TUCHONG

With summer quickly approaching, it’s the time of the year in which people like to switch out their wardrobes for the new season. But how about adding something high-tech to the summer looks? Let’s check out some of the ways in which technology is changing the clothes people wear.
夏天迅速来临，每年这个时节，人们都会更换自己衣橱里的衣物，迎接新的一季。不过，在夏日造型中加入一点高科技元素怎么样？让我们看看科技是如何改变人们穿着的。

Whatever the weather

随天气变化调节体温

A Chinese research team has developed 3D printing techniques that can yield a fabric with the ability to regulate temperatures. The technology they used is phase change materials – materials that change properties depending on the environment.

一个中国科研团队开发出一项3D打印技术，可以制造出能够调节体温的织物。该技术使用相变材料，其性能会随环境变化而变化。

The team trapped a polymer inside a fabric that can alternate between a crystal and a non-crystal form. While it can absorb heat in its crystal form, it can release heat in its non-crystal form, therefore regulating the wearer’s temperature.

该团队在这种织物中置入一种聚合物，其形态可以在晶体和非晶体之间交替转换。聚合物在晶体形态时可以吸收热量，而处于非晶体形态时，又能够释放热量，因此可以调节穿戴者的体温。

Zhang Yongyi, a part of the team who studies nanotechnology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Suzhou, said it is the first time “a scalable and controllable 3D printing strategy” has been used to create such clothing.
中国科学院苏州纳米所研究员张永毅表示，这是首次应用“可扩张、可控制的3D打印策略”，制造这种衣物。

Powered by movement
依靠动作发电

Scientists in South Korea have developed a wearable fabric that generates electricity as it bends and stretches. Wearers only need to move naturally to power small electronic devices.
韩国科学家开发出一种可穿戴的织物，能够在弯曲和伸展时产生电能。穿戴者只需要自然地做动作，就可以为小型电子设备供电。

The clothing incorporates a variety of nanogenerators that can use friction to create energy, which can then be effectively stored. Although the clothes contain a small number of electrical components, the clothing feels completely normal.
这种衣物内含多种纳米发电机，可以利用摩擦产生能量，然后高效加以储存。衣物虽然内置少量电子元件，但感觉起来完全正常。

Sang-Woo Kim, who works at the Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea, is proud of his team’s work in developing the clothing. “It feels like an ordinary jacket,” he told Science News for Students after wearing the clothing developed.
韩国成均馆大学的金相宇（音）对其团队开发出这种衣物颇感自豪，他穿着研发出的衣服接受《学生科学新闻》采访时表示，“感觉就像一件普通的夹克。”

Sending signals
发送信号

In another amazing research, clothes could serve as devices themselves. A team of engineering students from the University of Washington, US, have led these efforts by stitching conductive thread into cotton t-shirts. The clothing can then send signals that can be received by cellphones.
在另一项惊人的研究中，衣物本身就可以作为设备使用。美国华盛顿大学的一群工程学专业的学生努力钻研，将导电线缝进了棉质T恤中。然后，这些衣物就可以发送手机能够接收的信号了。

以上文章内容选自《21世纪学生英文报》高一870期