震撼大脑的奇妙能源真相：英语精读讲义

Energy is pretty amazing. 用詞

能量真是太神奇了。

So amazing that as a species we use around 15 terawatts at any given moment. 講解

神奇到什么程度呢？作为一个物种，人类在任何时刻消耗的功率都约为 15 太瓦。

That's equivalent to 15 trillion watts. 短語搭配

这相当于 15 万亿瓦。

Consider this average light bulb which consumes roughly 100 watts.

看看这个普通灯泡，它的功率大约是 100 瓦。

One single terawatt could power 10 billion of them at the same time.

仅仅 1 太瓦，就能同时点亮 100 亿个这样的灯泡。

Of the world's energy,

在全球能源消耗中，

the US consumes about 25% while Google alone accounts for roughly 0.013%. 講解

美国约占 25%，而仅 Google 一家公司就约占 0.013%。

This is enough energy to continuously power 200,000 homes.

这些能量足以持续为 20 万户家庭供电。

Food also contains energy which is measured in calories or joules. 短語搭配

食物也含有能量，通常用卡路里或焦耳来衡量。

One food calorie is equal to roughly 4200 joules of energy. 用詞

1 大卡的食物热量大约等于 4200 焦耳。

So,

那么，

how long would you have to plug yourself into a wall to get a day's worth of food energy? 講解

要是把自己接到墙上的插座上，得充多久才能获得一天所需的食物能量呢？

If we take a standard daily diet for a male of around 2500 food calories, 表達脈絡

假设一名男性的标准日常饮食约为 2500 大卡，

we find that our bodies need around 10 million joules of energy each day.

就会发现，我们的身体每天大约需要 1000 万焦耳的能量。

Take something like your laptop which charges at about 50 joules per second 表達脈絡

以你的笔记本电脑为例，它的充电功率约为每秒 50 焦耳，

and it would take roughly 55 hours to charge yourself. 語法

按这个速度给自己“充电”，大约要 55 小时。

On the other hand, 表達脈絡

另一方面，

if we charged at the energy input of a microwave, 語法

如果我们以微波炉的能量输入功率来充电，

which is roughly 1500 joules per second,

也就是大约每秒 1500 焦耳，

it would only take 1.9 hours.

那就只需要 1.9 小时。

Even more amazing is the fact that this much energy would cost roughly 33 cents in North America. 語法

更惊人的是，在北美，这么多能量只需花大约 33 美分。

33 cents for your daily intake of energy.

一天所需的能量，只要 33 美分。

It's too bad we can't just plug in. 講解

可惜我们不能直接插上电源充电。

But if you took all that energy,

但如果把所有这些能量集中起来，

how big of an explosion could it make? 語法

能制造出多大的爆炸呢？

Well,

其实，

one food calorie is conveniently equal to 1 gram of the explosive TNT.

1 大卡的食物热量，恰好相当于 1 克 TNT 炸药的爆炸能量。

So, if you eat 2500 food calories in a day,

所以，如果你一天摄入 2500 大卡，

you're looking at the equivalent of about 44 World War II hand grenades. 習語

就相当于大约 44 枚二战时期的手榴弹。

That's a pretty big explosion.

这爆炸威力可不小。

But it should be no surprise that energy can cause damage. 短語搭配

不过，能量会造成伤害，一点也不奇怪。

After all, we've all experienced an electric shock. 表達脈絡

毕竟，我们都体验过触电的感觉。

But how much electricity does it take to actually kill a human?

但究竟多大的电流能真的让人丧命呢？

Surprisingly little.

少得惊人。

7 milliamps for as little as 3 seconds to be exact. 短語搭配

准确地说，只需 7 毫安，持续短短 3 秒。

This is equivalent to a triple-A battery straight to the heart.

这相当于把一节 7 号电池直接接到心脏上。

You see,

要知道，

electricity actually kills by interrupting the heart rhythm. 語法

电流真正致命的原因，是它会扰乱心脏节律。

But our body has built-in protection, 用詞

不过，我们的身体自带保护机制，

like your skin,

比如皮肤，

so it doesn't go straight to your heart.

所以电流不会直接进入心脏。

However,

然而，

with something like lightning,

如果碰上闪电之类的情况，

all bets are off. 習語

那就什么都很难说了。

In fact,

事实上，

a lightning bolt can hit over 1 billion volts.

一道闪电的电压可以超过 10 亿伏。

The reason some people survive lightning strikes is based on the path it takes through their body.

有些人被雷击后能活下来，取决于闪电穿过身体的路径。

If the heart goes untouched,

如果没有经过心脏，

you can come out alive, 短語動詞

你就可能幸存下来，

which shows you just how awesome and powerful nature really is. 語法

这足以说明大自然究竟有多么神奇而强大。

What may surprise you more is that every minute 語法

更让你惊讶的是，每分钟

enough sunlight reaches the Earth's surface 語法

到达地球表面的阳光能量

to satisfy the world's energy demands

就足以满足全世界

for an entire year.

整整一年的能源需求。

That's right.

没错。

Roughly 174 petawatts of energy hits the Earth from the sun.

太阳照射到地球上的功率约为 174 拍瓦。

Of course,

当然，

the biggest challenge is finding efficient ways to properly harness this solar power. 講解

最大的挑战，是找到妥善、高效利用这股太阳能的方法。

And all of this energy and heat are a major contributing factor to the creation of wind. 短語搭配

而所有这些能量和热量，都是形成风的重要因素。

Sometimes so powerful that we see things like hurricanes.

风有时强大到足以形成飓风这样的现象。

But not only can wind turbines take advantage of the wind to create power, 講解

不过，风力涡轮机不仅能利用风来发电，

scientists have shown how they can,

科学家还证明，它们

in high enough concentrations, 用詞

在密度足够高时，

help prevent hurricanes.

可以帮助阻止飓风形成。

Simply put, 表達脈絡

简单来说，

wind turbines remove some energy from the wind to generate power.

风力涡轮机会从风中吸收一部分能量，用来发电。

And simulations have shown that, 表達脈絡

而模拟结果显示，

hypothetically, 表達脈絡

从理论上说，

if you put enough wind turbines together in an at-risk region, 語法

如果在高风险地区集中安装足够多的风力涡轮机，

major wind disasters could be minimized substantially.

就能大幅减轻严重的风灾。

But apart from this, 表達脈絡

不过，撇开这一点，

is wind energy actually worth it? 短語搭配

风能真的值得利用吗？

Click here to check out our AsapTHOUGHT video where we explore how exactly wind turbines work,

点击这里观看我们的 AsapTHOUGHT 视频，了解风力涡轮机究竟如何运转、

how much energy they actually produce,

它们到底能产生多少能量，

and the crazy new technologies that will change our future.

以及那些将改变我们未来的疯狂新技术。

I mean,

我是说，

could the whole world be powered by wind? 語法

整个世界能只靠风力供电吗？

We went to the GE Global Research Center in Germany,

我们前往了德国的 GE 全球研究中心。

a leader in wind energy,

这家中心是风能领域的领军机构。

to find out.

为的就是找出答案。

There's a link in the description below.

链接就在下方的说明栏中。

And subscribe for more weekly science videos.

订阅我们，每周观看更多科学视频。