(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.
The rise in technology, particularly for information and communication, is radically transforming lifestyles. For example, many people can now work from home and still be in almost constant contact with the office. Or maybe you prefer your own couch for watching a recently released movie rather than trekking to the local theater.
"This technology induced lifestyle changes affect how people consume energy and ultimately affect the energy demand of the nation."
Ashok Sekar, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. To assess how our changing usage of technology might alter our energy consumption, Sekar and his colleagues first set out to determine how much more we're in our homes than we were in the past.
For more than a decade, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has surveyed how Americans spend their time each day. More than 11,000 citizens respond to the survey each year.
Crunching the numbers from this survey, the researchers found that Americans are definitely logging more hours in their living rooms.
"When compared to 2003, in 2012, Americans spent eight days more at home."
That's seven fewer days spent in "nonresidential spaces" and one less day spent traveling per year. And that's on average. The younger generation exhibited even stronger homebody tendencies.
"The population aged 18 to 24 spent two weeks more at home in 2012 compared to 2003. Which is 70 percent higher change than the average population."
And that shift in location translates into surprisingly large energy savings. The researchers calculate that Americans are reducing energy use by 1,200 trillion Btus by not hopping in our cars. And we're saving thousand trillion Btus by skipping public appearances at the mall, movie theaters, and the office. The study is in the journal Joule. That's J-O-U-L-E, which like the Btu is a unit of energy.
Now, obviously we still use energy while at home. But not all activities are equally draining when it comes to our dependence on the power grid.
"Activities at home on average takes less energy per minute compared to time spent in your car or commercial buildings."
To save even more energy, Sekar suggests that we focus on improving the energy efficiency of home appliances and consumer electronics—the stuff we use more when we're working from home. All day. In our pajamas. See, we even saved the energy we'd otherwise expend getting dressed.
Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.
参考译文
这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。
技术的兴起，特别是信息和通信技术的发展，彻底改变了人们的生活方式。比如，现在很多人可以在家办公，而且依然能与办公室持续保持联系。或者你更喜欢在自己的沙发上看最近发布的电影，而不是去当地的电影院看电影。
“这种技术引发的生活方式改变，会影响人们消耗能源的方式，最终影响国家的能源需求。”
得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的博士后研究员阿肖克·塞卡尔说到。为了评估正在变化的技术应用如何改变我们的能源消耗，塞卡尔和同事首先着手确定我们现在待在家里的时间比过去多了多少。
十多年来，美国劳工统计局调查了美国人每天花费时间的方式。每年有超过1.1万名市民回复调查。
通过统计调查数据，研究人员发现美国人宅在家里的时间明显增加了。
“2012年美国人待在家里的时间比2003年多了8天。”
在这8天中，人们每年在“非居住空间”花费的时间减少了7天，旅行时间减少了1天。这是平均水平。而年轻一代甚至表现出了更强的居家趋势。
“与2003年相比，2012年18至24岁人口的居家时间增加了2周。这比平均水平高出70%。”
而这种活动场所的改变所转化成的能源节约量高得令人吃惊。研究人员估计，美国人通过不开车可节约能源1200万亿英热。而不逛商场、不去电影院和办公室，我们可以减少上千万亿英热的能源消耗。这项研究结果发表在《焦耳》期刊上。焦耳与英热一样，都是能量单位。
现在，显然我们在家时仍要使用能源。但是就对电网的依赖程度来说，并非所有活动消耗的能源都是同等的。
“与在汽车或商业建筑中花费时间相比，在家里活动平均每分钟消耗的能源更少。”
为了节省更多能源，塞卡尔建议我们提高家用电器和消费电子产品的能源效率，这两种用品是我们在家办公时最常使用的物品。一整天都穿着睡衣。看，在家我们甚至连换衣服的能量都节省了。
谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
重点讲解
重点讲解：
1. set out to do sth. 开始；着手；
The state announced a clear-cut policy and set out to carry it through.
政府宣布了一项明确的政策，并着手付诸实施。
2. respond to 回复；回答；回应；
You have several ways to respond to this rude question.
你有几个方法可以回答这些无礼的问题。
3. translate into (使)转变为；(使)转化为；
The company's concern for each stakeholder will sooner or later translate into economic success.
公司对每一位利益相关者的关心最终会转化为经济上的成功。
4. when it coems to 谈到；涉及；
Validating data is the most important habit you can possibly adopt when it comes to security.
