詼諧的語言，生動的內容一分鐘快速掌握科技最新動態

With the World Cup soccer tournament underway in South Africa, a couple of things for the science-interested audience to watch for. First, the games will feature a new ball, called the Jabulani, the Zulu word for “celebrate.” And some players think something foul is afoot. They contend that the ball doesn’t behave the way a normal soccer ball should, that it even turns the wrong way in mid-air. Adidas, which makes the ball, claims that the players complaining all have contracts with Adidas’s competitors.隨著南非世界杯足球錦標賽如火如荼地展開，其中一些有趣的現象也將引起科學愛好者們的關注。首先，這場賽事的官方用球JABULANI頗具特色。一些球員認為，該球使用過程中“表現奇怪”。他們表示，“普天同慶”飛行路線詭異，甚至會在半空中突然轉向。對此，該球制造商阿迪達斯聲稱，提出抱怨的球員都與該公司競爭對手簽有合約。

The Sports Technology Research Group at England’s Loughborough University designed the ball. The sections aren’t stitched together anymore. Instead, the seams are glued or heat-sealed. The group leader, Andy Harland, told the Telegraph newspaper, “We have created a ball that is almost perfectly round, and more accurate than ever before.” Well, millions of soccer fans will ultimately decide the latter.英國拉夫堡大學體育科技研究小組擔任了“普天同慶”的設計任務。球體各部分不再采用針線縫合，而是通過膠合或熱粘合技術完成拼接。總設計師安迪·哈蘭告訴《每日電訊報》記者，“我們做出了一顆圓度幾乎完美的球，它的運行線路也前所未有地精準。”當然，后半句是不是真的還得由億萬球迷說了算。

Also watch for the effects of altitude. Some of the games in South Africa will be played at elevations over a mile high. Which could make catching one’s breath the primary goal.南非世界杯另一顯著的特色在于它的“高度”。其中一些賽事將在海拔一英里以上的場地舉辦，定能讓現場觀眾切實體驗到什么叫精彩得“令人窒息”。

—Steve Mirsky——史蒂夫·米爾斯基

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