Crowdsourcing
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Table of Contents Gamers to the Rescue.
救援组织目录
4 The Longitude Prize.
4经度奖.
5 Crowdsourcing Food Preservation.
5 众包食品保护。
6 Working Together.
6 共同努力。
7 Modern-Day Crowdsourcing.
7"现代日众包".
8 Crowdsourcing Supercomputers.
8个众包超级计算机.
9 Putting Gamers to Work.
9"打赌"打工.
10 Testing Ideas on the Crowd.
10测试在人群上的想法。
11 Crowdfunding: Crowdsourcing Money.
11 众筹:众筹钱.
12 When Crowdsourcing Backfires.
12 当众包回火.
14 Crowdsourcing a Better Future.
14 众包 一个更好的未来。
15 Glossary.
15 词汇。
16 Gamers to the Rescue For ten years, scientists tried to unlock the mystery of how proteins fold.
16个赌徒参加救援 10年来,科学家试图解开蛋白质折叠方式的谜团.
Because proteins are important building blocks of many microbes that cause diseases, understanding their structure could help researchers find cures.
由于蛋白质是许多引起疾病的微生物的重要构件,理解它们的结构可以帮助研究人员找到治疗方法.
After years without success, science turned to an unlikely source of help: computer gamers.
在多年没有成功后,科学转向了一种不太可能的帮助来源:计算机游戏家.
In 2008, the University of Washington created a computer game called Foldit in which players have to design new proteins.
2008年,华盛顿大学创建了名为"Foldit"的电脑游戏,玩家必须在其中设计出新的蛋白质.
Within three weeks, the game’s players had worked out the structure of a protein in a deadly virus that had baffled scientists for years.
在三周内, 游戏的玩家们研究出了 一种致命病毒中的蛋白质结构, 多年来科学家们对此感到困惑。
The brains of thousands of gamers, working together, were more powerful than even the smartest scientists.
数以千计的游戏者的大脑, 一起工作, 比最聪明的科学家更强大。
Tapping into the power of so many minds at once is called crowdsourcing.
一次抓住这么多人的力量 叫做众包
Crowdsourcing allows individuals or organizations to ask the general public for help on a particular task or problem.
众包允许个人或组织就某项特定任务或问题向一般公众寻求帮助.
The help can come in the form of ideas or services.
帮助可以采取思想或服务的形式.
People are often willing to volunteer their time because each person’s part in a project is small.
人们往往愿意志愿工作,因为每个人在一个项目中的份额很小。
But a small amount of effort can accomplish a lot when it’s coming from hundreds or thousands of people.
但只要有上上上下上千人的努力,
The Longitude Prize One of the world’s first crowdsourcing efforts solved a problem that had troubled people for centuries.
经度奖 世界上第一次的众包努力解决了一个困扰人民几个世纪的问题。
For sailors, knowing exactly where they are when sailing far from land can be a matter of life or death.
对水手来说,在远离陆地航行时知道他们的确切位置可能事关生死.
Ships that lose track of their position can suddenly run into shoals or other hazards and sink.
失去行踪位置的船舶会突然跑入ho地或其他危险并下沉.
Sailors have long calculated their latitude (position north or south) by carefully observing the Sun’s position at noon.
航海家号通过在正午仔细观察太阳的位置来计算出其纬度(位置为北或南).
In ages past, however, they could only guess their longitude (position east or west).
然而,在过去的岁月里,他们只能猜测自己的经度(位置在东或西)。
In 1714, the British government offered a cash prize to anyone who could come up with a reliable way to know one’s longitude at sea.
1714年,英国政府向任何能够想出可靠方法了解海上经度的人提供现金奖金.
People all over the country spent years working on the problem.
全国人民多年来都在努力解决这一问题。
It wasn’t until 1741 that a clockmaker named John Harrison came up with a solution.
直到1741年,一个叫约翰·哈里森(John Harrison)的钟表制造商才想出一个解决方案.
Harrison knew it was possible to calculate longitude based on the Sun’s position if one knew the correct time.
Harrison知道,如果知道正确的时间,可以根据太阳的位置计算经度。
The problem was that the best clocks in the 1700s used pendulums, which swung back and forth to keep time.
问题在于1700年代最优秀的时钟使用倒数来回回旋转来保持时间.
Those clocks were useless at sea, where ships often toss and turn from the motion of wind and waves.
那些钟在海上是没用的,在那里,船只经常抛出并从风浪的移动转向.
Harrison invented a new type of clock that could keep time at sea, which allowed sailors to calculate longitude at any time of day.
哈里森发明了一种能将时间保留在海上的新型时钟,这使得水手可以在任何时间计算出经度.
