By+Gary+Marshall+譯/阿諾

Today's smartphones are blank canvases1）： manufacturers provide the hardware， and we turn them into magical machines with apps that transform them into musical instruments or game consoles2）， business machines or cat video players.

But it turns out we're only scratching the surface. Who knew that smartphones make pretty good satellites？ Here are nine uses for smartphones the makers probably didn't imagine.

如今的智能手機宛如空白的畫布：手機制造商提供硬件，我們通過加載不同的應(yīng)用程序?qū)⑺鼈冏兂筛髀飞衿?，使它們既可化身為樂器或游戲操縱機，也可用于商務(wù)辦公，還能播放貓咪視頻。

但事實證明我們對智能手機的認(rèn)識還停留在表面。有誰知道智能手機還可以成為相當(dāng)不錯的衛(wèi)星呢？下面這九種智能手機的用途恐怕手機制造商們當(dāng)初也沒想到。

Smartphones forecasting the weather

智能手機預(yù)報天氣

Networking expert OpenSignal has discovered something interesting： the sensors in Android phones designed to measure battery temperature， light， pressure and so on can be used to generate surprisingly accurate weather reports.

Get enough phones involved and you've got a weather sensing network. Today the data just reports， but prediction is the logical next step.

專業(yè)的網(wǎng)絡(luò)公司OpenSignal有個有趣的發(fā)現(xiàn)：安卓手機上內(nèi)置的為測量電池溫度、光照強度、氣壓和其他參數(shù)而設(shè)計的傳感器可以用來生成準(zhǔn)確得驚人的天氣報告。

使足夠數(shù)量的手機參與其中，你就有了一個天氣感應(yīng)網(wǎng)絡(luò)。今日還只是播報數(shù)據(jù)，但預(yù)報是合乎邏輯的下一步。

Smartphones powering satellites

智能手機驅(qū)動衛(wèi)星

In February 2013， a Google Nexus One went into orbit—not in an astronaut's pocket， but as the brains of the STRaND-1 satellite.

A joint project between the University of Surrey's Space Centre and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited， the smartphone-powered "Nano satellite" will run experimental apps to collect data from space.

2013年2月，谷歌的一部Nexus One手機進入了太空軌道——可不是在航天員的口袋里，而是作為STRaND-1衛(wèi)星的計算中樞。

作為薩里大學(xué)航天中心和薩里衛(wèi)星科技有限公司的合作項目，這個由智能手機驅(qū)動的“納米衛(wèi)星”將會運行一些實驗性的應(yīng)用程序來收集太空數(shù)據(jù)。

Detecting chainsaws3） may sound like a novelty app， but it's a serious business： in Indonesia， the non-profit organisation Rainforest Connection wants to use donated Android phones to detect illegal logging4）.

As New Scientist reports： "The phones are outfitted with solar panels5） specifically designed to take advantage of the brief periods when light reaches the forest floor. Their microphones stay on at all times， and software listens for the telltale6） growl of a chainsaw， which triggers an alert."

“電鋸偵探”也許聽上去像是個新奇的應(yīng)用程序，但這是件嚴(yán)肅的事情：在印度尼西亞，一個名為“雨林家族”的非營利組織想要使用人們捐贈的安卓手機來監(jiān)測非法采伐。

據(jù)《新科學(xué)家》雜志報道：“這些手機都裝有特別設(shè)計的太陽能電池板，能夠利用陽光照射雨林地表的短暫時間充電。所有手機的麥克風(fēng)一直保持開啟狀態(tài)，軟件在監(jiān)聽到泄露電鋸形跡的轟鳴聲后，就會發(fā)出警報?！?/p>

Smartphones saving the rainforests

智能手機拯救雨林endprint

1. canvas [?k?nv?s] n. 帆布；油畫布

2. console [k?n?s??l] n. 控制臺

3. chainsaw [?t?e?ns??] n. 電鋸

4. log [l?ɡ] vi. 伐木；伐樹

5. solar panel： 太陽能電池板

6. telltale [?telte?l] adj. 泄露內(nèi)情的

7. cradle [?kre?dl] n. 搖籃型的裝置；支架，托架

8. toxin [?t?ks?n] n. 毒素；毒質(zhì)

9. bacteria [b?k?t??ri?] n. 細菌

Smartphones as mobile medical labs

智能手機做醫(yī)學(xué)化驗

Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed an iPhone cradle7） and app that turns the device into a fully featured mobile medical lab that uses the phone's camera to detect toxins8）， proteins， bacteria9）， viruses， and other organisms.

As RedOrbit reports： "The cradle contains a series of smaller versions of the optical10） components found in much larger and more expensive lab devices ... although the cradle only holds $200 worth of optical components， it is just as accurate as $50，000 models in the lab."

伊利諾伊大學(xué)的研究人員研發(fā)出一套iPhone支架和應(yīng)用程序，該程序可以利用手機的攝像頭檢測毒素、蛋白質(zhì)、細菌、病毒及其他微生物，將iPhone變成了功能齊全的移動醫(yī)學(xué)化驗室。

據(jù)RedOrbit網(wǎng)站報道：“該支架包含了一系列的光學(xué)元件，它們和那些昂貴的大型實驗儀器中所使用的光學(xué)元件一模一樣，只是尺寸小了些。雖然該支架上僅安裝了價值200美元的光學(xué)元件，但它和實驗室里價值五萬美元的儀器一樣精確?！?/p>

Google's self-driving cars carry around $30，000 of high-tech hardware and sensors， but students at Australia's Griffith University reckon they can get the job done with a single smartphone.

The students have built a prototype11） that relies mainly on the phone's camera and built-in GPS， rather than lidar12） sensors and stacks of cameras.

谷歌推出的無人駕駛汽車上配備有價值約三萬美元的高科技硬件及傳感器，而澳大利亞格里菲斯大學(xué)的學(xué)生們卻認(rèn)為，他們只用一部智能手機就能搞定此事。

學(xué)生們已經(jīng)制造好了一部樣機，這部樣機主要依靠手機攝像頭和內(nèi)置的GPS定位系統(tǒng)完成操作，而無需使用一大堆激光定位傳感器和攝像頭。

Smartphones driving cars

智能手機駕駛汽車

Smartphones detecting chemical warfare attacks

智能手機偵測化武襲擊

Never mind anti-virus software： if the US Department of Homeland Security （DHS） gets its wish， smartphones will soon run anti-chemical warfare software.

The Cell-All project aims to persuade manufacturers to equip smartphones with cheap chemical sensors—"a buck13） a sensor，" the DHS says—that can detect anything from chlorine14） leaks to sarin15） gas attacks. The technology is currently moving to the proof-of-principle stage to see if the idea is really practical.

不要在意防病毒軟件了：如果美國國土安全部（DHS）能夠如愿以償，不久之后，智能手機上將會運行防化學(xué)戰(zhàn)軟件。

這個名為Cell-All的項目旨在說服手機制造商在智能手機上安裝廉價的化學(xué)傳感器—美國國土安全部說：“這種傳感器一個才一美元。”該傳感器能探測從氯氣泄漏到沙林毒氣襲擊的任何一種情況。目前，這一技術(shù)正在進入原理論證階段，以檢驗該設(shè)想是否真正可行。

Smartphone health screening

智能手機做健康檢查endprint