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[文献翻译]Earthquake-predicting laptops could save lives 便携式电脑地震监测或许能挽救生命
来源：http://www.distributedcomputing.info/news.html
原载：http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/in ... -give-early-warning
标题：Earthquake-predicting laptops could save lives
作者：Sylvie Barak
日期：2008年4月2号 星期三, 12:36 PM
概要：简述用便携式电脑监测地震的方法和价值
正文翻译：
SCIENTISTS HAVE COME UP with an innovative way of bettering earthquake early warning systems, using the accelerometers found inside most contemporary laptops. Since there is still no system able to predict earthquakes before they actually happen, early warning systems are critical in saving lives and resources by providing anything between 5 and 20 second forewarnings.
科学家们已经提出一个创造性的方法来改进地震早期预警系统--使用大多数当代便携式电脑自带的加速度计. 目前还没有一个系统能准确地预测地震的到来, 而早期预警系统可以提供对挽救生命和减少财产损失至关重要的5到20秒的地震预警.
A seismologist at the University of California at Riverside, Elizabeth Cochran, came up with the idea after seeing a Mac program called SeisMac which makes use of the accelerometers in the laptop allowing people to shake them and see the motion converted into graphs on screen. Accelerometers, are actually just tiny motion sensors used in portable devices for games and safety. For example, in the unfortunate case that you might drop your shiny new laptop on the floor, during the free fall, accelerometers would detect the motion and translate it into a digital signal which would then move the hard drive head to a safer position, minimising damage when it hits the ground.
这是加利福尼亚大学河滨分校的一个地震学家Elizabeth Cochran, 看到一个叫 SeisMac 的 Mac 程序而获得的灵感. 那个程序利用便携式电脑的加速度计, 显示摇动便携式电脑时的运动曲线. 加速度计实际上就是一个为便携式设备的游戏和安全而设的微型运动传感器. 比如说, 你买的崭新便携式电脑可能会不幸地落到地上, 而在它自由落体时, 加速度计可侦测到运动并转化为数字信号使硬盘转入安全状态, 使电脑落地时对硬盘造成的损害减到最小.
Cochran, two other scientists and a computer programmer set to work in September 2007 to create the software, which they dubbed Quake Catcher Network. The programme uses the same platform as alien scanning network SETI, called BOINC, to collect data from the laptops connected to the project network.
Cochran和另外两个科学家、一个计算机程序员, 在2007年9月开始编制他们称为"Quake Catcher Network(地震捕捉网)"的软件. 这个程序使用与互联网外星生命搜索"SETI"同样的平台--BOINC, 收集与项目网络连接的便携式电脑的数据.
Seeing as Accelerometers are built into so many of today’s notebooks, including including Apple's MacBook and Lenovo's ThinkPad, as well as the iPhone and Nintendo's Wii, it’s not hard to imagine how, with millions of laptops around the world, the motion sensing accelerometers could be transformed into early warning earthquake grids.
加速度计内含于很多当今的手提电脑, 包括Apple的MacBook、Lenovo的ThinkPad, 还有iPhone和Nintendo的Wii. 不难想象这是怎样一个情景, 全球数百万台便携式电脑, 当中的加速度计的动作信号汇集到地震早期预警网格.
??? the motion sensing accelerometers 什么意思?
The US Geological Survey (USGS) currently have a fair few seismic stations set up around the globe, but they’re fixed and expensive to build and run. A geophysicist from Tel Aviv University, explained that if most of the world’s laptop users could be persuaded to sign themselves up for Quake Catcher, the number of "listening posts" for seismic activity would become a finely-spread grid providing much more data than the existing stations, and would be cheaper to boot.
美国地质勘探局(USGS)目前有一个分布在全球的稀疏的地震观测网, 但它们的位置固定, 而且需要高额资金来建立和运行. 一个Tel Aviv大学的地球物理学者解释说, 如果世界上大部分便携式电脑的使用者被说服参与到"Quake Catcher(地震捕捉器项目)", 地震活动监听点的数量将极大地增加和广泛地分布, 这将提供比现有观测站网多得多的数据, 又还成本低廉.
Such a system would be extremely useful in relaying digital signals that could shut down major primary systems, including data centers and oil or gas distribution channels in a very short interval of time. This could end up reducing earthquake damage costs by billions of dollars. "Five seconds could mean everything in a powerful earthquake", he said. An early warning system could also give people up to 20 seconds to take cover
那样一个系统在迅速转达关闭主要底层系统的数字信号时会极其有用, 像~和油类或气体的输送管道. 这将降低由地震造成的数十亿美元的损失. "在一次强烈的地震中, 5秒可能意味着任何东西. ", 他说. 一个早期警报系统也给人最多有20秒的时间用以躲避好.
??? oil or gas 油类或气体? 石油汽油?
