“不入虎穴，亦得虎子”

“不入虎穴，亦得虎子”

Czech scientists have come up with a way to explore flooded cave systems without having to go into them. Their solution: create a three-dimensional (3D) map of the cave.

捷克科学家提出了一种方法来探索被淹没的洞穴系统而无需进入洞穴，方案是：创建洞穴的三维地图。

A company called Geo-CZ developed a new tool that uses 3-D technology to map historical and archaeological areas. The Cave Administration of the Czech Republic demonstrated it earlier this month.

一家名为 Geo-CZ的公司开发了一种新的工具，利用3D技术绘制历史和考古区域的地图。捷克共和国洞穴管理局本月早些时候证明了这一点。

Jiri Sindelar of Geo-CZ said, “The input data are not made by individual pictures, but videos. This makes the on-site mapping incredibly faster.”

Geo-CZ公司的希里·辛德拉说：“输入的数据不是由单张图片而是视频制作的，这使得现场地图的绘制速度非常快。”

To produce the 3-D images, someone still needs to wear a wet suit, helmet and other equipment before going into the cave. That has to be done only once and only long enough to film it. This is helpful because most caves are underground and can be dark. In addition, caves can be seriously dangerous when they are flooded.

要绘制3D图像，在进入洞穴之前，仍然需要有人穿着湿衣、戴着头盔和其他设备。这只需要做一次，而且需要足够长的时间来拍摄。这是很有帮助的，因为大多数洞穴都在地下，而且是黑暗的。此外，当洞穴被洪水淹没时，会非常危险。

Last year, 12 Thai schoolboys and their football coach were trapped in a flooded cave for 18 days before being rescued.

去年，12个泰国的学生和他们的足球教练被困在一个被洪水淹没的洞穴，18天后才得救。

Geo-CZ used its 3-D mapping system in a cave about 100 kilometers south of Prague, the Czech capital. The cave was discovered in 1863 and opened to the public five years later. In the 1980s, explorers found lower, larger parts of the cave system filled with water. The exploration is continuing.

Geo-CZ公司在捷克首都布拉格以南约100公里处的一个洞穴中使用了它的三维地图系统，这个洞穴于1863年被发现，五年后向公众开放。在20世纪80年代，探险家发现洞穴系统中更低洼、更大的部分都充满了水。探索仍在继续。

Sindelar said the new system will make the exploration much easier and the findings more accurate.

辛德拉说，新系统将使勘探工作更加容易，调查结果更加准确。

Divers can also understand the shape of the cave better when observing it as a whole in the computer model.

潜水员也可以更好地了解洞穴的形状时，观察作为一个整体的计算机模型。

Cave specialist Frantisek Krejca noted, “In the 3D imagery, we can really realize the connections…of the whole system. We can get much more information from it.”

洞穴专家弗拉蒂塞克·克雷贾卡指出：“在三维图像中，我们可以真正实现整个系统的连接…...我们可以从中得到更多信息。”

I’m Jonathan Evans.

乔纳森·埃文斯报道。

Words in This Story

accurate – adj. free from mistakes or errors

cave – n. a large hole that was formed by natural processes in the side of a cliff or hill or under the ground

coach – n. a person who teaches and trains the members of a sports team and makes decisions about how the team plays during games

data – n. facts or information used usually to calculate, analyze, or plan something

three-dimensional (3D) – adj. having or seeming to have length, width, and depth