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There's this coaster in Hershey Park Pennsylvania, called the Sooperdooperlooper.
在賓夕法尼亞州的好時公園有一個過山車，叫做 Sooperdooperlooper。
On it, you come around this bend that's full of trees blocking your view and before you know it you're hurtling down the track at 45 miles per hour toward a thrilling 75 foot loop.
在車上，你會繞過一個滿是樹木的彎道，它們擋住了你的視線，而在你還未意識到的時候，你就以每小時45英里的速度沖向一個驚險的75英尺高的環(huán)道。
According to Hershey's website, it's the "first-ever looping roller coaster on the east coast".
據(jù)好時官網(wǎng)介紹，這是“東海岸有史以來的第一輛環(huán)形過山車”。
But the good people at the Hershey company have that wrong.
但好時公司的好心人卻說錯了。
Because about 75 years before the Sooperdooperlooper, Coney Island — in my hometown of New York — was home to the first two looping roller coasters in America.
因為在 Sooperdooperlooper 誕生前75年，我的家鄉(xiāng)紐約的科尼島是美國最早的兩個過山車的發(fā)源地。
Unlike the Sooperdooperlooper, which has been around for almost 50 years, these early looping roller coasters didn't even last a decade.
與已經(jīng)存在近50年的 Sooperdooperlooper 不同，這些早期的環(huán)形過山車甚至沒有堅持到10年。
Because, it turns out, loops shouldn't be made like this.
因為，事實證明，回環(huán)軌道不應(yīng)該是這樣的。
Looping roller coasters got their start in Europe as early as 1842.
早在1842年，環(huán)形過山車就在歐洲誕生了。
Back then, they were called centrifugal railways.
當(dāng)時，它們被稱為離心軌道。
They… weren't super popular or successful.
它們……不是特別受歡迎或成功。
They tried a few more in Europe, as we understand it, these were short-lived and more of a novelty.
據(jù)我們所知，他們在歐洲又嘗試了幾次，但這些東西都很短暫，更像是一種新嘗試。
That's Randy Geisler, former president and current member of the historical committee for American Coaster Enthusiasts.
這是蘭迪·蓋斯勒——美國過山車愛好者歷史委員會的前主席和現(xiàn)任成員。
I've loved roller coasters my entire life.
我這輩子都喜歡坐過山車。
The movements, the speed, and just the world whipping by you in every direction.
那運動，那速度，世界從你的各個方向呼嘯而過。
People in the 1800s didn't have the same fondness for looping coasters.
19世紀(jì)的人可沒這么喜歡過山車。
And that didn't change much when America built its first looping roller coaster in 1895: Coney Island's Flip Flap Railway.
1895年，美國建造了第一輛環(huán)形過山車：康尼島的 Flip Flap Railway，但這并沒有多少改變。
That's because these coasters had a few major problems.
這是因為這些過山車有一些重大問題。
The biggest one being, they made the loops circular.
最大的一個是，他們把回環(huán)軌道做得太圓了。
In physics, we love perfect circles.
在物理學(xué)中，我們喜歡完美的圓。
It's an easy shape.
這是一個簡單的形狀。
But from a human experience point of view, it is a nightmare.
但從人類的經(jīng)驗來看，這就是一場噩夢。
That's Matt Anderson.
這是馬特·安德森。
I'm a physics professor at San Diego State University.
我是圣地亞哥州立大學(xué)的物理學(xué)教授。
To make it all the way around the Flip Flap's circular loop, cars needed to move really, really fast while changing directions.
過山車為了能一路通過 Flip Flap 的環(huán)形軌道，就需要在改變方向的同時移動得非常非?？?。
The coaster itself is trying to push you up into a new direction.
過山車本身正試圖把你推向一個新的方向。
Your head, your spine, everything else wants to keep going in a straight line.
而你的頭，你的脊椎，所有的東西則都要想要繼續(xù)走直線。
But the coaster is saying, no, you gotta curve into this arc.
但是過山車說，不行，你得彎到這個弧里。
Changing directions so rapidly causes a spike in G forces.
如此迅速地改變方向會導(dǎo)致重力的激增。
You've gone from one G instantly to 12 or 14 Gs.
會瞬間從一個 G 變成12或14個 G 。
That's a big problem.
這是個大問題。
6Gs is really the most a human body can handle on a rollercoaster and only for about a second.
6G 是人體在過山車上能承受的最大重力，而且只能維持一秒鐘。
At that force…
在那種重力下……
Literally, all the blood is just being pulled out of your head and you will pass out.
你所有的血液都會從你的腦袋里流出來，然后你就會昏過去。
You can see how wild the G-forces are in this looping-coaster-simulation chart created by George Sidebotham, a mechanical engineering professor at the Cooper Union.
在這張由庫珀聯(lián)盟機械工程教授喬治·塞德博瑟姆繪制的環(huán)形過山車模擬圖中，你可以看到其帶來的重力有多瘋狂。
Because of our chat, he became so obsessed with the circular loop problem that he made a bunch of looping-coaster-simulation charts.
因為我們的聊天，他變得非常癡迷于回環(huán)軌道問題，他做了一堆循環(huán)過山車模擬圖表。
This line represents a circular loop like the Flip Flap's.
這條線代表一個類似于 Flip Flap 的循環(huán)。
After jumping from 1 to 14 Gs, it would decrease as you reached the top of the loop then ramp all the way up again to 14 at the bottom, and then back to 1 as the coaster leaves the curve.