The difficulty with perfecting the software, however, is deciding whether vibrations are actually seismic or, say, workmen digging up the road outside. To ensure that they don’t get any false positives, Cochran and her team are working on algorithms that weigh the statistical probability of half a dozen computers shaking the same amount at the same time. Also, the boffins are working on ways to rank the data coming into the system by accuracy, meaning that not all "stations" would be given the same credibility. A laptop belonging to someone who moves it more, would not be ranked as highly as one that stays put on a desk, for instance.
然而完善这个软件有个难点, 就是怎样判定震动来自地震还是外面的工人挖掘道路. 为了确保不收集到虚假震报, Cochran和她的团队正在设计一个算法,(一句话or两句话???)其算法衡量(权衡)几个电脑同时晃动同样的次数的统计概率. 研究员们也在寻找用精度给传入系统的数据评等级的方法, 即不是所有"监听点"都有同样的可信度. 举例来说, 一个被频繁移动的便携式电脑, 没有固定放在桌上的电脑可信度高.
Quake Catcher is still a while off from being released, and even further away from issuing real and useful warnings, but hopefully by the time the next really massive earthquake takes place, laptops could save lives.
"Quake Catcher(地震捕捉器)"离发布还需一段时间, 而离真实应用和给出有效的警报则需更久. 但很有希望, 下次发生重大地震时, 便携式电脑或许能挽救生命.
参照fwjmath , 碧城仙 的意见修改后的版本.
下一篇极像近的文章(相同项目), 一并放这.
[文献翻译]Scientists Want Your MacBook for Earthquake Detection 科学家希望你的MacBook用于地震监测
来源：http://www.distributedcomputing.info/news.html
原载：http://www.wired.com/science/pla ... 08/03/quake_network
标题：Scientists Want Your MacBook for Earthquake Detection
作者：Erik Vance
日期：2008年 3月31日
概要：用便携式电脑监测地震的方法, 价值和缺陷
正文翻译：
Everybody knows you can't predict an earthquake. The only way would be to get inside a time machine, go into the future, and send back a message.
每个人都知道地震无法预知. 唯一的办法是进入时间机器到未来, 然后发回一个消息.
So seismologist Elizabeth Cochran of the University of California at Riverside will use thousands of computers to do just that.
所以加利福尼亚大学河滨分校的地震学家Elizabeth Cochran将利用数千台电脑来做那事.
Well, it's not exactly a time machine. Cochran and Stanford seismologist Jesse Lawrence have made use of the sensors built into many new laptops that sense when the computer is being dropped, and turned them into earthquake monitors. They hope to sign up thousands of users to act like a grid of detectors that can sense an earthquake before it does too much damage.
当然, 那不是一个真的时间机器. Cochran和斯坦福地震学家Jesse Lawrence利用许多新便携式电脑含有的用于感应电脑是否正在跌落的传感器作为地震监视器. 他们希望雇佣成千的便携式电脑使用者担当地震传感器网络, 以便在没有造成严重破坏前感知地震.
???sign up 雇佣?
Like many earthquake early warning systems around the world, when a quake strikes, this system will send a warning to people living in large cities. Because electronic communication systems (in this case, the internet) are much faster than seismic waves, the warning should arrive before the shaking, giving people 10 or 20 seconds to take shelter.
像全球许多地震早期警报系统, 当地震开始时, 这个系统将发送一个警报到大城市的居民点. 因为电子信息通信系统(在这里是因特网)传输速度大大快于地震波, 因而警报能赶在震前到达, 给人们10到20秒的躲避时间.
"We can measure the seismic waves and then get a warning out to people before the seismic waves get to them. That to me is physically possible," Cochran says.
"我们能测出震波, 然后在震波到达那前发出警报. 我相信那在物理上是完全有可能的" Cochran说.
Cochran's system makes use of the accelerometers -- tiny motion sensors -- built into many modern notebooks, including Apple's MacBook and Lenovo's ThinkPad, as well as the iPhone and Nintendo's Wii. Accelerometers detect movement and translate it into digital signals. In notebooks, they function as safety devices: When the accelerometer detects that the notebook is in free fall, the computer moves the hard drive head to a safe position in order to minimize the risk of damage when it hits the ground. But the accelerometers are also accessible to software, so they can be used for games or other applications.
Cochran的系统用的是加速度计--一种内建于许多当代手提电脑的微型运动传感器, 比如Apple的MacBook、Lenovo的ThinkPad, 还有iPhone和Nintendo的Wii. 加速度计感受运动然后转换成相应的数字信号. 对于手提电脑, 这是一个安全保险装置: 当加速度计侦测到电脑自由落体时, 电脑把硬盘设置在安全模式, 最小化电脑落地对硬盘的伤害. 不过加速度计也能被其他软件利用, 像一些游戏或某些应用程序.
