And since using them more often, I've noticed something.

使用久了，我發現了一些問題。

Uggggh!

哎！

The fact that AirPods fall out of your ear so easily has gotten been meme status lately, and it's something that third party sellers know very well.

最近， Airpods 容易從耳朵掉出來的事情已變成迷因，而第三方賣家非常了解這個狀況。

All you gotta do to fix the problem is pay ten bucks for those little silicone headphone socks.

而你的解決方法就是花十塊美金買這些矽膠的耳塞套。

But why does this happen in the first place?

但到底為什麼會掉呢？

It seems like all the articles I found dismissed it as: "meh, maybe your ears are too big or it's earwax, or I don't know dude, you're the one who wasted 150 bucks on headphones."

看起來我所找的文章都反駁了這些想法：「嗯，也許是你的耳朵太大或有耳垢。」或像是「兄弟，我也不知道，是你浪費了 150 美元買這副耳機的。」

But that answer isn't good enough for me, like...

但是，這些答案對我來說還不夠精確。

There's a chance to imagine the body complexly here, there's a teachable moment, there's a way to see science.

試在這想像身體結構的複雜性，這可是個教學機會，透過科學的方式去解構。

So what is it about your ear anatomy that makes AirPods fall out so often?

到底耳朵的結構是怎麼導致 Airpods 常掉出來？

OK, I'll entertain some of the earlier guesses:

好，我來娛樂一下大家一些較早前的猜測：

Like, earwax?

是耳垢？

Sure, but it's actually not that big of a deal here.

當然有可能，但這並不是重點。

Earwax, or Sarumon... I mean cerumen is mostly cholesterol and fatty acids, so it's gonna reduce the friction between surfaces by dropping something called the coefficient of friction, which reduces the force required for those headphones to pop out.

耳屎或是說耳垢，主要是由膽固醇和脂肪酸所組成。這些物質可以減少表面間的摩擦以防東西掉落，稱為摩擦係數，這可以降低把耳機彈出的強度。

But it's not gonna drop the force of friction down to zero, so we'd still need to look at the materials sliding past each other.

不過摩擦力是不會降低於零，因此我們還是要看材質間是怎麼互相滑動。

Airpods are made of a rigid silicone plastic, while these older headphones have rubber tips.

Airpods 是由硬質矽膠所製，而以前的耳機有橡膠的耳塞套。

The rubber is gonna have a way higher coefficient of friction.

橡膠的摩擦係數較高。

And the earwax will drop that number for both types of headphones, but I couldn't find the exact value.

耳垢會降低這兩種耳機的摩擦係數，不過我找不到實質數據。

Man, I Google weird stuff.

天啊，我在搜尋一些奇怪的事物。

Got it, so there's a drop of friction because of earwax, but because of how AirPods interact with your ear anatomy, that really doesn't matter anyway.

有了！摩擦係數會下降的原因是耳垢，但這裡討論的是 Airpods 和你身體間的相互作用，所以耳垢的問題並不重要。

To understand why though, we really need to know what part of the ear we're talking about.

為了了解原因，我們要先弄清楚我們在說耳朵的哪一部分。

We really don't care about the inner or middle ear, because, as far as I know, no headphones actually go that far down this tube, the external auditory meatus.

我們不需要知道內耳或中耳的結構，就我所知沒有耳機能從外耳道往裡面塞至中內耳。

Plus, that outer part of the canal is still flexible, elastic cartilage.

此外，外面的耳道是有彈性的軟骨。

According to a 2008 audiology textbook, it's an inch deep and about a quarter inch in diameter on average.

根據一本 2008 年出版的聽力學教科書，外耳道平均有 1 英吋深且直徑 0.25 英吋。

That matters for traditional earbuds, but Airpods actually sit in the auricle, all the visible flexy stuff on the surface.

這對使用傳統耳塞式的影響比較大，不過 Airpods 是掛在耳廓上，也就是我們所看到彎曲的耳朵外表。

This is the one-size-fits-all design benefit of AirPods.

這是最適合所有人的大小，是 Airpods 設計上的一大優勢。

They don't insert into the ear, they sit on it.

並不是塞進耳朵裡，而是掛在耳朵上面。

Specifically it rests in a little nook called the concha up against the often pierced tragus and anti-tragus.

