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Scientists are trying to control lightning with a giant laser
科學家們嘗試用巨大的激光器控制閃電
A team of researchers from the University of Geneva has hauled a huge laser atop a mountain to shoot it at the sky, and act as a high-tech lightning rod.
來自日內(nèi)瓦大學的研究團隊將一個巨大的激光器挪至山頂并將其射向天空。該激光器將同時用作高科技的避雷針。
lightning rod：避雷針
The team is led by Jean-Pierre Wolf, a Swiss physicist who's been working with laser for more than 20 years and has been particularly fascinated with attempting to control the weather with it.
團隊帶頭人是瑞士物理學家Jean-Pierre Wolf。Jean已經(jīng)從事激光研究超過20年，他對嘗試利用激光控制天氣非常感興趣。
Laser creates very narrow, high-energy beams of light. Its applications range from cutting diamonds to surgery to reading barcodes, and Wolf believes he can add another to the list: protecting us from lightning.
激光器可以產(chǎn)生非常細、但同時蘊含巨大能量的光束。激光的應用包括鉆石切割、外科手術以及讀取條形碼等。Wolf相信，他可以讓激光的用途再增加一項：避免人們被閃電擊中。
He's leading an EU-funded consortium which includes universities in Paris and Lausanne, as well as rocket manufacturer ArianeGroup and the maker of the laser, German high-tech company Trumpf. After a year of delays due to the pandemic, the laser has been transported to the summit of Säntis, a mountain in the Swiss alps with an elevation of 2,500 meters (8,200 feet).
Wolf是這個聯(lián)盟組織的領導者。該組織由歐盟提供資金支持，包括巴黎和洛桑的大學、火箭制造商ArianeGroup和激光制造公司-德國的一家高科技企業(yè)Trumpf。因為疫情延遲一年之后，激光器被運送到了 Säntis的頂峰。 Säntis是瑞士阿爾卑斯山脈中的一座山，其海拔在2.5千米（8200英尺）。
Consortium：聯(lián)盟、組合體
Lausanne：洛桑
"This is one of the places in Europe that's struck by lightning the most," explained Wolf. "There is a radio transmission tower there which gets struck 100 to 400 times a year. So it's an ideal place to make our proof-of-concept experiments."
“這是歐洲受到雷擊最多的地方之一，”Wolf解釋道。“那里的一個無線電發(fā)射塔一年會被閃電擊中100到400次。所以，這是一個理想的、可以進行概念驗證的地方。”
proof-of-concept：概念驗證
radio transmission：無線電發(fā)射
Artificial lightning人工閃電
Lightning forms when turbulent air within a thundercloud violently tosses around ice crystals and water droplets, stripping electrons from their atoms and creating separate zones with opposite electric charges.
當雷雨云中的紊流在冰晶和水滴周圍劇烈旋轉(zhuǎn)起伏并使冰晶和水滴中的電子從原子中脫離并形成具有相反電荷的獨立區(qū)域時，閃電就會形成。
turbulent air：紊流/湍流的空氣
thundercloud ：雷雨云
ice crystal：冰晶
electric charge：電荷
These electric fields can become very strong, and because opposite charges attract, they can connect through a discharge of electricity -- what we call lightning.
這些電場會變得非常強，并且由于相反電荷的吸引，它們可以通過放電來相互連接--這就是我們所說的閃電。
electric field：電場
The laser mimics and enhances this natural scenario by generating an electric field so strong that it rips electrons off their atoms directly, setting up the opposite charges that are necessary for lightning to form.
激光會通過產(chǎn)生電場來模擬和增強這一自然場景。激光會產(chǎn)生非常強烈的電場，并從而直接將電子從原子中剝離，并創(chuàng)造出對于形成閃電所必不可少的相反電荷。
The idea is to make the clouds discharge lightning in a controlled way. "That's why we call it a laser lightning rod," said Wolf.
這一概念旨在使云層在控制下放電。“這也是為什么我們稱之為激光避雷針，”Wolf表示。
The beam will run alongside the existing transmission tower -- which is over 120 meters (about 400 feet) tall.
光束會沿著現(xiàn)有的發(fā)射塔前進-其高度不低于120米（大約400英尺）。
Traditional lightning rods are only able to protect a limited area on the ground, no matter how high they are built. Wolf hopes that the laser, however, will help protect a larger area on the ground, although he can't yet say how much larger.
傳統(tǒng)的避雷針，不管建的位置有多高，都只能為地面有限的區(qū)域提供保護。Wolf希望，激光能夠為地面更大的區(qū)域提供保護，盡管目前他還無法確定到底能夠保護多大的區(qū)域。
The theory is that the laser can act both as a lightning rod, catching bolts that would strike anyway, and also trigger extra ones.
激光避雷針的理論是激光不僅可以作為避雷針捕獲無論怎樣都會劈下來的閃電，其同時也會觸發(fā)額外的閃電。
Bolt：閃電
"That would mean we would be unloading the thundercloud, reducing its voltage and then preventing further lightning strikes in the surrounding area," said Wolf.
“這也許意味著我們可以解除雷雨云，使它的電壓下降，然后防止在周圍出現(xiàn)更多的閃電，”Wolf表示。
Wolf says that the most immediate practical applications of the technology would be to protect rockets -- such as those carrying satellites into orbit -- during launches, and at airports, where it could be turned on during storms.
