Drone?machine learning duo speeds up meteorite hunt无人机和机器学习加速陨石寻找

罗兴涛

陨石可以提供关于早期太阳系是什么样的的线索，但是找到它们是相当困难的。现在，一些科学家正在转向无人机和机器学习，以更加高效地帮助发现新落地的陨石。

主题语境：天文研究 篇幅：354词 建议用时：7分钟

1 Meteorites （陨石） can offer clues to what theearly solar system was like. But finding them israther difficult. Now， some scientists areturning to drones （無人机） and machine learningto help spot freshly fallen meteorites muchmore efficiently. “A team of six people on ameteorite?hunting expedition can search about 200，000 square meters per day，” saysSeamus Anderson， a planetary scientist in Australia.

2 Around 2016， Anderson began adopting the concept of using drones to take pictures ofthe ground to look for meteorites. That idea blossomed into a PhD project. In 2022， heand his colleagues reported their first successful recovery of a meteorite spotted with adrone. They＇ve since found four more meteorites at a different site. Drone?basedsearches are much faster than the standard search way.“ You＇re going from about 300days of human effort down to about a dozen or so，” he says.

3 Anderson and his workmates have used drones to search for meteorites in remote partsof Western Australia and South Australia. The team is tipped off about a fall site by networks of ground?based cameras that track meteoroids flashing through the Earth＇s atmosphere.The researchers have to do a series of fun but difficult work before the hunt.They pack a four?wheel drive vehicle with drone and computer equipment， batterycharging stations， generators， fuel， food， camping equipment， tables， chairs and muchmore. The drive to the fall site can take more than a day， often on rough or non?existentroads. Anderson says“， You hope you don＇t pop a tire.”

4 After arriving， the team flies its primary drone at an altitude of about 20 meters. Its cameratakes an image of the ground once every second， and the scientists download thedata every 40 minutes or so when the drone lands to receive fresh batteries. A typicalday of flying can net over 10，000 images， which are then divided digitally into 100 millionor so smaller sections. Those“ tiles”， each 2 meters on a side， are fed into a machinelearning algorithm （算法） that has been trained to recognize meteorites based onimages of real land rocks which are spray?painted black.

Reading Check

Detail

1. Why do the scientists study meteorites？

A. To spot the planetary course.

B. To promote machine learning.

C. To test the functions of drones.

D. To explore the past of the solar system.

Inference

2. What does Anderson say about drone?based searches in paragraph 2？

A. Their barriers. B. Their causes.

C. Their efficiency. D. Their concept.

Detail

3. Which words can best describe the preparations of the drone search for

meteorites？

A. Fun and light.

B. Smooth and flexible.

C. Difficult and unpleasant.

D. Interesting and tough.

Detail

4. Why is the machine learning algorithm used according to the last

paragraph？

A. To analyze drone data.

B. To train drone recognition.

C. To divide images into sections.

D. To receive fresh batteries.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

Those“ tiles”， each 2 meters on a side， are fed into a machine learning algorithm thathas been trained to recognize meteorites based on images of real land rocks which arespray?painted black. 那些边长为2米的“瓦片”被输入到一个机器学习算法中，该算法经过训练，能够根据喷涂成黑色的真实的陆地岩石图像识别陨石。

【点石成金】本句是一个复合句。each 2 meters on a side为独立主格结构，对名词“tiles”进行补充说明；that引导的是一个定语从句，先行词为a machine learning algorithm；based on images of real land rocks为过去分词短语作方式状语；which引导的是一个定语从句，先行词为real land rocks。

Ⅱ. Text?centered chunks

take pictures of 拍摄……的照片

look for 寻找

blossom into 发展成

search for 搜寻；寻找

a series of 一系列……

at an altitude of 在……的高度

divide...into 把……分成

be based on 以……为基础