Crowdsourcing Food Preservation Crowdsourcing proved useful in solving problems on land as well.
集体保护粮食 事实证明,众包对解决土地问题也是有益的。
Napoleon Bonaparte, France’s greatest general, once said, “ An army marches on its stomach.”
法国最伟大的将领拿破仑·波拿巴曾说道:"一支军队在它的肚子上行军. “
In other words, soldiers can’t fight if they can’t eat.
换句话说,
In 1795, France’s government offered a prize to anyone who could devise a way to preserve food for a long military campaign.
1795年,法国政府向任何能设计出一种保存食物以进行长期军事行动的人提供奖金.
After fourteen years, a candymaker named Nicolas Appert perfected a method of sealing food airtight in empty champagne bottles.
14年后,一位叫尼古拉斯·阿佩特(Nicolas Appert)的糖果制造商完善了一种将食物密封于空心香槟瓶中的方法.
He used the prize money to set up the first factory for canning food.
他利用奖金创办了第一所罐头食品工厂.
His method is still used all over the world.
他的方法至今仍被全世界所使用.
Modern machinery makes canning fast and easy.
现代机械使罐头快速而容易.
Working Together Contests aren’t the only way to put a whole bunch of minds to work on the same problem.
携手合作 竞技并不是让一大批人思考同一问题的唯一办法。
Members of the public can also work together to achieve a goal instead of competing with one another.
公众也可以共同努力实现一个目标,而不是相互竞争。
In 1849, Joseph Henry, a scientist working for the Smithsonian Institution, asked some 150 volunteers to collect weather data from locations all over the United States.
1849年,为史密森尼学会工作的科学家约瑟夫·亨利要求约150名志愿者从全美各地收集天气数据.
Participants carefully kept track of their local weather and submitted reports each month by telegraph.
与会者认真跟踪当地天气,每月通过电报提交报告。
Over the next ten years, the project grew to include weather observers in Canada, Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
在今后十年中,该项目已发展到包括加拿大、墨西哥、拉丁美洲和加勒比的气象观察员。
The information gathered by the volunteers about weather and storms was published in a book in 1861 that became an important part of the climate record.
志愿者所收集的关于天气和风暴的信息于1861年被一书所发表,成为气候记录的重要组成部分.
Joseph Henry (1797–1878) was the first leader of the Smithsonian Institution.
约瑟夫·亨利(1797–1878)是史密森尼学会的第一任领导人.
Today, the Smithsonian includes research and education centers as well as museums, galleries, gardens, and a zoo.
今天,史密森尼人包括研究和教育中心以及博物馆、美术馆、花园和动物园。
Modern-Day Crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing has continued to change as new technologies have emerged.
现代众包 随着新技术的出现,众包继续发生变化。
The creation of the Internet has allowed people to work together on projects more easily than in the past.
互联网的建立使人们能够比过去更容易地就项目进行合作。
Wikipedia is a crowdsourced online encyclopedia that allows members of the general public to write, fact-check, and edit its articles.
维基百科是一款被多方联想的在线百科全书,它允许公众成员写作,检查事实,并编辑其文章.
The site’s millions of users have more collective experience and knowledge—on everything from science to history to sports to TV shows—than any traditional encyclopedia’s writing staff ever could.
网站数百万用户拥有比任何传统百科全书的写作人员都更多的集体经验和知识,
Launched in 2001, Wikipedia now features more than five million articles and is the most popular general reference resource on the Internet.
开通于2001年,维基百科目前拥有超过500万篇文章,是互联网上最受欢迎的一般参考资料资源.
Crowdsourcing Supercomputers Scientists have long used very powerful computers known as supercomputers to help them crunch numbers and perform complex calculations, but supercomputers are very expensive, and getting access to one can be difficult.
众包超级计算机 科学家们长期以来一直使用被称作"超级计算机"的非常强大的计算机来帮助他们压缩数字并进行复杂的计算,但是超级计算机非常昂贵,而获得一个计算机可能很困难.
Crowdsourcing over the Internet has allowed scientists to create large networks of thousands or millions of regular computers used in homes, offices, and schools to do the kind of work that only supercomputers could do in the past.
互联网上的众包让科学家们能够创建大型网络, 拥有成千上万家用、办公室和学校的普通计算机,
SETI is an acronym that stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
SETI是"搜寻外星情报"的缩写.
For decades, scientists have been gathering and analyzing electromagnetic signals from space for signs of alien life across the galaxy.
几十年来,科学家一直在收集并分析来自空间的电磁信号,以获取整个银河系的外星生命迹象.
In 1999, a screensaver was released called SETI@home (SETI at home).
