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Scientists are trying to control lightning with a giant laser
科学家们尝试用巨大的激光器控制闪电
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.
来自日内瓦大学的研究团队将一个巨大的激光器挪至山顶并将其射向天空。该激光器将同时用作高科技的避雷针。
lightning rod：避雷针
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.
团队带头人是瑞士物理学家Jean-Pierre Wolf。Jean已经从事激光研究超过20年，他对尝试利用激光控制天气非常感兴趣。
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.
激光器可以产生非常细、但同时蕴含巨大能量的光束。激光的应用包括钻石切割、外科手术以及读取条形码等。Wolf相信，他可以让激光的用途再增加一项：避免人们被闪电击中。
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是这个联盟组织的领导者。该组织由欧盟提供资金支持，包括巴黎和洛桑的大学、火箭制造商ArianeGroup和激光制造公司-德国的一家高科技企业Trumpf。因为疫情延迟一年之后，激光器被运送到了 Säntis的顶峰。 Säntis是瑞士阿尔卑斯山脉中的一座山，其海拔在2.5千米（8200英尺）。
Consortium：联盟、组合体
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."
“这是欧洲受到雷击最多的地方之一，”Wolf解释道。“那里的一个无线电发射塔一年会被闪电击中100到400次。所以，这是一个理想的、可以进行概念验证的地方。”
proof-of-concept：概念验证
radio transmission：无线电发射
Artificial lightning人工闪电
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.
当雷雨云中的紊流在冰晶和水滴周围剧烈旋转起伏并使冰晶和水滴中的电子从原子中脱离并形成具有相反电荷的独立区域时，闪电就会形成。
turbulent air：紊流/湍流的空气
thundercloud ：雷雨云
ice crystal：冰晶
electric charge：电荷
These electric fields can become very strong, and because opposite charges attract, they can connect through a discharge of electricity -- what we call lightning.
这些电场会变得非常强，并且由于相反电荷的吸引，它们可以通过放电来相互连接--这就是我们所说的闪电。
electric field：电场
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.
激光会通过产生电场来模拟和增强这一自然场景。激光会产生非常强烈的电场，并从而直接将电子从原子中剥离，并创造出对于形成闪电所必不可少的相反电荷。
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.
这一概念旨在使云层在控制下放电。“这也是为什么我们称之为激光避雷针，”Wolf表示。
The beam will run alongside the existing transmission tower -- which is over 120 meters (about 400 feet) tall.
光束会沿着现有的发射塔前进-其高度不低于120米（大约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.
传统的避雷针，不管建的位置有多高，都只能为地面有限的区域提供保护。Wolf希望，激光能够为地面更大的区域提供保护，尽管目前他还无法确定到底能够保护多大的区域。
The theory is that the laser can act both as a lightning rod, catching bolts that would strike anyway, and also trigger extra ones.
激光避雷针的理论是激光不仅可以作为避雷针捕获无论怎样都会劈下来的闪电，其同时也会触发额外的闪电。
Bolt：闪电
"That would mean we would be unloading the thundercloud, reducing its voltage and then preventing further lightning strikes in the surrounding area," said Wolf.
“这也许意味着我们可以解除雷雨云，使它的电压下降，然后防止在周围出现更多的闪电，”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，这项技术最直接的实际应用也许是保护火箭-比如处于发射阶段的、将卫星发射到轨道的火箭以及在机场应用。当遇到雷暴天气时，可以将激光避雷针打开。
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.
他补充表示，防雷击的需求是巨大的，与雷击有关的损失，特别是导致空中航行受阻，仅仅在美国，每年就会有数十亿美元的损失。研究还表明，闪电的增加可能是气候变化所导致的。
Costs：损失、代价
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."
欧盟通过一项新方案对该项目进行助力。该新方案支持初期的科学研究。据欧盟介绍，在全球，闪电每年会使大约6000到2.4万人丧命并会导致电子产品和基础设施损坏并造成数十亿欧元的损失，因此闪电已经成为一项“严重的社会问题。”
initiative ：倡议、新方案
It adds that the project is expected to lead to safer air transport and reduced flight delays during intense thunderstorms.
欧盟补充表示，该项目预计会使航天交通更加安全并会在雷暴天气期间减少航班延误。
A huge laser
巨大的激光发射器
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.
激光器的电能来自于天线设施。激光器被拆解运送至山顶，并通过复杂的操作方式，如通过缆车和直升飞机多次往返运往山顶。
cable car：缆车
"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.
“这是一台巨大的激光器-需要一辆大型卡车来运输。这也是为什么这台激光器的构造像拼图一样，组成机器的模块可以在现场组装起来，”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.
总共有29吨材料被运往山顶，其中包括将激光器阵列固定在地面的18吨混凝土石块。“这里的风力达120mph，因此整个结构需要稳固，否则其很容易移位或被吹走，”Wolf表示。
laser array：激光器阵列
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.
组装花费了2周，只要出现恶劣天气，激光可以随时开启-这表示我们可以随时应对。
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.
激光每秒可以发射1000次，而且其发射的激光具有非常强的能量。激光发射器峰值功率的“单次脉冲相当于世界上所有核电站所产生的能量，”Wolf介绍到，但是单次脉冲仅持续非常短的时间。
nuclear power plant：核电站
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).
出于安全考虑，当激光开启时，激光周围5公里的范围内为禁飞区。尽管激光对飞机不会造成任何危险，但是，如果直接盯着激光器（如果不是在激光上方，而是从山顶看激光光束或从空中看激光光束，则没有问题，Wolf表示）对人的眼睛有害。
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.
激光不会始终保持开启状态，只有当闪电活动增加时才会开启。在山顶，特殊的摄像设备会每秒拍摄30万次闪电，以密切观察它们会以多么近的状态以及多高的高度追随激光光束。
"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."
“一个有趣的现象是，由于功率峰值较高，我们的激光会改变颜色，”Wolf表示。“当激光在空气中传播时，它会从红色变成白色。看上去非常酷。”
Propagate：传播
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.
测试会一直持续到9月份，也就是闪电季结束的时候。如果能够成功，下一次测试可能会在机场进行，Wolf表示，技术会在未来几年派上用场。
"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."
“我们很快就会知道，我们是否能够成功，尽管分析数据会花一些时间，”他补充表示。“但是，我认为在9月底，我们要么开一瓶香槟或要么开一瓶威士忌，你明白我的意思吧。”
来源：CNN 编辑&翻译：译锐翻译Susan