從1G上升到14G之后，當(dāng)你到達回環(huán)的頂部時，重力會下降，然后在底部再次上升到14G，然后當(dāng)過山車離開曲線時又回到1G。
Passengers were completely rattled.
乘客們直接就被嚇傻了。
The Flip Flap, being made mostly of wood, didn't help either.
而 Flip Flap 主要是木制的軌道，這也沒有多少幫助。
Wood is stretchy and compress-y.
木材具有彈性和壓縮性。
You can see the circle moving as the cart goes around.
你可以看到過山車經(jīng)過時圓環(huán)也在動。
It's stressing it this way and then it's stressing it that way.
它這邊受力，那邊也受力。
It just looks like an engineering catastrophe about to happen.
看起來就像一場即將發(fā)生的工程災(zāi)難。
The next looping coaster built on Coney Island, the Loop the Loop, was crafted to avoid all those issues.
下一個在康尼島上建造的環(huán)形過山車Loop the Loop 就是為了避免這些問題而設(shè)計的。
It was made entirely out of steel, which offered more stability.
它完全由鋼制成，穩(wěn)定性更好。
And the circle was switched to more of an upside-down teardrop shape.
圓環(huán)軌道變成了倒過來的淚滴形狀。
Squeezing the sides in helped ease the transition into and out of the curvature reducing the G forces and creating a smoother, less body-damaging ride.
擠壓兩側(cè)有助于緩解進入和離開弧線的過渡，減少重力，創(chuàng)造了一個更平穩(wěn)、對身體傷害更少的體驗。
But still, they had the capacity problem.
但它們都存在載客力方面的問題。
Neither the Flip Flap nor the Loop the Loop could support more than a few riders at a time because the loops were small, and so the cars had to be small, too.
“ Flip Flap”和“Loop the Loop”一次都只能承載幾個乘客，因為環(huán)很小，所以車也必須很小。
Most of the cars, they seated 4 people, and pretty much you could only send people about once every 5 minutes.
大多數(shù)車都只能坐4個人，基本上每5分鐘也只能出發(fā)一次。
They just couldn't make enough money.
他們賺不到足夠的錢。
There were more people that would watch than ride.
看的人比玩兒的人多。
The Flip Flap lasted 7 years, the Loop the Loop lasted 9.
Flip Flap 堅持了7年，Loop The Loop 堅持了9年。
And all other looping coasters around the world shut down shortly after.
世界上所有的環(huán)形過山車都在問世不久后關(guān)停了。
It seemed like the end of the track for loops.
似乎環(huán)形過山車走到了盡頭。
That is… until something new came along.
直到有新的東西出現(xiàn)之后才改變了這個狀況。
In 1959, Disney unveiled the Matterhorn.
1959年，迪士尼推出了 Matterhorn。
It didn't have a loop but it was the very first tubular steel coaster.
它沒有環(huán)形軌道，但它是第一個管狀鋼制過山車。
Unlike regular steel which was solid throughout, tubular steel was hollow in the middle, making it lighter-weight, and easier to bend into smooth arcs and curves.
與整體堅固的普通鋼材不同，其鋼管中間是空心的，因此重量更輕，更容易彎曲成光滑的弧形和曲線。
Unlike wood, tubular steel could support heavy weight, and more dynamic movement.
與木材不同的是，鋼管可以承受較重的重量，并能承受更有活力的運動。
And in 1976, Six Flags Magic Mountain debuted the first modern vertical looping coaster, made with tubular steel.
1976年，六旗魔術(shù)山首次推出了現(xiàn)代垂直循環(huán)過山車，由管狀鋼制成。
The Great American Revolution squeezed the loop even more than the Loop the Loop, creating what's known as a "clothoid loop".
The Great American Revolution 的圓環(huán)要比 Loop the Loop 還窄，創(chuàng)造了所謂的“回旋曲線環(huán)”。
It gets smaller and smaller as you get to the top to try and even out the G forces.
當(dāng)你到達頂端的途中，曲線變得越來越小，以平衡重力。
And then it does exact opposite as it comes back down.
然后當(dāng)它回來的時候則正好相反。
With clothoid loop-shaped coasters, designers could distribute the G's more evenly and decide more precisely how many Gs to hit… about 4.9 in the case of the Great American Revolution.
有了回旋環(huán)狀過山車，設(shè)計師就可以更均勻地分配重力，更精確地決定達到多少G……在 the Great American Revolution 中大約是4。9G。
A much smoother experience compared to the Flip Flap's uneven G force spikes from 1 to 14 to 9 to 1.
相對于 Flip Flap 從1G到14G到9G到1G那種不均勻的重力峰值分布來說，這會是一個更流暢的體驗。
This clothoid loop — crafted using strong and easy-to-bend tubular steel, and built 113 feet high meant that the Great American Revolution could support 20 riders at g forces that feel exhilarating instead of harmful.
這個回旋曲線環(huán)狀軌道用堅固且易于彎曲的鋼管制作而成，高113英尺，這意味著 the Great American Revolution 可以支持一次容納20名乘客，人受的重力會令人感到興奮，而不是傷害。
And since then loops have exploded in popularity.
從那時起，環(huán)形軌道就開始流行起來。
Double loops!
雙重環(huán)！
Crazy loops!
瘋狂環(huán)！
And that Sooperdooperlooper in Hershey Park which, by the way, can proudly claim that it's the first modern looping roller coaster on the east coast.
還有好時公園里的 Sooperdooperlooper——順便說一句，它可以自豪地宣稱自己是東海岸第一輛現(xiàn)代環(huán)形過山車。
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