美国科学60秒 SSS 2012-12-31
时间：2018-12-02 作者：英语课 分类：Scientific American(十二)月
英语课
Archaeology’s taking to the air. Researchers spent a month this summer testing a semi-autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle—basically a semi-autonomous drone—high in the Andes in Peru. The goal: to scan a colonial town from the 1500s that had been built over an Incan settlement, and then abandoned.
It’s a collaboration 1 between Vanderbilt University archaeologist Steven Wernke and engineering professor Julie Adams. Adams tricked out a vehicle from Aurora 2 Flight Sciences to include cameras and algorithms that allow the drone to achieve optimal 3 flight patterns. The resulting detailed 4 3-D map will be much more precise than high-resolution satellite images.
Here’s Steven Wernke: “By our calculations this vehicle will be able to take imagery of an area in about 10-15 minutes that would take two or three entire field seasons using traditional methods.”
The system can fit into a backpack. Once the researchers incorporate what they learned, they hope the technology can assist in the rapid cataloguing of a variety of archaeological sites, some of which are already being lost to the ravages 5 of new developments and time.
1 collaboration
n.合作，协作；勾结
- The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
- He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。
2 aurora
n.极光
- The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
- Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。
3 optimal
adj.最适宜的；最理想的；最令人满意的
- What is the optimal mix of private and public property rights in natural resources?私人和国家的自然资源产权的最适宜的组合是什么？
- Optimal path planning is a key link for the sailing contest.帆船最优行驶路径规划是帆船比赛取胜的关键环节。