 14 types formed, with higher odds of forming simpler ones. They also saw more complicated knots, some with up to 11 crossings.

    Raymer和Smith也利用数学家推算出的琼斯不等式给所形成的绳结分了类,每次摇晃之后,他们都会给线绳拍一张照片并将照片上传至一个用于给绳结分类的电脑算法程序中。扭结理论对于少于等于7个结的初级绳结给予14种分类。然而二人还发现了更加复杂的绳结,有些绳结竟然高达11个结。

    The researchers created a model to explain their observations. Basically, in order to fit inside a box, a string has to be coiled up. This means the end of the string lies parallel to different segments along the length of the string. As the box spins, the string end has a certain chance of falling over and around one of these middle segments. If it moves enough times, the end will essentially27 braid itself around some part in the middle, tangling up the string and creating different knots.

    研究员们创造了一个模型用以解释他们的观测结果。为了适应盒子,线绳必须要以一种卷曲的姿态待在其中,这意味着绳子末端与绳子的不同部分会平行排放。随着盒子晃动,绳子末端有充分的机会上下翻滚并与绳子中段的诸多部分相遇。如果摇晃了充足时间,绳子末端就会与绳子中部缠绕在一起,从而形成不同的绳结。

    The most important question from these experiments is what can be done to keep my cables from getting all screwy. One method that decreased the chances of knot formation was placing stiffer strings into the tumbling boxes. Perhaps this is what motivated Apple to make the power cables for more recent generations of laptops less flexible. It also helps explain why your long, thin Christmas tree lights are always a tangled mess while your shorter and stockier surge protector cable stays relatively smooth.

    这些实验所要解决的最重要的问题就是,如何让绳子保持不缠绕不打结。一种能够降低绳子打结几率的方法就是在盒子里放置一些比较硬的绳子。也许这也是积极进取的苹果公司最近几代的笔记本电脑电源线不那么容易缠绕的原因。这也解释了,为什么圣诞树上又细又长的彩灯线总是打结,而电涌抑制器那粗短坚硬的电线却相对来说不那么容易乱。

    A smaller container size also helped keep the knots away. Longer strings pressed against the walls of a small box, preventing the cord from falling over itself and braiding up. This has been proposed as the reason why umbilical cord knots are rare (happening in about 1 percent of births): The womb is too small to allow for the organ to tangle around itself. Finally, spinning the boxes faster than normal helped prevent knotting because the strings were pinned to the sides by centrifugal forces and couldn’t braid themselves. However, I’m not sure how you would apply this to your own pocket dilemma28 of cord tangles29. Perhaps you could travel around by quickly somersaulting everywhere. Or buy clothes with really tiny pockets.

    更小的容器体积也是防止打结的妙招之一。小盒子将较长的线绳紧紧束缚住,从而阻止了线绳上下移动并打结。而这可能也是为什么脐带很少打结的原因(在新生儿中仅有1%的发生几率):母亲的子宫空间太小了,脐带难以互相缠绕。最后,以更快的速度摇动盒子也可以防止线绳打结,因为绳子受到离心力的作用会被固定在盒子边缘,从而无法缠绕打结。在现实生活中,也许你要么走到哪儿都快速地翻搅着你的口袋,要么就得买一些比较小口袋的衣服了。