1999年,发行了名为SETI@home(SETI at home)的屏幕保护器.
The program uses the processing power of millions of computers at rest to analyze small units of the data collected.
程序利用休息时数百万台计算机的处理能力来分析所收集的数据的小单位.
The same method has now been applied to software testing, math, biology, and more.
软件测试、数学、生物学等等也采用了同样的方法。
Every time you walk away from your computer, it could be helping science!
每次你离开你的计算机, 它可能帮助科学!
A teenage girl watches the SETI@home screensaver as it analyzes radio signals from space for signs of alien life.
一名少女观看SETI@home屏幕保护,
Putting Gamers to Work One of the most exciting methods of crowdsourcing uses computer games.
将赌徒投入工作 最令人兴奋的众包方法之一使用电脑游戏.
Since the success of Foldit, scientists have released more games that turn ordinary people into lab assistants.
自"花地"成功后,科学家们发布了更多的将普通人变成实验室助手的游戏.
Eyewire has gamers mapping neurons in the brain.
眼线有游戏机映射大脑中的神经元.
People playing Planet Hunters found forty Earthlike planets that professional astronomers missed.
玩"星球猎人"的人发现了专业天文学家错过了的四十颗类似地球的行星.
Phylo’s patterns of colored squares look like the puzzle-block game Tetris.
Phylo的彩色正方形图案看起来像是拼图-块游戏"俄罗斯方块".
Its players, though, are really lining up DNA sequences and helping research diseases caused by genetic disorders.
不过,它的玩家们正在排出DNA序列 并帮助研究基因失调引起的疾病。
Fraxinus is a game that uses DNA from ash trees and a fungus that’s killing them.
Fraxinus是一个使用从灰树上取出DNA的游戏,
People who play it try to discover new ways to protect the trees in real life.
演奏它的人试图发现新的方法来保护现实生活中的树木.
In Quantum Moves, players find new ways to move an atom with a beam of light.
在"量子移动"中,玩家会寻找新的方法来移动带有光束的原子.
There’s no limit to the kinds of important research that scientists can crowdsource using computer games.
科学家们可以使用电脑游戏进行众筹,
Fraxinus looks like a puzzle game in which players must match colored shapes to a given pattern.
Fraxinus看起来像一个谜题游戏,玩家必须在游戏中将彩色形状与给定模式相匹配.
Testing Ideas on the Crowd Crowdsourcing isn’t only used for science.
并不只是科学。
In 2008, Lego began crowdsourcing ideas for new sets of their toy building bricks and characters.
2008年,乐高开始对其玩具建筑砖和人物的新组合提出众包想法.
Anyone thirteen or older could suggest an idea for a new Lego set or vote for proposals they liked.
13岁或13岁以上的人可以提出新乐高集的想法,或对他们喜欢的提案进行表决。
If an idea got at least ten thousand votes in a year, Lego would consider making and selling the set.
如果一个想法在一年内至少获得一万票,乐高会考虑制作并出售该集.
Lego fans could come up with far more ideas than the company’s designers could.
乐高的粉丝们会想出比公司设计者更多的想法.
They could also tell the company which sets would be popular.
他们还可以告诉公司哪些套装会很受欢迎。
In 2016, a member of the public suggested making a set celebrating the work of women at the space agency NASA.
2016年,一位公众建议在太空机构NASA制作一集来庆祝女性的工作.
Her idea skyrocketed in the voting.
她的想法在投票中猛然起跑.
The following year, Lego released a 231-piece “Women of NASA ” set that became an immediate best seller.
次年,乐高发行了一部231张"NASA的女人"的相片,成为一流的畅销书.
Lego’s Women of NASA set features astronomer Nancy Grace Roman, computer scientist Margaret Hamilton, and astronauts Sally Ride and Mae Jemison.
美国国家航空航天局的乐高女性设定了天文学家南希·格雷斯·罗曼,计算机科学家玛格丽特·汉密尔顿,以及宇航员莎莉·里德和梅·杰米森的特征.
Crowdfunding: Crowdsourcing Money Another form of crowdsourcing uses the power of a group to raise money for a cause.
众筹:众筹钱 另一种形式的众包利用一个团体的力量为某项事业筹款.
One person alone might not have the cash to finance an invention, a movie, or a political campaign.
一个人可能没有钱资助发明、电影或政治运动。
However, if thousands or millions of people contribute only a few dollars each, the money adds up quickly.
然而,如果数千或数百万人每人只捐出几美元,那么这笔钱就会迅速增加.
People have used crowdfunding to raise thousands and even millions of dollars to create new music albums, films, and video games.
人们利用"众筹"筹集了上千甚至上百万美元来创作出新的音乐专辑,电影,电子游戏.
