【视频讲解】

Whales, seals and walruses stay warm in chilly water because they have a thick layer of blubber. We humans rely on something like blubber—neoprene rubber wet suits—to spend time in cold water.
鲸鱼，海豹和海象可以在寒冷的水中维持体温，因为它们有很厚的脂肪层。我们人类则可以依靠类似于脂肪的氯丁橡胶潜水服在冰冷的水中活动。
Chilly 阴冷的
It was a chilly afternoon.
那是一个阴冷的下午。
Blubber
1. 海洋动物的脂肪
The baby whale develops a thick layer of blubber to protect it from the cold sea.
幼鲸长出一层厚脂肪以抵御冰冷的海水。
2. 放声大哭,
She started to blubber like a child.
她像个孩子一样开始放声大哭。
neoprene rubber 氯丁橡胶

But the thick versions for really icy water are heavy and ungainly. So rather than taking after big marine mammals, what if we could learn from the littler ones, like beavers and otters?
可是在冰水中穿着厚厚的潜水服又沉重又笨拙。那除了效仿大型海洋哺乳动物，向河狸和水獭等小型海洋哺乳动物学习是否也可以呢？
Ungainly 笨拙的 = clumsy, awkward
Paul swam in his ungainly way to the side of the pool.
保罗用他笨拙的办法游到泳池的一边。
take after 效仿
He'd got a way of his own and I tend to take after him.
他有自己的一套方式，我想效仿他。
Beavers 河狸
Otters 水獭

"These animals are quite small and they can't carry around a thick layer of blubber. So instead they have fur that is evolved to trap air, and this air provides a layer of insulation for them in water."
“这些动物都很小，它们没有厚厚的脂肪层。所以它们进化出了可以存留空气的皮毛，存留的空气为它们在水中活动时提供了隔热层。”
carry around 随身携带
In some places, people carry around objects to ward off evil or bring good luck.
在一些地方，人们会随身携带一些饰品给自己辟邪或招来好运。
Insulate 隔离 => insulation 隔热材料
They wonder if their community is no longer insulated from big city problems.
他们想知道他们的社区是否不再与那些大城市的问题隔离。

Alice Nasto is a graduate student in mechanical engineering at MIT. Scientists have known about this air-trapping insulation mechanism for a long time, but they had not teased out the details of how it works. So Nasto and her colleagues took on the challenge.
爱丽丝•纳斯托是麻省理工学院机械工程专业的研究生。科学家们很早就发现了这种存留空气形成的隔热机制，但是他们并没有测试出这种机制的具体原理。所以纳斯托和她的同事们接受了这项挑战。
take on 承担，接受(尤指艰巨工作或重大责任)；
He has the courage to take on important tasks.
他勇于担当重任。
tease out
提炼(信息) （= to extract (information) with difficulty ）
By training a spectrograph on this light, scientists can tease out the composition of the planet's atmosphere.
通过将光谱仪对准这些光线，科学家们将可以梳理出这颗行星的大气层成分。
Tease
1. 嘲笑; 取笑
He teased me mercilessly about going Hollywood.
他无情地取笑我想去好莱坞。
2. 哄骗而得到：
“the New York editor who could tease great books from the unpromising woolly jumble of an author's first draft”(Ian Jack)
“纽约的编辑能从乱七八糟没有希望的草稿中哄出作者编撰出巨著”(伊安•杰克)
3. 梳理
Her hair was teased until it stood out and around her face.
她的头发被梳得直垂在脸旁。

"We're creating these furry samples from these rubbery materials by laser cutting molds and casting these hairy surfaces. And through our approach we can precisely control the spacing of the hairs and the length of the hairs."
“我们用激光切割模具将这些橡胶材料制成了毛皮样本，然后铸造出这些毛茸茸的表面。通过这种方法，我们可以精确地控制毛发间的距离以及毛发的长度。”
cast about 想方设法；计划：
cast about for new ways to proceed.
尽力找到进行下去的新方法
cast off
1. 抛弃；拒绝
cast off old clothing.
扔掉旧衣服
2. 释放；使自由
cast off a boat
解开船
cast out 驱逐
Adam is cast out of the Garden
亚当被逐出伊甸园
Cast（one’s） lot with
同甘共苦，共同命运
The people have cast their lot with the free world.
人民已经决定要与自由世界为伍

