“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.

捷克科學(xué)家提出了一種方法來(lái)探索被淹沒(méi)的洞穴系統(tǒng)而無(wú)需進(jìn)入洞穴，方案是：創(chuàng)建洞穴的三維地圖。

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.

一家名為 Geo-CZ的公司開發(fā)了一種新的工具，利用3D技術(shù)繪制歷史和考古區(qū)域的地圖。捷克共和國(guó)洞穴管理局本月早些時(shí)候證明了這一點(diǎn)。

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·辛德拉說(shuō)：“輸入的數(shù)據(jù)不是由單張圖片而是視頻制作的，這使得現(xiàn)場(chǎng)地圖的繪制速度非?？臁?rdquo;

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.

要繪制3D圖像，在進(jìn)入洞穴之前，仍然需要有人穿著濕衣、戴著頭盔和其他設(shè)備。這只需要做一次，而且需要足夠長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間來(lái)拍攝。這是很有幫助的，因?yàn)榇蠖鄶?shù)洞穴都在地下，而且是黑暗的。此外，當(dāng)洞穴被洪水淹沒(méi)時(shí)，會(huì)非常危險(xiǎn)。

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

去年，12個(gè)泰國(guó)的學(xué)生和他們的足球教練被困在一個(gè)被洪水淹沒(méi)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約100公里處的一個(gè)洞穴中使用了它的三維地圖系統(tǒng)，這個(gè)洞穴于1863年被發(fā)現(xiàn)，五年后向公眾開放。在20世紀(jì)80年代，探險(xiǎn)家發(fā)現(xiàn)洞穴系統(tǒng)中更低洼、更大的部分都充滿了水。探索仍在繼續(xù)。

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

辛德拉說(shuō)，新系統(tǒng)將使勘探工作更加容易，調(diào)查結(jié)果更加準(zhǔn)確。

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

潛水員也可以更好地了解洞穴的形狀時(shí)，觀察作為一個(gè)整體的計(jì)算機(jī)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.”

洞穴專家弗拉蒂塞克·克雷賈卡指出：“在三維圖像中，我們可以真正實(shí)現(xiàn)整個(gè)系統(tǒng)的連接…...我們可以從中得到更多信息。”

I’m Jonathan Evans.

喬納森·埃文斯報(bào)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