In 2010, South Korea experienced a particularly cold winter.
2010 年，韩国经历了一个特别寒冷的冬天。
People couldn't activate their smartphones while wearing gloves,
人们带手套时无法使用智能手机，
so they began wielding snack sausages— causing one company to see a 40% rise in sausage sales.
所以人们开始用零食香肠来控制屏幕——使一个公司的香肠销量上升了40% 。
So, what could sausages do that gloves couldn't?
所以，什么是香肠可以做到，但手套做不到的呢？
In other words, how do touchscreens actually work?
换句话说，触摸屏实际上是如何工作的？
In 1965, the first ever touchscreen was invented to help British air traffic controllers efficiently update flight plans.
1965 年，第一块触摸屏被发明出来用于帮助英国空中交通管制员有效地更新飞行航班。
However, the technology was too unwieldy and expensive for widespread use.
但这种技术因为过于笨重和昂贵，而无法广泛应用。
Over the following decades, engineers further developed this technology and experimented with alternative kinds of touchscreens.
在接下来的几十年里，工程师进一步开发了这项技术，并试验了其他类型的触摸屏。
Soon, resistive touchscreens dominated the market.
很快，电阻式触摸屏主导了市场。
But then, in 2007, Apple released the first iPhone.
但在后来的2007年，苹果公司推出了第一代iPhone。
It was a breakthrough, yet it functioned using the same principle
这是一个重大突破，但它工作原理
as the first touchscreen: capacitance.
和第一块触摸屏是一样的：电容式。
Nowadays, capacitive and resistive touchscreens are two of the most common types.
现在，电容式和电阻式触摸屏是最常见的两种类型。
Both use an external input to complete their electric circuits.
它们都用外部的输入来构成完整的电路。
In conductive materials, electrons flow around atoms, forming an electric current.
在导电的材料中，电子在原子周围流动，形成电流。
In contrast to insulators,
与绝缘体相反，
the electrons in conductors are weakly bound and flow easily.
导体中的电子结合力较弱，容易流动。
A resistive touchscreen has two layers.
电阻式触摸屏有两层。
The top is a clear, flexible material— usually plastic— while the bottom is something rigid, like glass.
上层是透明、有弹性的材料—— 通常是塑料——下层是一些比较坚硬的材料，比如玻璃。
These layers are coated with a conductive substance and separated by a thin gap.
这两层涂有导电物质，由一个小缝隙隔开。
When something pushes hard enough, the layers connect, completing the electric circuit.
当施加足够的压力，两层便会接触，连接全部的电路。
This causes a change in voltage that the machine's software reacts to.
这将导致电压的变化，机器软件会对此作出反应。
Resistive touchscreens can be a little unresponsive, but they're generally cheap and durable, so they're favored for industrial or mass use.
电阻式触摸屏可能有一些反应延迟，但它们因为比较便宜和耐用，所以更多用于工业或大规模使用。
A vast majority of the touchscreens produced in 2007 were resistive.
大部分在2007年产出的触摸屏是电阻式的。
But in the years following the iPhone's release, most became capacitive.
但在iPhone推出之后，大部分生产的是电容式触摸屏。
Individual models vary, but smartphone touchscreens today typically consist of a protective,
不同的手机型号可能有所差异，但大部分今日的手机触摸屏通常由保护性
insulating glass exterior and an LCD screen at the bottom that produces the images you see.
和绝缘的外玻璃和产生你所看到的图片的底部液晶屏组成的。
Between the glass exterior and the LCD screen are several sheets.
外玻璃和液晶屏之间有一些薄片。
One is lined with rows of a transparent, conductive material that carry an alternating electric current.
其中一个是由一排排透明的导电材料组成，承担着交流电。
A thin insulating layer separates these conductive lines from others that are arranged as columns.
薄薄的绝缘体把这些导线从排成列的导线中分开。
One on top of the other, the lines form a grid.
一层叠着一层，导线形成网格。
The points where they intersect are called nodes.
它们的交叉点叫交点。
The phone's battery draws electrons along the first layer of lines, and some electrons accumulate at every node, creating a small electric field.
手机的电池吸引着第一层导线周围的电子，每一个交点积聚一些电子，形成一个小型电场。
These screens are called capacitive touchscreens because the nodes act like capacitors by storing charge.
这些屏幕被称为电容触摸屏，因为节点通过存储电荷而像电容器一样发挥作用。
They're generally easier to use than resistive touchscreens because they interact directly with your finger without the application of force.
它们大部分比电阻式触摸屏好用，因为他们和你的指尖直接接触，而不需要对屏幕施加压力。
Your body is a great conductor and is constantly transmitting electric currents.
人体是一个不断地传输电流的导体。
Why?
为什么？
Because about 60% of you is water.
这是因为你60%的身体都是水分。
Now, while chemically pure water is an insulator, most water is impure.
虽然化学纯水是一个绝缘体，但大部分水是有杂质的。
The water inside you is loaded with ions— atoms or molecules that have a net electrical charge.
你身体里的水分含有离子——具有净电荷的原子或分子。
So when you click on an app, your finger functions like a third electrical line.
所以当你点击一个软件时，你的手指就像第三条导线。
It interacts with the existing electric field,
它和现存的电场互相影响，
which induces a weak electric current that travels through your finger and eventually back into the phone.
产生一条微弱的电流从你的指尖穿过，最后回到手机。
This changes the amount of charge at the affected nodes.
这改变了受影响节点的电荷量。
And voltage measurements along the second layer of lines tell the phone's microprocessor which part of the screen is being touched.
在第二层导线旁边的电压测量告知手机的微处理器屏幕哪里被触碰。
However, if you try using a smartphone while your hands are wet or gloved, you'll probably have some trouble.
如果你在手湿或者带手套的情况下用手机的话，你可能会遇到一些问题。
Both interrupt the electrical connection between your finger and phone.
两者都会中断手指和手机之间的电气连接。
If water is splashed across the screen, it might trigger many underlying nodes,
如果水被撒在屏幕上，这可能触发许多下面的交点，
and the phone could act like you've touched it in multiple places at once.
而手机表现的像是你同时在多个地方触碰过它。
On the other hand, gloves are insulators, so the charge has nowhere to go.
在另一方面，手套是绝缘体，所以电流无处可去。
Meanwhile, objects that conduct electricity about as well as your finger— like banana peels and certain processed meats— can all activate the screen—
同时，和你手指一样的导电体——比如香蕉皮和一些加工过的肉——可以激活手机屏幕——
knowledge that can come in clutch, when you're in a pickle.
当你陷入困境时，这些知识可能会变得很重要。
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