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This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Julia Rosen.
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When an earthquake hits or a volcano erupts, scientists traditionally record the shaking using a specially designed instrument called a seismometer. These sensors are extremely sensitive, but they're also expensive and distributed unevenly around the world. So scientists are working on another strategy to monitor earthquakes: using fiber-optic cables—like the ones that form the backbone of the internet.
"So the motions are very clear. Specifically, you can see the arrival of different bits of the seismic energy from the location at which the earthquake occurred. So the p wave and the s wave, and the different phases that move out from the site of rupture in the earth, are used by seismologists to locate the event. And so we can detect the important pieces of information above the noise using the fiber optic cable and then, in that way, the fiber optic measurement is just as good as a seismometer."
Nate Lindsey, a PhD student and seismologist at the University of California, Berkeley. Here's how it works: the scientists basically take a snapshot of the fiber by shining a laser down it and measuring the photons that bounce back after scattering off of small cracks and impurities in the glass. By doing this tens of thousands of times a second, the researchers can record how the cable deforms as seismic waves pass through it.

So far, Lindsey's team has tested the technique in optical fibers they installed themselves in Fairbanks, Alaska, and around the Bay Area. They got promising results. But their ultimate goal is to capitalize on the vast network of unused cables—known as dark fiber—that's already been installed by telecommunications providers for future use. Dark fiber covers much of the country, and stretches across the ocean basins—which are hard to study using traditional seismometers.
"To put the same sensor near a volcano that occurs offshore requires infrastructure to deploy the sensor, like a big boat. It also requires a tethered cable, a battery. The sensor has to be waterproof, obviously. It's also very corrosive underneath the ocean, and so there's been a limitation of our ability to study offshore volcanoes. Similarly faults. Earthquake processes are understood based on faults that are on land."
Offshore cables could also improve earthquake early warning systems in places like the Pacific Northwest, where big, dangerous earthquakes actually occur under the ocean.
"We can record that earthquake more quickly and then provide a warning that much quicker. So it might be a second or two seconds more that this fiber-optic technology provides."
Lindsey is presenting his work this week at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in New Orleans. The results were also published recently in Geophysical Research Letters. If the technique proves reliable, Lindsey says it could usher in a whole new way of studying earthquakes and volcanoes. All that dark fiber may shed light on the Earth beneath our feet.
Thanks for the minute for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Julia Rosen.

参考译文

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学spinMpPH@+&wDw。我是朱莉娅·罗森Wjz097R*-=%3#。
有一分钟时间吗？
当地震来袭或火山喷发时，科学家通常用专门设计的地震仪来记录震动i;y*54MV*l。这些传感器极为敏感，但是它们也很昂贵，而且在世界各地分布不均衡.;-!dwMR0BX3p.OpnH#6。因此，科学家正在研究另一种监测地震的策略：用光纤电缆，它也是构成互联网的主干(yOW(60NRnZU6。
“所以运动过程非常清晰(!KNZNF#6Z|(w。具体而言，你可以从地震发生地点看到各种不同地震能量的到来#D]4P&&T)9X。地震学家用纵波、横波以及地球破裂部位移出的不同阶段来定位地震发生地点~^ZBV&QIy2。所以，我们可以用光纤电缆检测到噪音之上的重要信息，这种光纤测量地震的方式和地震仪一样好用xTlSx~9]SLB。”
内特·林赛是加州大学伯克利分校的博士生和地震学家jY%NAbjujO~H_n。下面是工作原理：基本上，科学家是通过照射激光测量玻璃中分散的小裂纹和杂质回弹后所产生的光子，对光纤进行抓拍oj]qZm,rt%6Oe-。每秒钟进行数万次抓拍，当地震波通过时，研究人员就能记录下光纤是如何变形的xWB&U6#Q&j37#lVax0。
林赛的团队在美国阿拉斯加州费尔班克斯和海湾地区安装了光纤，到目前为止，该团队已经在光纤中测试了这种技术pZ.,qI_2-Dm9。他们得到了令人振奋的结果nq!|P5GiHP。但是他们的最终目标是利用大量未使用的光纤网络——即暗光纤，它们已被电信供应商安装，以供未来使用xw&FBxMhyt3tISeP&J。暗光纤覆盖了全美大部分地区，并延伸至整个海洋盆地地区，而海洋盆地很难用传统的地震仪来研究x9pZ@HJ3zTm,hm#Y3vm。
“在近海火山附近放置传感器需要基础设施，比如一艘大船Tt|Shs!i~QCq3。同时还需要一个固定的电缆和一个电池1WPwdbwTl=(~3d2|。当然，传感器必须防水cETbuBuhj8NR。传感器在海洋下有腐蚀性，这使我们研究近海火山的能力受到了限制k+d4;&=cp%.nNr]+。火山和地震会产生类似的断层9K|8rnk|dOK@。理解地震过程要以陆地上的断层为依据owsG)@.EeH7Jj+。”
“近海电缆还可以改善太平洋西北部等地区的地震预警系统，实际上该地区的大规模危险地震发生在海底].FDTa(zUI8Sd]XLiu.。”
“我们可以更快地记录地震，然后更快地提供警报TD9Az]uSr5|UWU4Nx。所以，这种光纤技术提供警报需要一两秒或更多的时间01G)oJXlvXBRtDNPqLb。”
林赛本周将在新奥尔良举行的美国地球物理联盟秋季会议上报告他的研究成果x3A~QJGarA,80&.,;N0d。该结果最近发表在《地球物理研究快报》上.4Takvk=fC+7h。林赛表示，如果这项技术证明可靠，它可能会开创一种研究地震和火山的全新方式.sFwk&_-rA。所有暗光纤都能照亮我们脚下的地球Wv*(DvQWn~Ks6GN。
谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学YjAjvRSa(!Q-YB%3。我是朱莉娅·罗森squ_=sW]3PiI|8OO。

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重点讲解

重点讲解：
1. work on 研究；对…作调查；
例句：We work on improving visual acuity.
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2. capitalize on 利用；
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通常，企业希望利用这些流程以实现增长L98e|Ajte@v1s]sSou。
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4. usher in 开启；迎来；引入；
例句：After giving up a major and choice, will usher in a new world.
重大的放弃与选择之后，将迎来一片新的世界-KXSwOavOj。