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Giving new voices
石墨烯：改变世界的神奇材料
How wonderful would it be if new technology could help the physically challenged? A smart wearable device that enables people with speaking disabilities to communicate normally is giving hope to those without a voice.
如果新技术能帮助残障人士该有多好?一款可穿戴智能设备让有语言障碍的人能够正常交流，给那些无法发声的人带来了希望。
Tao Luqi, a research fellow at Chongqing University, used a material called graphene to produce an artificial throat with a tiny sensor that allows people with speech impairments to speak normally, according to a paper published in Nature Communications in 2017.Tao has continued his work on the device for the last four years.
据一篇2017年发表在《自然-通讯》的论文称，重庆大学研究员陶璐琪用一种叫做石墨烯的材料制作了一个具有微型感应器的人工喉，能够让有语言障碍的人正常地说话。在过去四年里，陶璐琪都在开展这一设备的研究工作。
Although it’s a tiny mechanical sensor, it can work wonders. The device can detect weak vibrations and can produce sounds across a wide spectrum, from 100Hz to 40kHz, China Daily reported. Humans can detect sounds in a frequency range from about 20Hz to 20kHz.
虽然这只是一个很小的机械传感器，但却可以创造奇迹。据《中国日报》报道，这个装置可以探测微弱震动，并产生100Hz-40kHz的宽频谱声音。而人类可以感知到大约20Hz-20kHz的频率范围内的声音。
“Although the speaking impaired people can’t speak, their throats can vibrate,” Tao told The Paper. “If I put a device made of graphene into the throat of a person, it can detect the vibrations and make sounds using electrical signals.”
“聋哑人士虽然不能说话，但是喉咙可以震动，” 陶璐琪在接受澎湃新闻采访时表示。 “如果我把一个石墨烯制成的装置放进人的喉咙里，它就能探测到震动，并通过电信号发出声音。”
Even whispers, screams and coughs at different frequencies can be recorded and encoded by the device, and it can arrange them into groups. When the device detects the sounds in a particular group, it will reproduce the words, phrases or sentences, according to Tao.
甚至是不同频率的耳语，尖叫和咳嗽都可以被该设备记录，编码，并进行分类。陶璐琪表示，当设备探测到特定组别中的声音时，它就会重现单词、短语或句子。
“But the speaking impaired people need to classify their own language sounds in groups and memorize them, just like typing keys on a keyboard,” Tao said.
“但聋哑人士需要将他们自己的语言声音自行分组并熟记，就像在键盘上输入按键一样，”陶璐琪称。
Tao’s artificial throat has brought the possibilities of graphene to reality. It’s been 17 years since the discovery of graphene, and the world has been waiting for the “wonder material” to provide groundbreaking innovations. At only the width of an atom, graphene is the thinnest material known to humans – and also the strongest. The material is also an efficient conductor of heat and electricity, and is ultra-lightweight, China Daily reported.
陶璐琪的人工喉将石墨烯的种种可能性变为现实。石墨烯已经被发现了17年之久，全世界都在等待这种“神奇材料”带来提供突破性的创新。厚度仅为一个原子的石墨烯，是人类已知的最薄的，最坚固的材料。《中国日报》报道称，超轻的石墨烯也是有效的热导体和电导体。
“Graphene really does have fantastic properties and its potential is huge,” said Khasha Ghaffarzadeh, a director at UK-based research consultancy IDTechEx.
英国研究咨询公司IDTechEx的一名主管卡莎·加法尔扎德说:“石墨烯确实具有神奇的性能，其潜力是巨大的。”
China has emerged as a key country for graphene production. Around 3,000 Chinese companies are exploring uses for graphene, according to government statistics in 2018, while half of the world’s graphene-related patents have been filed in China, according to China Daily.
中国已成为石墨烯的主要生产国。据《中国日报》报道，我国政府2018年的统计数据显示，约有3000家中国企业在探索石墨烯的应用，世界上一半的与石墨烯相关的专利都在中国。
“It’s a brand-new science, and China is trying to take the lead,” said Neill Ricketts, chief executive at Versarien, a UK-based advanced material company.
“这是一门全新的科学，中国正试图发挥带头作用，”英国先进材料公司沃萨润的首席执行官尼尔·里基茨表示。
