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What are those red and green lights on curling stones?
看懂冬奧：冰壺上為什么會亮紅燈和綠燈？
If the ball goes out of bounds in say, a soccer game, it’s up to the referees to call the violation. But in a high-level curling match, the stones are somewhat self-policing—thanks to the red and green lights atop each one.
足球比賽中，如果球出界了，應該由裁判來判罰。但是在一場高水平冰壺比賽中，冰壺可以自己擔任監督之責，這要感謝冰壺上的紅燈和綠燈。
As long as the curler releases the stone before the front of it crosses the first red line (the “hog line”), the lights will stay green, and play will continue. If you see the red lights come on, that means the curler kept their hand on the handle too long, committing a hog line violation. The shot is disqualified, and the stone is quickly removed so it doesn’t interfere with other stones on the curling sheet.
只要冰壺運動員在冰壺過第一條紅線（前擲線）前松開手，冰壺上的綠燈就會一直亮著，比賽將會繼續進行。如果你看見冰壺亮起了紅燈，這意味著冰壺運動員的手放在手柄上的時間過長，將被視為犯規。這次投擲被判為無效，冰壺將被迅速拿離冰面，這樣才不會干擾冰壺賽場上的其他冰壺。
The detection system, called “Eye on the Hog,” dates back to the late 1990s, when University of Saskatchewan engineering professor Eric Salt suggested that some of his advanced electrical engineering students invent one for a class project. With his help, they did, and Canadian engineering company Startco modified their design and brought it to market. The Canadian Curling Association soon adopted it for official use, and its popularity grew from there.
這套名為“前擲線上的眼睛”的檢測系統要追溯到20世紀90年代末。當時薩斯喀徹溫大學的工程學教授埃里克·索爾特建議他的一些高級電子電氣工程系學生把研發這套系統作為課題項目。學生們在索爾特的幫助下成功研發出了這套檢測系統，加拿大工程公司Startco將他們的設計修改之后推向了市場。加拿大冰壺協會很快就正式采用了這一技術，從此“冰壺之眼”就越來越受歡迎。
Basically, there’s a magnetic strip installed beneath the ice slightly behind the hog line. Inside the stone is an electrical circuit whose current is affected when you’re touching the handle. If you’re still touching the handle when the stone crosses the in-ice magnet, it’ll set off the battery-operated red LEDs. Release the handle before the stone reaches the magnet and the green lights will flash until the stone gets there. At that moment, the flashing will switch to a steady green to indicate that the release was valid.
從基本原理來說，前擲線后方的冰面下方嵌有一塊磁條，冰壺內部有一個電路，當人觸碰手柄時，電流會受影響。如果在冰壺過了磁條位置后運動員還觸碰手柄，就會啟動電池供電的紅燈。在冰壺到達磁條位置之前松開手柄，綠燈就會一直閃爍，直到冰壺到達磁條位置。這時綠燈會停止閃爍并一直亮著，表明這次投擲是有效的。
This system also explains why the player releasing (“delivering”) the stone doesn’t wear a glove on their delivery hand: They’re not allowed to, since gloves inhibit the touch sensor.
這套系統的原理也解釋了為什么冰壺運動員投擲冰壺的那只手不能戴手套。這是不被允許的，因為手套觸碰冰壺無法被感應到。
Due to the high caliber of Olympic curlers, hog line violations aren’t common in Olympic curling matches—so you don’t often get to see the red lights in action. But they came in handy when Italy’s Stefania Constantini kept her hand on the handle just a bit too long during a mixed doubles match against Norway on February 3. (Italy still won.)
由于參加奧運會的都是高水平的冰壺運動員，所以前擲線犯規在奧運會冰壺比賽中并不常見，因此你很少看見紅燈亮起來。但是在2月3日意大利對戰挪威的混雙冰壺比賽中，意大利選手斯特凡尼婭·康斯坦丁尼的手放在冰壺手柄上的時間稍微長了一點，紅燈就馬上亮了起來。（不過意大利隊最后還是贏了。）
英文來源：Mental Floss
翻譯&編輯：丹妮
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