Wolf表示，這項技術最直接的實際應用也許是保護火箭-比如處于發(fā)射階段的、將衛(wèi)星發(fā)射到軌道的火箭以及在機場應用。當遇到雷暴天氣時，可以將激光避雷針打開。
He added that the demand for lightning protection is vast, and that the costs associated with lightning strikes, especially from air traffic disruption, could be in the billions of dollars each year in the US alone. Research also shows that increased lightning strikes could be among the effects of climate change.
他補充表示，防雷擊的需求是巨大的，與雷擊有關的損失，特別是導致空中航行受阻，僅僅在美國，每年就會有數(shù)十億美元的損失。研究還表明，閃電的增加可能是氣候變化所導致的。
Costs：損失、代價
The European Commission is backing the project through an initiative that supports early-stage scientific research. It says that globally, lightning kills between 6,000 and 24,000 people each year, as well as causing billions of euros of damage to electronics and infrastructure, making it "a major societal concern."
歐盟通過一項新方案對該項目進行助力。該新方案支持初期的科學研究。據(jù)歐盟介紹，在全球，閃電每年會使大約6000到2.4萬人喪命并會導致電子產(chǎn)品和基礎設施損壞并造成數(shù)十億歐元的損失，因此閃電已經(jīng)成為一項“嚴重的社會問題。”
initiative ：倡議、新方案
It adds that the project is expected to lead to safer air transport and reduced flight delays during intense thunderstorms.
歐盟補充表示，該項目預計會使航天交通更加安全并會在雷暴天氣期間減少航班延誤。
A huge laser
巨大的激光發(fā)射器
The laser will draw power from the antenna facility, and was brought to the mountaintop disassembled, in a complex operation that involved multiple trips via cable car and helicopter.
激光器的電能來自于天線設施。激光器被拆解運送至山頂，并通過復雜的操作方式，如通過纜車和直升飛機多次往返運往山頂。
cable car：纜車
"It's a huge laser -- it takes a large truck to transport it, which is why it was built like a puzzle, with modules that can be put together on site," said Wolf.
“這是一臺巨大的激光器-需要一輛大型卡車來運輸。這也是為什么這臺激光器的構造像拼圖一樣，組成機器的模塊可以在現(xiàn)場組裝起來，”Wolf表示。
A total of 29 tons of material were hauled, including 18 tons of concrete blocks to anchor the laser array to its base. "We get 120 mph winds here, so that was needed to stabilize the structure, or it could easily be shifted or even fly off," said Wolf.
總共有29噸材料被運往山頂，其中包括將激光器陣列固定在地面的18噸混凝土石塊。“這里的風力達120mph，因此整個結構需要穩(wěn)固，否則其很容易移位或被吹走，”Wolf表示。
laser array：激光器陣列
Assembly took two weeks, and the laser is now ready to be switched on, bad weather permitting -- which in this case means hoping for it.
組裝花費了2周，只要出現(xiàn)惡劣天氣，激光可以隨時開啟-這表示我們可以隨時應對。
The laser shoots 1,000 times per second and it's so powerful that "a single pulse at peak power is equal to that produced by all the nuclear power plants in the world," according to Wolf -- but only for an extremely short time.
激光每秒可以發(fā)射1000次，而且其發(fā)射的激光具有非常強的能量。激光發(fā)射器峰值功率的“單次脈沖相當于世界上所有核電站所產(chǎn)生的能量，”Wolf介紹到，但是單次脈沖僅持續(xù)非常短的時間。
nuclear power plant：核電站
For safety reasons, a five-kilometer wide no-fly zone will be in place when the laser is active. Although it poses no risk to aircraft, laser is harmful to human eyes when looking directly at the source (looking at the beam from the mountain or from the air while not directly on top of it is fine, says Wolf).
出于安全考慮，當激光開啟時，激光周圍5公里的范圍內(nèi)為禁飛區(qū)。盡管激光對飛機不會造成任何危險，但是，如果直接盯著激光器（如果不是在激光上方，而是從山頂看激光光束或從空中看激光光束，則沒有問題，Wolf表示）對人的眼睛有害。
The laser won't be switched on all the time, but rather only when increased lightning activity is detected. On the mountain, special camera equipment will photograph lightning bolts 300,000 times per second, to see how closely they will follow the laser beam and at which altitude.
激光不會始終保持開啟狀態(tài)，只有當閃電活動增加時才會開啟。在山頂，特殊的攝像設備會每秒拍攝30萬次閃電，以密切觀察它們會以多么近的狀態(tài)以及多高的高度追隨激光光束。
"One interesting thing is that, due to the high peak power, our laser will change color," said Wolf. "It will go from red to white as it propagates in the air. It will be really cool to see."
“一個有趣的現(xiàn)象是，由于功率峰值較高，我們的激光會改變顏色，”Wolf表示。“當激光在空氣中傳播時，它會從紅色變成白色。看上去非常酷。”
Propagate：傳播
Tests will last until September, the end of lightning season. If they are successful, the next experiment could be at an airport, Wolf said, and the technology could be ready in a few years.
測試會一直持續(xù)到9月份，也就是閃電季結束的時候。如果能夠成功，下一次測試可能會在機場進行，Wolf表示，技術會在未來幾年派上用場。
"We'll know fairly soon if we're successful or not, although analyzing the data in detail will take more time," he added. "But I think that at the end of September we will either open a bottle of champagne or a bottle of whiskey, if you see what I mean."
“我們很快就會知道，我們是否能夠成功，盡管分析數(shù)據(jù)會花一些時間，”他補充表示。“但是，我認為在9月底，我們要么開一瓶香檳或要么開一瓶威士忌，你明白我的意思吧。”
來源：CNN 編輯&翻譯：譯銳翻譯Susan