“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探索被淹沒的洞穴系統(tǒng)而無需進(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。捷克共和國洞穴管理局本月早些時候證明了這一點。

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：“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)場地圖的繪制速度非常快。”

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，而且需要足夠長的時間來拍攝。這是很有幫助的，因為大多數(shù)洞穴都在地下，而且是黑暗的。此外，當(dāng)洞穴被洪水淹沒時，會非常危險。

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

去年，12個泰國的學(xué)生和他們的足球教練被困在一個被洪水淹沒的洞穴，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公里處的一個洞穴中使用了它的三維地圖系統(tǒng)，這個洞穴于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，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，觀察作為一個整體的計算機模型。

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，我們可以真正實現(xiàn)整個系統(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