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If you thought Russia's recent efforts to prevent rain in the sky from dampening holiday spirits represented the ultimate in scientific stage management, you ain't seen nothing yet.

如果你認(rèn)為俄羅斯最近為了阻止雨水毀掉節(jié)日氛圍的努力是高科技舞臺(tái)管理的極限(為避免五一期間下雨，俄羅斯花百萬美元“播云”)，那么跟日本人相比，簡直小巫見大巫了。

A Japanese research company called ALE Co. (aka Star-ALE) is bidding to put on a sensational pyrotechnics display for the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. But this is no regular fireworks show: ALE Co.'s 'Sky Canvas' is an artificially created meteor shower – uh-huh – which would see hundreds of tiny, coloured fireballs rain down over the host city.

一家叫做ALE CO的日本公司正在籌劃在2020東京夏季奧運(yùn)會(huì)開幕式上進(jìn)行一場舉世無雙的煙火表演：他們的“天空畫布”項(xiàng)目將上演一場人造流星雨，屆時(shí)將有數(shù)百顆彩色火球從天而降。

According to a report at industrial design site Core 77, if ALE Co. has its way, this amazing concept would result in the human-made shooting stars being visible from well outside of Tokyo too, with the next-level pyrotechnics expected to be viewable from up to 100 kilometres away from the city.

根據(jù)日本工業(yè)設(shè)計(jì)網(wǎng)站Core 77的報(bào)道，如果ALE Co得以實(shí)施這一計(jì)劃，這場人造流星雨在東京以外的地區(qū)都可以看到，觀察半徑達(dá)到100公里。

But how does it all work? ALE CO. says it can "artificially recreate" the process of natural shooting stars by sending up a satellite into orbit carrying a payload of between 500 to 1,000 specialised pellets called "source particles".

但是它的原理是什么呢?ALE Co.說他們可以“人工再現(xiàn)”天然流星雨的過程。通過發(fā)射一顆衛(wèi)星進(jìn)入軌道，搭載500到1000顆叫做“源粒子”的小球。

Once the particles – composed of chemicals designed to emit flames in various colours – are discharged from the satellite, they'd travel around Earth until they enter the atmosphere and begin to burn up. With numerous particles being discharged at the same time, the company says it can create a safe, on-demand meteor shower for the wonderment of the crowds below.

這些粒子中包含的化合物可以制造出五顏六色的火焰。粒子從衛(wèi)星發(fā)射出來以后，它們會(huì)環(huán)繞地球飛行，直到進(jìn)入大氣層，開始燃燒。據(jù)該公司稱，同時(shí)發(fā)射大量的粒子，就可以為地上的觀眾制造一場安全的按需定制的流星雨。

But wonderment comes at a cost, and in this case, that cost isn't cheap. Core77 reports that each combustible pellet comes in at about US$8,100 to produce, and that's not including the costs involved in actually launching the Sky Canvas satellite. Ouch.

效果這么炫酷，燒錢肯定是難免的。Core77報(bào)道說每一個(gè)可燃燒的粒子的制造成本是8100美元，而且這還沒算發(fā)射“天空畫布”衛(wèi)星的成本。

The company has tested its source particles in the lab, using a vacuum chamber and hot gases to simulate the conditions the pellets would encounter upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere. In its testing, the particles burn with an apparent magnitude of –1, which should ensure they're clearly visible in the night sky, even in the polluted skyline of a metropolis like Tokyo.

這家公司已經(jīng)在實(shí)驗(yàn)室里測試了源粒子，使用了一個(gè)真空房間和高溫氣體來模擬小球進(jìn)入地球大氣層的情況。在測試中，粒子燃燒時(shí)可以達(dá)到-1的視星等，足以在夜晚的天空中清晰看到，即使在東京這樣污染嚴(yán)重的城市里。

Their speed should also make them easy to appreciate. "Our shooting star travels slower and longer across the sky than a natural shooting star," ALE Co. explains on its website. "This makes it possible for more people to enjoy the spectacle for a longer period of time."

它們的速度也有利于人們觀賞。ALE Co在他們的網(wǎng)站上解釋說：“我們的流星比天然流星速度要慢，在天空中劃過的時(shí)間更長。更多的人可以在更長時(shí)間里欣賞到這一奇觀。”

Of course, a lot of this marketing is just that for now – at least, until the company launches its first shooting-star-laden prototype. It's intending to do that in the latter half of next year, and hopefully by 2018 we'll start to see just how effective human-created meteorites really are.

當(dāng)然，目前還只是營銷造勢，至少我們在等待這家公司發(fā)射第一顆載流星衛(wèi)星。他們已經(jīng)計(jì)劃在明年下半年發(fā)射，所以我們有望在2018年之前看到真正的人造流星雨。

If things go well, who knows? We're calling it: Tokyo 2020's opening ceremony is not one to miss.

如果一切順利推進(jìn)的話，誰知道呢?讓我們拭目以待：2020年東京奧運(yùn)會(huì)的開幕式不容錯(cuò)過。

Vocabulary

pyrotechnics: 煙火制造術(shù)