经济学人下载:脑震荡(2)

Donal McNally, a specialist in biomechanics at the University of Nottingham, in Britain,
英国诺丁汉大学的生物力学专家Donal McNally表示，

says that an ideal helmet would make the best use of the space between shell and head, adjusting its stiffness depending on the speed of impact.
一个理想的头盔应充分利用外壳和头部之间的空间，根据撞击速度调整其坚硬度。

The RAT design does just that. However, its success will depend on whether the shear-thickening material
RAT设计就是这样。但其成功将取决于剪切增稠材料是否能够

can be engineered to have the correct stiffness for both slow and fast impacts.
被设计出既适应慢速又适应快速冲击的坚硬度。

Dr McNally notes also that the suspension will require some clever design
McNally博士也注意到，这种悬架将需要一些巧妙的设计，

because the tethers respond only to tension, not compression, making it hard to cope with impacts from all directions.
因为拴绳只对张力产生反应，对挤压力没有反应，这使其难以应对来自所有方向的冲力。

Dr Wetzel's priority at the moment is getting industry to share his excitement about the new technology.
此刻Wetzel博士的首要任务是让行业分享他对这项新技术的兴奋之情。

Firms selling to civilian customers generally work faster than people on the military side of things, he says,
他说，面向平民客户的公司通常比军方的工作速度快，

and if consumer applications take off that will generate a manufacturing and design base which can support military ones.
如果消费者应用取得成功，这将产生一个可以支持军事应用的制造和设计基底。

To this end, his team has retrofitted an American-football helmet with RAT suspension.
为此，他的团队在美式橄榄球头盔上加装了RAT悬架。

Head protection is a huge and increasing concern in gridiron football.
在美式橄榄球赛场，头部保护是重点且受到日益关注。

There has been a dramatic fall-off in the number of youngsters taking up the sport because of worries about head injuries.
由于担心头部受伤，从事这项运动的青少年人数急剧下降。

Improved protection might help change that. An independent laboratory tested the helmet and, in the most taxing test,
加强保护可能有助于改变这种状况。一家独立实验室对这种头盔进行测试，且在最为繁琐的检测中，

found that it reduced the "severity index" (a measure of the likelihood of a wearer suffering brain injury)
他们发现，其降低了“严重性指数”（测量佩戴者遭受脑损伤的可能性）

from 393 for the helmet's standard version to 190. One of the laboratory's operators said he had never seen a result of less than 200 on the test concerned.
从头盔标准版的393降至190。实验室的操作者之一表示，他从未在相关测试中看到过低于200的结果。

Nor are helmets the only possible application for RATS.
头盔并不是唯一一种可以应用于RATS的设备。

Dr Wetzel and his team have already tested them as chin straps to hold helmets in place, and as straps for pairs of goggles.
Wetzel和他的团队已经测试了它们作为下巴带固定头盔，以及作为护目镜带子的效果。

RAT-based straps could eventually be useful for everything from hikers' backpacks to babies' pushchairs.
以RAT为基础的带子可能会用于一切事物，比如徒步旅行者的背包以及折叠式婴儿车。

Whether they will have applications in ships' ratlines remains to be seen.
它们是否能应用于船只的绳梯横索仍有待观察。