《那些古怪又讓人憂心的問題》第62期:氦氣球降落傘(1)
FALLing WITH HELIUM
Q. What if I jumped out of an airplane with a couple of tanks of helium and one huge, un-inflated balloon? Then, while falling, I release the helium and fill the balloon. How long of a fall would I need in order for the balloon to slow me enough that I could land safely?
Q．如果我揹着幾罐氦氣和一個巨大的未充氣的氣球從飛機上跳下來會怎麼樣？如果我在下墜的過程中給氣球充氦氣，那麼我需要從多高的高度跳下來，才能使氣球讓我減速到可以安全落地的速度呢？A. AS RIDICULOUS AS IT sounds, this is-sort of-plausible.
A．雖然這聽上去有點滑稽，不過這種方法還是……可行的。某種意義上。
Falling from great heights is dangerous.[citation needed ] A balloon could actually help save you, although a regular helium one from a party obviously won't do the trick.
從極高的高度跳下來是非常危險的。一個氣球也許能夠保證你摔不死，但派對上常用的那種氦氣球顯然不管用。If the balloon is large enough, you don't even need the helium. A balloon will act as a parachute, slowing your fall to nonfatal speeds.
如果你的氣球夠大，甚至連氦氣都不用，氣球本身就能充當降落傘，讓你減速到非致命的速度。Avoiding a high-speed landing is, unsurprisingly, the key to survival. As one medical paper put it . . .
毫無疑問，避免高速觸地是保證存活的關鍵所在。正如一篇醫學論文所說的那樣：It is, of course, obvious that speed, or height of fall, is not in itself injurious . . . but a high rate of change of velocity, such as occurs after a 10 story fall onto concrete, is another matter.
很顯然觸地速度，或者說下落的高度本身並不致命……但極大的速度變化率（比如你從10樓摔到底樓的水泥地上帶來的變化）可就是另一回事兒了。. . . which is just a wordy version of the old saying “It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop at the end.”
……這個表述太囉嗦，還是古語來得簡潔：“害死你的不是下落過程，而是最後的突然停止。”To act as a parachute, a balloon filled with air-rather than helium-would have to be 10 to 20 meters across, far too big to be inflated with portable tanks. A powerful fan could be used to fill it with ambient air, but at that point, you may as well just use a parachute.
爲了能產生降落傘那樣的效果，充滿空氣而不是氦氣的氣球的直徑需要有10～20米——這麼大的體積光靠便攜式的儲氣罐可是充不滿的。雖然一個馬力強勁的風扇可以用環境空氣把氣球充滿，但這樣你還不如直接用個降落傘呢。Helium
氦氣The helium makes things easier.
有了氦氣，事情就變得容易多了。It doesn't take too many helium balloons to lift a person. In 1982, Larry Walters flew across Los Angeles in a lawn chair lifted by weather balloons, eventually reaching several miles in altitude. After passing through LAX airspace, he descended by shooting some of the balloons with a pellet gun.
用不了幾個氦氣球就能把人“擡”起來。1982年，拉里•沃爾特斯在庭院椅上綁上了許多氣象氣球，乘着他的“飛椅”升到了幾千米高的空中，並橫跨了整個洛杉磯。在飛過洛杉磯國際機場空域後，他用隨身攜帶的氣槍打爆了幾個氣球用以降落。
