Robots could end animal captivity in zoos and marine parks

湖北 陈永战

Could robotic dolphins help marine parks become more humane spaces where people can learn about and connect with nature?

Edge Innovations,a special effects company that has spent decades creating some of Hollywood's most memorable robotic animals,thinks so.The first step toward that future could be Delle,an 8.5-footlong,600-pound robotic dolphin that's able to swim semi-autonomously（半自动地）using simple AI,or remotely under control of a human operator.

Simulating（模拟）a dolphin's graceful movements with machinery and computers was not easy.To build a robotic dolphin,Conti and his colleagues in Edge Innovations studied hours of videos of dolphins,analyzing the function of different parts of the animal.The development process was both science and art.“Inside they're all machines.But what makes a dolphin distinctive（与众不同的）is actually the art and the knowledge that we bring to it,”Conti said.

From an industry perspective,what's probably most attractive about robotic dolphins isn't what they can do,but what they don't need:food,sleep,training,and veterinary（兽医的）care.That's not to say robotic dolphins are cheap:Delle costs between3 to5 million,while a live dolphin can cost marine parks about$100,000.The cost of using robotic animals is significantly more than buying their live counterparts.But over a 10-year lifespan,it saves many,many tens of millions of dollars to only have to plug your animals in at night to recharge.

It's too early to determine exactly how much money marine parks could save with robotic dolphins,but making the switch would almost certainly save massive amounts of suffering among these smart and social sea creatures.

Delle,the robotic dolphin,is so convincing（令人信服的）that people,turtles,and fish often think it's a real animal.But real dolphins aren't fooled.After all,dolphins are among the smartest creatures on the planet.

Reading Check

1.Which word can describe the process of copying dolphins'movements?

A.Simple. B.Challenging.

C.Worthless. D.Boring.

2.What's an advantage of robotic dolphins from an industry perspective?

A.They're cheap.

B.They can be purchased easily.

C.They're made with advanced technology.

D.They need no food,sleep,training or special care.

3.What's the author's attitude to adopting robotic dolphins?

A.Unclear. B.Worried.

C.Approving. D.Careless.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

To build a robotic dolphin,Conti and his colleagues in Edge Innovations studied hours of videos of dolphins,analyzing the function of different parts of the animal.为了建造一只机器海豚，在Edge Innovations 工作的康迪和他的同事研究了数小时的海豚视频，分析了海豚不同部位的功能。

【点石成金】该句中的To build a robotic dolphin 为动词不定式作目的状语；analyzing the function of different parts of the animal作伴随状语。