     11级    双语 


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    1 neatly [ni:tlɪ] ynZzBp   第8级
    adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地
    参考例句:
    • Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly. 水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
    • The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck. 那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。
    2 frustration [frʌˈstreɪʃn] 4hTxj   第8级
    n.挫折,失败,失效,落空
    参考例句:
    • He had to fight back tears of frustration. 他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
    • He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
    3 inexplicably [ɪn'eksplɪkəblɪ] 836e3f6ed2882afd2a77cf5530fca975   第10级
    adv.无法说明地,难以理解地,令人难以理解的是
    参考例句:
    • Inexplicably, Mary said she loved John. 真是不可思议,玛丽说她爱约翰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • Inexplicably, she never turned up. 令人不解的是,她从未露面。 来自辞典例句
    4 buffering ['bʌfərɪŋ] 6597e98f9fdc6ab6b87187b88957b87e   第7级
    缓冲(作用); 减震; 阻尼; 隔离
    参考例句:
    • Fig. 3-13 gives a suggested buffering arrangement for the data lines. 图3―13示出了一种缓冲数据线的方案。
    • It requires buffering for most applications. 在大多数使用场合,它都需要缓冲。
    5 tangle [ˈtæŋgl] yIQzn   第7级
    n.纠缠;缠结;混乱;vt.&vi.(使)缠绕;变乱
    参考例句:
    • I shouldn't tangle with Peter. He is bigger than me. 我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。
    • If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them. 我要是你,我就不跟他们争吵。
    6 tangled ['tæŋɡld] e487ee1bc1477d6c2828d91e94c01c6e   第7级
    adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词
    参考例句:
    • Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了,我梳不动。
    • A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。
    7 wirelessly ['waɪələs] 9cf7b6b54adbdbcf4be7f6db9924bae9   第7级
    不用电线的,用无线电波传送的
    参考例句:
    • I heard it on the wireless. 我是从无线电收音机里听到的。
    • There are a lot of wireless links in a radio. 收音机里有许多无线电线路。
    8 physicist [ˈfɪzɪsɪst] oNqx4   第7级
    n.物理学家,研究物理学的人
    参考例句:
    • He is a physicist of the first rank. 他是一流的物理学家。
    • The successful physicist never puts on airs. 这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。
    9 physicists ['fɪzɪsɪsts] 18316b43c980524885c1a898ed1528b1   第7级
    物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )
    参考例句:
    • 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。
    10 mathematician [ˌmæθəməˈtɪʃn] aoPz2p   第8级
    n.数学家
    参考例句:
    • The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician. 背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
    • The mathematician analyzed his figures again. 这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。
    11 mathematicians [mæθə'mətɪʃnz] bca28c194cb123ba0303d3afafc32cb4   第8级
    数学家( mathematician的名词复数 )
    参考例句:
    • Do you suppose our mathematicians are unequal to that? 你以为我们的数学家做不到这一点吗? 来自英汉文学
    • Mathematicians can solve problems with two variables. 数学家们可以用两个变数来解决问题。 来自哲学部分
    12 agitated [ˈædʒɪteɪtɪd] dzgzc2   第11级
    adj.被鼓动的,不安的
    参考例句:
    • His answers were all mixed up, so agitated was he. 他是那样心神不定,回答全乱了。
    • She was agitated because her train was an hour late. 她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时,她十分焦虑。
    13 random [ˈrændəm] HT9xd   第7级
    adj.随机的;任意的;n.偶然的(或随便的)行动
    参考例句:
    • The list is arranged in a random order. 名单排列不分先后。
    • On random inspection the meat was found to be bad. 经抽查,发现肉变质了。
    14 floppy [ˈflɒpi] xjGx1   第10级
    adj.松软的,衰弱的
    参考例句:
    • She was wearing a big floppy hat. 她戴了顶松软的大帽子。
    • Can you copy those files onto this floppy disk? 你能把那些文件复制到这张软盘上吗?
    15 configurations [kənfɪɡə'reɪʃnz] 86f23519571eb918e8812e1979d55409   第8级
    n.[化学]结构( configuration的名词复数 );构造;(计算机的)配置;构形(原子在分子中的相对空间位置)
    参考例句:
    • Such configurations, obtained theoretically by calculation, are called models of a star. 通过理论计算得到的恒星结构称为恒星模型。 来自辞典例句
    • The other two configurations have overriding advantages for special applications. 其它两种接法对特殊应用具有突出的优点。 来自辞典例句
    16 relatively [ˈrelətɪvli] bkqzS3   第8级
    adv.比较...地,相对地
    参考例句:
    • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia. 兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
    • The operation was relatively painless. 手术相对来说不痛。
    17 undone [ˌʌn'dʌn] JfJz6l   第7级
    a.未做完的,未完成的
    参考例句:
    • He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。
    18 knottiness ['nɒtɪnɪs] 3e5aeb00888860b5d1a3c9d14e40c352   第12级
    n.难题,纠纷,困难
    参考例句:
    19 permeated ['pɜ:mɪeɪtɪd] 5fe75f31bda63acdd5d0ee4bbd196747   第7级
    弥漫( permeate的过去式和过去分词 ); 遍布; 渗入; 渗透
    参考例句:
    • The smell of leather permeated the room. 屋子里弥漫着皮革的气味。
    • His public speeches were permeated with hatred of injustice. 在他对民众的演说里,充满了对不公正的愤慨。
    20 tangling [ˈtæŋɡlɪŋ] 06e2d6380988bb94672d6dde48f3ec3c   第7级
    (使)缠结, (使)乱作一团( tangle的现在分词 )
    参考例句:
    • During match with football, sportsman is like tangling on the football field. 足球比赛时,运动员似在足球场上混战。
    • Furthermore the built in cable rewind prevents tangling and prolongs cable life. 此外,在防止缠绕电缆退建,延长电缆使用寿命。
    21 decided [dɪˈsaɪdɪd] lvqzZd   第7级
    adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
    参考例句:
    • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents. 这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
    • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting. 英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
    22 strings [strɪŋz] nh0zBe   第12级
    n.弦
    参考例句:
    • He sat on the bed, idly plucking the strings of his guitar. 他坐在床上,随意地拨着吉他的弦。
    • She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp. 她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
    23 rotation [rəʊˈteɪʃn] LXmxE   第10级
    n.旋转;循环,轮流
    参考例句:
    • Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion. 农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
    • The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation. 这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。
    24 dependence [dɪˈpendəns] 3wsx9   第8级
    n.依靠,依赖;信任,信赖;隶属
    参考例句:
    • Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug. 医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
    • He was freed from financial dependence on his parents. 他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。
    25 odds [ɒdz] n5czT   第7级
    n.让步,机率,可能性,比率;胜败优劣之别
    参考例句:
    • The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win. 她获胜的机会是五比一。
    • Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once? 你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗?
    26 cramped ['kræmpt] 287c2bb79385d19c466ec2df5b5ce970   第10级
    a.狭窄的
    参考例句:
    • The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤,但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
    • working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作
    27 essentially [ɪˈsenʃəli] nntxw   第8级
    adv.本质上,实质上,基本上
    参考例句:
    • Really great men are essentially modest. 真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
    • She is an essentially selfish person. 她本质上是个自私自利的人。
    28 dilemma [dɪˈlemə] Vlzzf   第7级
    n.困境,进退两难的局面
    参考例句:
    • I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter. 这件事使我进退两难。
    • He was thrown into a dilemma. 他陷入困境。
    29 tangles ['tæŋɡlz] 10e8ecf716bf751c5077f8b603b10006   第7级
    (使)缠结, (使)乱作一团( tangle的第三人称单数 )
    参考例句:
    • Long hair tangles easily. 长头发容易打结。
    • Tangles like this still interrupted their intercourse. 像这类纠缠不清的误会仍然妨碍着他们的交情。

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