美國發明新儀器 有助人類與海豚對話
For years man has dreamt of being able to communicate directly with animals. And now it appears that it could be a step closer thanks to a group of American scientists.
千百年來人類一直夢想有朝一日能同動物直接對話，直到今天，一羣美國科學家的研究也許能使我們更接近這個夢想。
They are in the process of developing an underwater computer that attempts to recognize dolphin sounds and then respond in real time.
他們正在研發一種水下電腦，這種儀器能識別海豚的聲音，並據此及時做出迴應。
They are hoping to test the machine off the Florida coast in the next few weeks, and, if successful, it will be a huge step in establishing communication between humans and animals.
科學家們計劃幾個星期後在佛羅里達海域對該儀器進行檢測，如果成功的話，他們將取得人類與動物交流領域的重大突破。
The machine works by using hydrophones to pick up the dolphin sounds and LEDs to show the direction they came from. When they receive a sound, the divers will then play back one of eight 'words' and see if dolphins mimic them.
這臺儀器通過水聽器採集海豚的聲音，並用LED燈標明聲音採自何方。當水聽器收聽到海豚的叫聲，潛水員們會在八種不同的聲音中選擇一種進行播放，看看海豚是否會對"這句話"做出迴應。
The scientists, led by Dr Denise Herzing, will then catalogue all the sounds the dolphins make and, they hope, establishing the building blocks of the dolphin's language.
這個由丹尼斯 赫爾辛領頭的研究小組會將他們採集到的海豚聲音進行分類，並試圖從中找出構成海豚"語言"的某些基本要素。
Once this is completed, Dr Herzing and her team hope to create a language they can use to talk back to the dolphins using the machine.
一旦實驗成功，赫爾辛博士及他的團隊就能破譯海豚的語言，並通過這種儀器同海豚進行交談。