In 2014, the online space game Star Citizen raised more than $150 million for development—a record amount for the time!
2014年,"星际公民"在线空间游戏为开发筹集了1.5多亿美元——这是当时创纪录的金额!
Crowdfunding has also been used for many charitable causes.
人群资助也被用于许多慈善事业.
Adopt Together is a website that allows people to donate money to families looking to adopt a child.
共同收养是一个网站,使人们能够向希望收养孩子的家庭捐款。
Donors receive updates on children who have been adopted.
捐助者收到关于被收养儿童的最新情况。
People are more likely to donate money because they feel more involved.
人们更有可能捐出钱,因为他们觉得更多参与。
Hank Fortener, founder of Adopt Together, speaks at a fund-raiser aimed at finding homes for children who need them.
" 共同收养 " 的创始人汉克·福特纳(Hank Fortener)在一场旨在为有需要的儿童寻找住房的筹款会上发言。
In 2014, a fund-raiser on You Tube called the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral as everyone from movie stars to ordinary kids videotaped themselves dumping ice water on their heads.
2014年,一个名为"冰桶挑战"的"You Tube"的募捐活动,随着从电影明星到普通孩子的每个人都在录像中自己将冰水倒入了头上而病毒化.
Each video asked people to donate money to help cure ALS, a disease that attacks the nervous system.
每段视频都要求人们捐出钱来帮助治愈ALS,这种疾病会攻击神经系统.
Doctors used some of the $115 million raised from the challenge to help identify the gene responsible for the disease.
医生们利用挑战中筹集到的1.15亿美元中的一部分帮助识别出该疾病的责任基因.
Thanks to millions of ordinary people helping out, doctors are one step closer to a cure.
多亏了数百万普通人的帮助,医生们才更接近治愈.
Young people in the province of Hainan in China take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge on World ALS Day in 2017.
中国海南省青年参加2017年世界ALS日"冰巴克特挑战".
When Crowdsourcing Backfires Crowdsourcing is a powerful tool, but once the power of a crowd is unleashed, it can be hard to control.
当"众包反射""众包"是一个强大的工具,但一旦人群的力量被放出,就可能难以控制.
The British government found that out in 2016 when they decided to allow the public to vote on names for a new polar-research ship that cost $287 million.
英国政府在2016年发现这一点,当时他们决定允许公众投票决定价值2.87亿美元的新极地研究船的名字.
They expected people to name the ship after a famous polar explorer like Ernest Shackleton or a naturalist like David Attenborough, who makes nature documentaries.
他们期望人们以欧内斯特·沙克顿等著名极地探险家或大卫·阿滕伯勒等自然学家的名字来命名这艘船,他们制作自然纪录片.
Instead, Internet voters latched onto a slightly less scientific name: Boaty Mc Boatface.
相反,网民们把一个不太科学的名字:Boaty Mc Boatface(英语:Boaty Mc Boatface),
When that silly name won, the organizers of the naming contest refused to honor the result.
当那个傻名字获胜时,命名比赛的组织者拒绝尊重结果.
They named the ship after David Attenborough anyway.
他们以大卫·阿滕伯勒的名字命名了这艘船.
To calm the disappointed public, they gave the silly name to the ship’s submersible research drone.
为了平息失望的公众,他们给飞船的潜水研究无人机取了个傻名.
Boaty Mc Boatface is already at work exploring the waters of the Antarctic.
正在探索南极洲的水域
The organizers of the naming campaign learned a valuable lesson: when you turn things over to a crowd, you might not get the results you were hoping for.
命名运动的组织者学到了一个宝贵的教训:当你把事情交给人群时,你可能得不到所希望的结果.
Naturalist Sir David Attenborough speaks at the keel-laying ceremony for the ship named in his honor.
自然学家大卫爵士 Attenborough在为他命名的"克恩"(Keel-laying)船举行的仪式上发言.
Crowdsourcing a Better Future Despite some setbacks, crowdsourcing can be a powerful tool for progress.
尽管遇到一些挫折,但众包可以成为取得进展的有力工具。
It’s very likely that it will become even more popular in the future.
未来,
With crowdsourcing efforts underway to help the environment, cure disease, and explore space, you could be part of a project that changes history!
随着多方联动努力帮助环境,治疗疾病,探索空间,你可以成为改变历史的项目的一部分!
Potential Penguin (top) and Skim Racer (bottom) are two physics-based computer games that help researchers measure and catalog human performance at various tasks.
潜在企鹅(上)和斯克姆赛车(下)是两款基于物理学的计算机游戏,帮助研究人员测量和分类人类在各种任务上的性能.