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So, I have this problem.
我遇到了个问题。
When I plug my laptop charger into an outlet, that weird box between the plug and the part where it connects to my computer, it gets super hot, like I can’t even touch it.
我给我的笔记本充电的时候，插头和电脑插孔中间那个怪怪的小方块就会变得超级烫，烫得我摸都不敢摸。
So, I’ve invited Audrey Quinn from NPR’s Planet Money team to help explain what’s going on with my super-hot laptop charger.
为此，我邀请了国家公共电台星球货币团队的Audrey Quin来帮我解释一下超级烫的充电器是怎么回事。
So, Audrey, what’s the deal?
Audrey，我这是怎么回事呢？
"Yeah, the first thing you have to understand is that the kind of power that comes out of your wall is actually different from the kind of power that your electronics want.
“嗯，首先，你得明白，从你墙壁出来的电压和你的电子设备需要的电压其实是不一样的。”
It comes out in the form of alternating current electricity.
墙壁出来的是交流电。
That means the electrons are pulsing back and forth and your electronics want what’s called direct current power,
也就是说，电线里的电子会来回移动，而你的电子设备需要的是所谓的直流电。
that’s where the electrons are flowing straight like a river So, they have to convert it.
直流电的电子则会像河水一样沿着一个方向流动，这中间就需要进行转换。
And when they do that conversion, energy is wasted, so what you’re feeling is energy lost in the form of heat.
转换的时候会产生能量的浪费，大家感受到的其实是能量在以热能的形式散发。
"Okay, so, why can’t I just power my laptop with alternating current? If that’s coming out of the wall? "
“好吧。那我为什么不能直接用交流电给我的电脑充电呢，如果墙里出来的就是交流电的话？”
Yeah, that works just fine for things like lightbulbs or a hairdryer, but electronics are a little more complicated.
你说的没错。电灯或者吹风机之类的东西是可以直接用交流电的，但电子设备要稍微复杂一点儿：
---If you were to send that alternating current directly to your laptop, you’d probably see a puff of blue smoke.
如果你直接用交流电给笔记本充电的话，你很可能会看到你的电脑冒蓝色的烟雾。
"Oh god, that sounds bad.
啊，天啦，听起来就很讨厌。
Okay, so, if DC power is so great, why don’t we just have it in our houses in the first place? ?
好吧，那如果直流电这么好，我们一开始为什么不直接往家里接直流电呢？
"This goes back to the late 1800s.
“故事还要从19世纪晚期说起。
There were two guys who represented the two different kinds of power.
那时交流电和直流电都分别有自己的代表发明家。
There was Thomas Edison, he was all about DC power, and then there’s Nikola Tesla, he’s your AC guy.
一位是托马斯·爱迪生，他的关键词是直流电，另一位是尼古拉·特斯拉，也就是你现在用的交流电的发明家。
They’re totally duking it out.
这两人进行了激烈的比拼。
Every time a new building goes in, it’s kind of this 'oh, what’s going to happen? Are they going to use AC or DC?'
每次有新建筑落成，就会有“噢，这次会用哪种电？他们会选交流电还是直流电？’的问题。
What happens eventually is that AC power is much better at traveling long distances.
最终的结果是，交流电在远距离输电时表现更出色。
So, ultimately, the entire power grid gets set up to spread AC power."
所以最后整个输电网都采用了交流电。”
But today we have all of these devices.
然而，今天我们有各式各样的电子设备。
We have smartphones, we have electric cars, we have tablets, we have computers, and all these things are hungry for DC power.
有智能手机，电动汽车，平板电脑，笔记本电脑，所有这些设备用的都是直流电。
Do you think we could ever switch back and maybe realize Edison’s original dream of DC power in every home?
那有没有可能换回去，实现爱迪生挨家挨户普及直流电的愿景什么的，你觉得这有可能吗？
"The US has one of the best, most reliable power grids in the world, so people aren’t saying 'let’s knock out this entire grid.'
“美国已经有全世界最好最可靠的电网了，所以人们没想说‘我们把现在的电网都推倒吧。’
You could just have one converter box in your house, and that way you’re not converting AC to DC at the level of every single device."
不过，你只需要在家里放一个转换器就能搞定转换的问题，这样就不用每个设备一个转换器了。
So, if we can reduce the number of conversions from AC power to DC power, even a little bit, we’re going to save a lot of energy.
所以，如果我们可能减少交流电转直流电所用的转换器数量，即便是少用那么一两个，我们也能节约大量能源。
