【精英翻譯】的部落格

Printing a Better Future　　3D 科技　印出美好未來

精英翻譯社轉自http://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0062/305815/web/

Get ready for 3D printing to change the world.

準備好讓 3D 影印改變世界吧。

　　How cool would it be to have a machine in your house that could make a cup, an engine part for your car, or even a shirt? It may sound like science fiction▼, but it is already happening now. It is called a 3D printer, and 3D printing is changing the world we live in forever.

　　 要是你家裡有一台機器可以做出一個杯子、一個汽車引擎零件或甚至是一件襯衫的話會有多酷呢？這聽起來可能像是科幻小說的情節，但事實上已經正在發生了。它叫做 3D 列印機，而 3D 列印正在永遠地改變我們所居住的世界。

　　The simplest 3D printers usually use some type of plastic. The machine heats up the plastic and prints layers▼ of it into a 3D object. The plastic then becomes hard as it cools. However, some special printers can use metal, glass, and even living cells. Almost anything can be made from the right materials by using a computer and a special 3D printer.

　　最簡單的 3D 列印機通常使用某種類型的塑膠。機器將塑膠加熱並層層印成一個 3D 的物件。之後當塑膠冷卻時它就變堅固了。然而，有些特別的列印機可以使用金屬、玻璃，甚至是活細胞。只要用一台電腦和一台特殊的 3D 列印機，幾乎所有東西都能被用正確的材質製作出來。

　　Engineers▼ and large companies have used 3D printing for years, but it has only recently become available to everyone. The technology is still in its early stages, but people are using it to make some surprising things. Home users are printing small items like toys and cellphone cases. Scientists are printing body parts and artificial▼ limbs. Some building companies are even using giant 3D printers to build houses and bridges.

　　工程師們及大型公司已經使用 3D 列印機好幾年了，但它最近才開始變得人人都可以使用。該科技尚在發展初期的階段，但人們用它來製作一些讓人驚奇的東西。家庭用戶列印像玩具和手機外殼這些小物件。科學家列印身體部位和義肢。有些建築公司甚至使用巨型的 3D 列印機來建造房子和橋梁。