歌词
From VOA Learning English,
this is the Technology Report.
When a building collapses,
every minute is important for victims
buried under the wreckage,
that is why two American government agencies
teamed up to develop a high-tech tool
to find those who are trapped.
The Department of Homeland Security and NASA,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
took part in the project.
Rescue crews have been testing the state-of-the-art
radar tool called FINDER.
The name may short for Finding individuals
for Disaster and Emergency Response.
This radar device can recognize
a person's smallest movements or even a heart beat,
even when the individual is unable to communicate.
Earlier this year, Homeland Security and rescuers
used FINDER to carry out more than 65 test searches
in the American state of Virginia.
They say, the tests prove successful
in recognizing a human heart beat under 9 metres
of mixed concrete and other material.
The device was also able to identify a heart beat
hidden behind 6 metres of solid concrete,
and from a distance of up to 30 metres in open spaces.
It is an example of how space agency creations
are helping people here on earth.
FINDER's technology is based on the tracking technology
that NASA uses for its spacecraft.
Jim Lux is with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
"FINDER works by sending a low-power microwave signal,
and it illuminates the rubble pile,
and some of the microwaves go in
and reflect off the victim inside and come back out.
So FINDER sees both the reflection from the rubble,
which does not move,
and a very tiny reflection from the victim,
which does move, because when you breathe
and when your heart beats,
your skin moves a little bit and we can see that," Lux said.
Jim Lux says the device is small,
easy to carry and easy to use.
"It goes out and collects 30-seconds' worth of data,
because that is how long you need to get the heartbeat
and the breathing, and then it analyzes it
and displays it for the user," Lux said.
FINDER could be used with other tools rescuers use,
such as listening devices or search dogs.
Matthew Tamillow works with Virginia Task Force 1.
He says the new technology could help rescuers
in deciding which buildings to search.
"This type of technology, including FINDER,
could aid in the assistance of triaging a building to say,
'Okay, there is a strong probability
that a live victim could be in here,
and we need to devote our valuable human resources
into searching it,'" said Tamillow.
FINDER is still being developed and tested.
NASA says it could start being used in search
and rescue operation as early as next year.
And that is the Technology Report from VOA Special English.
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