As it turns out, one field that already makes extensive use of accelerometers is seismology. Usually these sensors are buried underground, generating much of the data seismologists use to model earthquakes. So in 2006 when Cochran saw a program called SeisMac, a light went on. SeisMac uses the accelerometers in Mac computers to let people shake their computers and watch the motion translated on screen into a graph. Cochran wondered if the same technology could be used in earthquake sensing, and suggested the idea to colleagues at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, where she was working at the time.
一个扩展应用领域是地震学. 通常这种用途的传感器都深埋地下, 侦测出的数据大量用于地震学家的模型中. 而到了2006年, Cochran看到一个叫SeisMac的程序, 一个念头忽然闪现. 通过SeisMac, 使用者能在屏幕上看到电脑被摇动时自身的运动曲线, Cochran 想知道这样的技术是否也能用在地震监测, 他于是向他当时工作的海洋学会的同事Scripps说了这个想法.
,
??? a light went on 怎么翻译?
"I sort of said, 'Hey, what do guys think if we take this accelerometer and make a seismic network out of it?' And of course Jesse was like, 'That's the coolest idea I have ever heard.'"
"我简单地说'嘿, 老兄. 你觉得如果我们把这个加速度计用在地震监测网会怎样?' Jesse当然很赞赏, '这是我听过的最棒的点子.' "
???sort of said?
Thus was born Quake Catcher Network. The two scientists -- joined by Carl Christensen, a programmer with experience in distributed computing -- started in September 2007.
于是Quake Catcher Network(地震监测网软件)诞生了--两个科学家和一个富有分布式开发经验的程序员Carl Christensen, 在2007年9月, 开始实现这个想法.
Distributed computing was made famous by extraterrestrial-scanning network SETI@home, and Cochran uses the same platform, called BOINC, to collect data from the laptops in her project's network.
分布式计算因地外文明搜索SETI@home而闻名, 而Cochran用与SETI@home一样的平台, BOINC, 来收集便携式电脑的数据到他的项目网络.
However, it may be awhile before the Quake Catcher is up and running. For one thing, it is extremely hard to decide if a set of movements is an earthquake or, say, just someone working next to a jackhammer.
然而, 离Quake Catcher(地震捕捉器)的发布和运行还有一段路要走. 因为有一件事, 就是很难确定震动是来自地震还是比方说哪个谁正在使用手提转.
To sort through the bogus data, the team has to set up algorithms that weigh the statistical probability that half a dozen computers would be shaking the same amount at the same time. They are still working out how to do this, but Cochran estimates perhaps 10 hits or so may be enough to certify that an earthquake is happening.
为了筛去无效数据, 他们团队必须建立一个算法衡量数个电脑同时震动同样次数的统计概率. 他们依然在开发这一算法, 不过Cochran估计大约10或更多个相符的数据就足以证明那里正在发生地震.
However, this is where Quake Catcher breaks new ground. Not all "stations" will likely be the same. Some data will inevitably be ranked better than others. For instance, if you nervously jiggle your leg while you work, your laptop's earthquake detection data will be looked upon with suspicion. Cochran and Lawrence expect that once the network is up and running, users will be able to check their ranking based on how much they shake their desks.
然而, 这就是Quake Catcher的创新之处, 不是所有"监听点"都一样. 一些数据必然比其它数据有更高可信度. 举例来说, 如果你工作时紧张地抖腿, 那么你的便携式电脑的地震数据将被标记为可疑的. Cochran 和 Lawrence 希望一旦检测网络运行起来, 使用者能查看依他们震动桌面的程度而定的等级.
It's not the first time laptop accelerometers have been used for earthquake measurement. The San Diego Supercomputer Center also links laptop volunteers with webcams to give researchers around the world another tool to understand earthquakes after they happen.
便携式电脑用在地震测量已经不是第一次了. San Diego超级计算机中心也连接了有网络摄像头的便携式电脑志愿者, 给全世界的研究者一个另外的工具了解地震发生后的情况.
??? 第一句原文是"便携式电脑的加速度计用在地震测量已经不是第一次了", 但与后文矛盾.
As for Quake Catcher, it's months from even limited release and probably years from issuing warnings. The system is far from perfect. It relies on massive numbers of volunteers that have to stay online. And it's hard to tune it without large earthquakes. So until then, the team is hoping people sign up, leave their laptops on, and then just hold still.
至于Quake Catcher, 离有限版本发布还需月余, 离能给出地震警报则可能还要几年. 这个系统离完美还很远. 它依赖大量在线志愿者. 并且除非是大震, 都很难监测. 所以直到那时以前, 开发组希望人们连接监测网, 保持便携式电脑开机状态, 然后让它静止在桌上.
???"So until then," 具体是指什么时段?
"The ideal situation is that they start up BOINC and they leave their laptop in their closet until the earthquake happens," she says, laughing. "That would be great for us."
"理想的状况是, 他们启动BOINC, 然后把电脑放在储物柜, 直到地震发生," 她笑着说. "那就太棒了." |
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