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Science fiction is amazing, although the technology in it often seems a little more fiction than science.
科幻小说令人惊讶，虽然科幻小说里的科技经常看起来比科学更玄幻。
But some of the most far-fetched ideas might be more realistic than you think. Take force fields, for example.
但是其中一些最牵强的想法或许比你想的要现实，比如力场。
We may never be able to build ones as perfect or impenetrable as you see in movies,
我们可能永远也建不出电影中那么完美、坚不可摧的力场。
but we might be able to make something pretty close. And some teams are already working on it.
但是我们也许可以制造出一些差不多力场。而且一些团队已经开始在为此努力。
The details vary depending on the series, but typically, force fields, sometimes called energy shields,
每个系列细节不一，但总的来说，力场有时被称为能量护盾，
are nearly invisible barriers that block matter and radiation.
它们是几乎隐形的壁垒能够阻物质和辐射。
They can be used to protect a spaceship from lasers or cannons, or just to confine a prisoner for a few hours.
它们可以被用于保护宇宙飞船不受激光或大炮影响，或是被用作围困囚犯几个小时。
But in the real world, most teams working on energy shields are doing it to protect military vehicles.
但是在现实世界中，大部分致力于能量护盾的团队正在制造保护军用车辆的能量护盾。
The research is broken into two categories: fields that block matter, and those that block radiation.
研究被分成两类：阻隔物质的护盾，以及那些阻隔辐射的护盾。
Surprisingly, we're actually making more progress on the 'block matter' side.
让人惊讶的是，我们在‘阻隔物质’方面取得了更多进展。
The UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, for example,
例如英国国防科技实验室
is developing a missile-stopping force field using supercapacitors: devices that store electric charge.
正在利用超级电容器（存储电荷的设备）开发一种导弹拦截力场。
The idea is that, when faced with an incoming missile, supercapacitors could flood the outer shell of a vehicle with electricity
该想法是，当导弹将接近时，超级电容器可以用电覆盖车辆的外壳
to create a temporary, but powerful electromagnetic field.
创造出一种暂时的，但非常强大的电磁场。
The blast of electromagnetism would last for less than second, but the hope is that it would be enough to repel objects.
电磁爆炸将持续不足一秒，但希望足够击退进攻物体。
Officially, the team is calling it electric armor, which sounds less cool than a force field... but I'm not the one building it.
团队称之为电动护甲，听起来没力场那么酷...但是我又不是建造者。
And they have had success with preliminary experiments, but there's a long way to go,
他们的初步实验已经取得了成功，但是还有很长的路要走，
and the finer details of how it works are still a little fuzzy.
而且其工作原理的细节仍不明确。
Still, that's more than we have for blocking radiation like laser beams.
但对阻隔辐射，如激光束来说绰绰有余。
In 2014, a few undergraduate physics students did show it was theoretically possible,
2014年，一名大学物理系学生确实证明了这在理论上是可能的，
and they published their findings in the student-run, but still peer-reviewed, Journal of Special Physics Topics.
并且他们在学生运营的杂志《Journal of Special Physics Topics》上发表了他们的发现。
They suggested building a shield out of plasma, which is the fourth state of matter, and it acts kind of like a super hot, electrically charged gas.
他们提出用等离子体（物质的第四种状态）建造护盾，并且护盾的作用有点像是一种超热的带电气体。
And using it to build a force field is a pretty good idea. Enough so, that big defense companies are already looking into it.
用它去建造=一个力场是一个相当棒的想法。大型国防公司已经开始对其进行调查。
We actually see plasma block radiation all the time in space.
其实，在太空中等离子体阻隔辐射很常见。
A layer of the Earth's atmosphere called the ionosphere is full of the stuff, and it blocks low-frequency radiation like radio waves.
地球大气的电离层中就充满了这种物质，并且它会阻隔低频率的辐射，比如无线电波。
So if you made a really dense layer of plasma, you could potentially block higher-frequency radiation, like weaponized visible or ultraviolet light.
所以如果你只制造出了一个等离子体致密层，你就能阻隔更高频的辐射，比如武器化可见光或紫外线。
And since plasma carries an electric charge, it can be manipulated with magnets, so you could use a bunch of those to shape your field.
由于等离子体携带一个电荷，可以用磁体对其进行操控，因此你可以用一堆等离子体塑造你的力场。
The problem is, if your plasma force field is blocking lasers, it's also blocking all other visible light.
问题是，如果你的等离子力场正在阻隔激光束，那么它也会阻隔所有其他的可见光。
So, sure, you might be protected from the enemy's spaceship, but you'd also be blind.
所以，在保护你不受敌军宇宙飞船伤害的同时，你也看不见了。
To really build a force field that would make Captain Kirk proud,
要建造出让柯克船长为之骄傲的力场，
we'd need to develop technology that could block both matter and radiation, all without totally disabling the crew.
我们需要开发一种既能阻隔物质又能阻隔辐射的技术，同时又不会让船员失明。
Right now, that seems a long way off. But maybe someday we'll get there.
现在，这似乎还有好长一段距离。但是或许将来我们会抵达终点。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow, and special thanks to patron Nathan Hebert for asking the question!
感谢收看本期《科学秀》，特别感谢赞助人Nathan Hebert的提问！
If you have a burning science question for us, or you want to vote on the one we answer next,
如果你想向我们提问，或为我们的问题投票，
you can learn more about becoming a patron over at patreon.com/scishow.
可以关注patreon.com/scishow了解如何成为我们的赞助人。
