What happens if you don’t put your phone in airplane mode? - Lindsay DeMarchi

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: 穎君 紀

Right now, invisible signals are flying through the air all around you.

現在，你周圍的空中有許多 看不見的訊號飛來飛去。

Beyond the spectrum of light your eyes can see,

在你肉眼可見的光譜之外，

massive radio waves as wide as houses

有很多跟房子一樣寬的無線電波

carry information between computers, GPS systems, cell phones, and more.

在電腦、全球定位系統、 手機等等之間傳遞資訊。

In fact, the signal your phone broadcasts is so strong,

其實你的手機 發送的訊號非常強大，

if your eyes could see radio waves,

強到如果你的肉眼能看到無線電波，

your phone would be visible from Jupiter.

那麼從木星上都能看到你的手機—

At least your special eyes would be able to see this if the sky

至少在這前提下， 你的特殊肉眼就能看見它：

如果天空中沒有滿是

wasn’t flooded with interference from routers, satellites, and, of course,

來自路由器、衛星的干擾，

people flying who haven't put their phones on airplane mode.

還有來自飛機上沒有 把手機切換到飛航模式的人。

You see, this setting isn't to protect your flight,

這個功能不是為了保護你乘坐的班機。

it's to protect everyone else in your flight path.

而是要保護飛行路線上的其他人。

Cell phones connect to networks by emitting information

手機連結到網路的方式，

是用電磁波的形式發送資訊；

in the form of electromagnetic waves;

specifically, radio waves,

明確來說，是無線電波，

which occupy this band of the electromagnetic spectrum.

佔據電磁波譜中的這個頻段。

These radio waves come in a range of wavelengths,

這些無線電波的波長不一，

and let’s imagine your special eyes see the various wavelengths

咱們想像一下，你的 特殊肉眼可以看到不同波長

as different colors.

以不同顏色呈現。

When you make a call, your phone generates a radio wave signal

當你打電話時，手機 會產生無線電波訊號，

which it throws to the nearest cell tower.

訊號會被丟向最近的基地台。

If you're far from service,

如果你離服務範圍很遠，

your phone will expend more battery power to send a higher amplitude signal

手機會耗費更多電池功率

來發出更大振幅的訊號，

in an effort to make a connection.

以試圖建立連結。

Once connected, this signal is relayed between cell towers

連結之後，此訊號在基地台之間轉傳，

all the way to your call’s recipient.

一路傳到這通電話的接收方。

Since your call isn’t the only signal out here,

因為外頭不只有你這通電話的訊號，

cell towers managing the calls assign each phones involved their own wavelength.

管理通話的基地台

會指派不同波長給每台 正在撥號或接電話的手機。

This specific color ensures you’re not picking up other people’s calls.

這特定的顏色能確保 你不會誤接到別人的來電。

It’s even slightly different from the wavelength

它甚至和你的手機接收 資訊的波長有些微的不同，

your phone is receiving information on,

so as not to interfere with that incoming signal.

才不會干擾到要進來的訊號。

But there are only so many colors to choose from.

但能選的顏色就只有那麼多。

And since the advent of Wi-Fi,

且自從 Wi-Fi 出現後，

the demand for ownership of these wavelengths has increased dramatically.

對於波長所有權的需求大大增加。

With all these signals in the air and a limited number of colors to assign,

空中有這麼多訊號， 能指派的顏色卻有限，

avoiding interference is increasingly difficult.

干擾越來越難防止。

Especially when cell towers receive too many signals at once,

特別是當基地台

同一時間收到太多訊號時，

such as during regional emergencies, when everyone's trying to use their phones.

比如發生區域性緊急事件，

人人都在試著用手機時。

But other sources of interference are more preventable,

但其他干擾來源就比較能預防，

like phones searching for signals from thousands of meters in the sky.

比如在數千公尺高空上 尋找訊號的手機。

Phones on planes are very far from cell towers,

飛機上的手機距離基地台非常遠，

so they work overtime to send the loudest signals they can

因此它們會加班工作， 盡可能發送最強的訊號，

in search of service.

來尋找服務。

But since planes travel so quickly,

但因為飛機行進非常快速，

the phones might find themselves much closer to a cell tower than expected—

手機與基地台的距離可能比預期的還近，

blasting it with a massive signal that drowns out those on the ground.

就不小心用強大的訊號轟炸該基地台，

把地面的訊號都淹沒掉。

So when you fly without using airplane mode,

所以在飛機上沒開啟飛航模式的話，

you’re essentially acting as a military radio jammer—

你就會變成軍用的無線電干擾器——

sending out giant radio waves that interfere with nearby signals.

發出巨大的無線電波，

干擾附近的訊號。

Even on the ground, almost all our electronics emit rogue radio waves,

就連在地面上， 幾乎我們所有的電子產品

都會無法控制地發出無線電波，

slowing down our internet and making our calls choppy.

讓我們的網路速度變慢， 通話斷斷續續。

This leads consumers to pay for more bandwidth,

這就導致消費者要購買更多頻寬，

pushing service providers to take over more of the radio spectrum,

迫使電信業者要取得 無線電波譜上的更多頻段，

and eventually, send more satellites into the sky—

最終，就得送更多衛星上太空——

creating a vicious cycle that could eventually blot out the stars.

形成惡性循環，最終可能 會把星星都遮住了。

Though, even without these satellites,

不過，就算沒有這些衛星，

this system is threatening our relationship with the cosmos.

這個系統仍然會威脅到 我們與宇宙的關係。

Radio telescopes used for astronomy

天文學用的無線電望遠鏡

rely on a specific band of wavelengths to see deep into space.

要仰賴特定的波長頻段 才能看見太空深處。

However, while this range is supposedly protected,

然而，雖然這個範圍 應該是受到保護，

the cutoffs aren’t enforced.

卻沒有確實被保護到。

For example, the Very Large Array can see signals throughout our solar system

比如，「超大天線陣列」

可以看到我們太陽系中 1~50 GHz 範圍的訊號。

from 1 to 50 GHz.

But if it tries looking for signals below 5 GHz,

但如果它試圖尋找 5 GHz 以下的訊號，

its search could be drowned out by a sea of phones on 5G networks.

可能就被大量 5G 網路的手機淹沒。

Today, nowhere on Earth is truly radio quiet.

現今，地球上沒有任何地方 沒有無線電干擾。

Satellites relaying signals around the globe

衛星把訊號傳遞到全球各地，

have blanketed the planet in radio waves.

已經讓地球被無線電波覆蓋。

But there are a few places with less crowded skies,

但有少數地方的天空沒有那麼擁擠，

where radio telescopes can look deep into space.

在那些地方，無線電望遠鏡 可以看到太空深處，

Here, we can see the black hole at the center of the Milky Way,

在這裡，我們能看到 銀河中央的黑洞，

and uncover the secrets of galaxies up to 96 billion light years away.

並發掘達九百六十億 光年外的銀河的秘密。

Well, so long as we’re not blinded by phones

嗯，前提是我們不被在頭等艙 發送訊號的手機給遮蔽。

sending signals from first class.