Can Airbags Save the World?

Giant airbags could one day save the world from the disaster of a cosmic collision with a giant comet, according to a scientist in the United States. Forget nuclear warheads to stop a crash with a comet that could have cataclysmic effects such as the one that is believed to have triggered the demise of the dinosaurs, Hermann Burchard of Oklahoma State University told New Scientist magazine. Far better to send up a space ship equipped with a massive airbag that could be inflated to several kilometres (miles) wide and used to gently buffet the invading solar body away from a collision course with earth. "It seems a safe, simple and realistic idea," Burchard told the magazine's latest edition. However, he admitted there were still numerous details to be worked out including the material for the airbag which had to be light enough to cart into space yet strong enough to bounce the comet off its course to earth. 

按照一位美国科学家的说法，有一天巨型安全气囊会拯救世界，使我们免于同一颗巨大的彗星发生宇宙大碰撞的灾难。俄克拉荷马州立大学的赫尔曼-伯恰德对《新科学家》杂志说，别想用核弹头去阻止同彗星的碰撞，那样做的后果会跟据信使恐龙绝灭的那次灾难差不多。明智得多的办法是发射一艘配备有巨型安全气囊的宇宙飞船。气囊可以膨胀到数公里(英里)宽，用以驱使入侵的太阳系天体逐步偏离撞向地球的航向。伯恰德对最新一期《新科学家》杂志说："这似乎是一个安全、简单并且切实可行的主意。"不过，他承认还有许多细节问题需要解决，比如气囊的材质问题。气囊要非常轻以便发射到宇宙中，同时又要足够坚韧以便把彗星弹离冲向地球的路线。

Remarks：听起来像童话？很多伟大的科学构想开始时都给人这样的感觉，所以爱因斯坦说："想像力比知识更重要。"