The researchers then created a system to gather data when their pelts entered and moved through a liquid—in this case not water, but silicone oil, which makes it easier to see air bubbles. The key is to keep the pelt's air layer intact.
然后，研究人员创建了一个系统，在毛皮进入液体并在液体里移动时收集相关数据，这种液体并不是水，而是硅油，用硅油更易在试验过程中看到气泡。关键是要保持毛皮空气层的完整性。
Pelt
1. (动物的) 皮
2. 扔
Some of the younger men began to pelt one another with snowballs.
一些年纪稍轻的人开始相互扔雪球。
3. 反复地打击：
Hailstones pelted the tent.
冰雹不断地砸在帐篷上
Intact 完整无缺的 （= Something that is intact is complete and has not been damaged or changed.）= perfect
The money was returned intact by its finder.
钱原封未动地被捡拾者送还。

"So when they're crossing the air water interface, initially their hairy texture is full of air. And then you go into water. How much of the air comes down with you as you're moving in through the interface. So that's what this model will tell you."
“当它们穿过气液界面时，一开始毛发材质充满了空气。然后，把它们投入液体中。当你移动它穿过气液界面时，还会有多少空气留存？这就是我们设计的模型会告诉大家的事情。”
Interface
1. 界面：相关区域，实体，物质或阶段之间所形成共同界限的平面（A surface forming a common boundary between adjacent regions, bodies, substances, or phases.）
2. 接合点，接合部位：独立的系统间或不同的群体间相互作用的点：
“the interface between crime and politics where much of our reality is to be found”(Jack Kroll)
“我们的很多在罪恶与政治之间的接合事实将会被发现”(杰克•克罗尔)

They found that the denser the hairs, the more the air gets trapped. Which should keep the animal—or potentially the human in a future furry wet suit—warm. The research is in the journal Physical Review Fluids.,
他们发现，毛发的密度越大，存留的空气就越多。这就可以使动物保持温暖，或许未来也可以使穿着毛皮潜水服的人类保暖。该研究结果发表在《流体物理评论》期刊上。
Trap 留住 (气体、水或能量)
Wool traps your body heat, keeping the chill at bay.
羊毛织物能留住你的身体热量，阻挡寒气。
Trapping 装饰
The family ruled for several generations and evidently loved the trappings of power.
那个家族统治了好几代，他们显然喜爱权力带来的虚饰。

"What we would like to work on moving forward is understanding how, after you dive into the water, how do you maintain this air layer trapped in your fur. And there's lots of interesting properties of the fur in nature that we haven't yet looked at in our model that could help explain how this mechanism might work."
“我们接下来想继续研究的是，在你跳入水中后，如何让这个空气隔热层一直存留在毛皮里。在我们设计的这个模型中，这种毛皮的许多有趣特点我们还没有研究，进一步了解它们也许能够解释这种机制的原理。”
work on
1. 继续工作，不断工作：=> 致力于，从事于：
The scientists are still working on inventing new methods of reaching outer space.
科学家们仍致力于发明到达外层空间的新方法。
2. 使人信服，说服[亦作] work upon
In order to make him accept our suggestion, I decided to work on him immediately.
为了让他接受我们的建议，我决定立刻对他做工作。
3. 对…发生影响，对…起作用= work upon
The doctor told him that this kind of medicine may work on him.
医生说这药对他可能有效

So for now, cold-water divers and surfers will still emulate seals or sea lions. But the day may come when they'll more closely resemble otters or beavers. Or even a Wookiee on a boogie board.
现在，冷水潜水员或冲浪者仍会继续模仿海豹和海狮。而他们模仿水獭或者海狸的那一天终将会到来的。也许你甚至会看到玩冲浪板的“伍基人”。
Emulate
1. 效仿
Sons are traditionally expected to emulate their fathers.
传统上认为儿子应该效仿他们的父亲。
2. 比得上，追上：争取平等或超越，尤指通过模仿：
an older pupil whose accomplishments and style I emulated.
我所模仿并试图超越其成绩与风格的一位年纪稍大的学生
boogie board 冲浪板