VOA慢速英语: 忽视重力的悬浮板

忽视重力的悬浮板

Can you imagine riding around the streets of your hometown on a skateboard without wheels? In the late1980s, film director Robert Zemeckis showed a skateboard floating above the ground in his movie Back To The Future Part II.

你能想象在家乡街道上用一个没有轱辘的滑板滑行吗？二十世纪八十年代末，电影导演罗伯特·泽梅基斯在他的电影《回到未来Ⅱ》中展示了一个在地面上悬浮的滑板。

Now, an American company, Arx Pax, has moved the idea for such a device from a futuristic dream to reality. The new product operates on the same rules that govern magnetism.

如今，有一家美国公司Arx Pax，已经在研发，要把这个未来的梦想转化成现实。新产品的操作同样基于控制磁力的原理。

When similarly charged ends of two magnets get close together, they repel or push away from each other. That force can make an object levitate or hover in space.

当两块磁铁两端相同的磁性相互靠近时，他们相互排斥或者彼此拉开距离。这种磁力可以使物体在空中悬浮。

Since the 1980s, levitation has been used on trains in Europe, Japan and China. These maglev trains, seem to float above the ground. There is no contact between the bottom of the cars and the surface of the train track. Maglev trains are almost noiseless and can move very fast.

自从二十世纪八十年代开始，在欧洲、日本和中国开始使用这种悬浮力量。磁悬浮列车看起来就像漂浮在地面上。在悬浮列车底部与火车轨道之间并没有什么接触。磁悬浮列车几乎没有什么噪音，但是却能够以非常快的速度行进。

Greg Henderson says the same technology can make anything hover, even buildings.

格雷格·亨德森说制造任何悬浮的东西，甚至建造悬浮楼房时都使用相同的技术。

“Imagine there's an earthquake and the early warning turns on the warning systems and the supports fall away as the building starts to hover. The shaking stops, the supports return, and no one in that room or in that building ever knew there was an earthquake."

“假如发生一次地震，地震预警打开地震预警机制，支撑物疏离，大厦就可以悬浮。摇晃停止后，支撑再返回原状，房间或者大厦里没有人知道发生过地震。”

Greg Henderson’s company created the first maglev hoverboard, called Hendo. It can hold a single person about 2.5 centimeters above a metal surface.

格雷格·亨德森的公司已经研发出第一款磁悬浮板，叫做Hendo。这个悬浮板能够在金属表面2.5cm的上方支撑一个人。

"We are creating a magnetic field, and then through a method of induction, that's part of our secret sauce*, we are creating a secondary and equal magnetic field in this conductive surface."

“我们在创造一个磁场，然后通过一种电磁感应的方法，这是我们的秘密武器。我们在这个导体表面开创一种辅助的磁场或者相同的磁场。”

Batteries provide the electricity needed to power Hendo's four engines. However, the batteries only last for a short time. But design engineer KyleO'Neil says they last long enough for experienced skateboarders to learn how to control the hoverboard.

电池为Hendo的四个引擎提供必要的电源。不过电池只能持续很短的时间。但是设计工程师克里欧·内尔说电池的电池足够让有经验的滑板人学会如何控制这个悬浮板。

“Some people say it's like snowboarding. Some say it's how they imagined a hoverboard is supposed to be, which is kind of an interesting response because no one's ever ridden one before.”

“一些人说这个悬浮板就像滑雪板，有的人说这个悬浮板就是他们想象的那个样子，这是个非常有意思的回应，因为从前也没有人踩过这样的滑板。”

The creators of Hendo say they do not expect to see their hoverboard on the streets anytime soon. The reason: it only works on a metal-covered surface. But they say larger hover engines could be used to transport containers in storerooms.

Hendo的研发人员说他们并不期望很快在大街上随时都能看到他们的悬浮板。原因是：悬浮板只能在一个金属覆盖面上运作。但是他们说更大的悬浮引擎要用在储藏室的运输集装箱上。

For now, their dream is to build a recreation area where anyone can take a ride on a hoverboard.

现在，他们的梦想是创造一个休闲体验区，这里任何人都可以尝试一下悬浮滑板。

I’m Jonathan Evans.

我是乔纳森·伊凡斯。

l       secret sauce - idiom. the essential (but perhaps largely unknown) ingredient required for success

l       secret sauce—习语，（取胜的）秘密武器

George Putic reported this story from Washington. Jonathan Evans wrote it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

来自华盛顿报道，乔治·普提克播报这篇新闻。乔纳森·伊凡斯编写，乔治·格鲁编辑。

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Words in This Story

hover – v. to float in the air

magnetism - n. the property of attracting certain metals; the attractingproperty of a magnet

repel - v. to force (something) to move away or apart

skateboard – n. a short board that is on wheels and that a person stands on to move along a surface or to perform tricks