具體來說，它是放在我們稱之為外耳（或稱耳殼）的一個小地方，就是掛在可以穿上耳洞的耳屏和對耳屏之間。

Here's what I thought was cool.

以下內容我覺得特別酷。

I read a few papers from plastic surgeons who reconstruct the outer ear and they found differences in auricle length between adults of almost a centimeter.

我讀了幾篇負責重建外耳的整形醫師所撰寫的論文，他們發現成年人間的耳廓長度相差可達近 1 公分。

And they're not just different sizes, our ears might be as uniquely shaped as our fingerprints.

不只是大小不一，甚至像指紋一樣是獨一無二的。

Forensic scientists have been testing ear biometrics as a way to identify people for years and like... what the heck I didn't think I was gonna go this far down the rabbit hole investigating this script.

法醫學家多年來一直在測試耳朵生物識別技術以識別個人的身份... 哎，我到底在搞什麼？我沒想到我會繼續在這裡探討這個問題

The source linked in the description.

資料來源貼在下面簡介欄上。

If I keep nerding out about this, we're gonna get way too off track.

好了，如果我再繼續鑽研下去，我們就會偏離話題。

These differences in ear shapes and sizes mean that some headphones are inherently gonna fit some people better than others, and we know that because of certain types of hearing aids, which sit in the same little ear nook as your AirPods.

耳朵形狀和大小的差異代表有的耳機比較適合某些人，之所以會了解是因為某些助聽器像 Airpods 一樣只能掛在小小的耳道。

Plus, your left and right ear aren't totally identical.

再加上你的左耳和右耳也不完全相同。

It's completely normal for our bodies to not have perfect symmetry whether that's accumulation of soft tissue, leg length or our ears.

無論是我們體內的軟組織、腳長或耳朵等，身體並不是完全地對稱。

So your left ear might be a little bigger than your right ear, which makes it seem like one of the headphones is falling out more often than the other.

也許你的左耳比右耳大，因此讓你覺得一邊的耳機總是會掉下來。

So are your ears actually too big?

是你的耳朵太大了嗎？

No, it's just that everyone's ears are different, and yours are beautiful.

不，只是每個人的耳朵都長不一樣而已，而你的很漂亮。

The last thing is movement.

最後一個因素是動作。

You wouldn't be surprised if headphones fell out during exercise, but it's frustrating when it happens when you're sitting still.

運動時耳機掉下來並沒有什麼好稀奇，可讓人百思不得其解的是坐著的時候依然會掉。

Check this out, if you put your fingers in front of your tragus and open or close your jaw, you can feel something flex.

來試試看把手指放在耳屏前，然後開合嘴巴，你會感覺到肌肉繃緊。

This is called the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, the pivot point between the temple and the jaw, which we call the mandible.

這個位子是顳顎關節，簡稱 TMJ，是顳和下頜之間的車軸關節，稱為下頜骨。

While it might seem like the jaw hinges way lower on the skull, its joint is actually right next to the ear.

雖然下巴的接合處看起來在頭骨上較低的位置，但實際上那個關節是在耳朵的旁邊。

That motion alone isn't enough to rip the headphones out of your ear, but it is a nudge which ultimately makes them seem like they're falling out more often.

咬合的動作不會把耳機從耳朵中拔出，但絕對只要輕輕一推就足以讓耳機常掉出。

Okay, so here's some food for thought.

以下是引人深思的問題。

What I've noticed about my junior high students is that if you give them the opportunity, they'll wear their AirPods all day.

我最近發現如果給我的初中學生機會，他們是能夠整天戴著 Airpods的。

They literally forget they're wearing headphones sometimes.

有時候甚至還忘記他們在戴著耳機。

I wonder if how easily this product integrates with our lives makes it seem like every time one falls out, it surprises us and so it seems like a big deal.

我在想這個耳機輕易地融入我們的日常生活，因此每當耳機掉落一次，總讓我們出乎意料並把它當成一回事。

Or maybe you're just freaking out since you spent so much money and you realize that... yeah, it's supposed to fall out.

又或者你只是嚇壞了，因為你花了這麼多錢才發現這個耳機本來就是會常掉落。

Alright. Announcement time!

好的，宣傳時間到了！

I've got a Patreon now!

我終於找到一個募資平台了！

This channel will always be a labor of love, but I do spend money on things like editing software and stock footage and coffee.

雖然這個經營頻道只是我的興趣，但是我確實需要在編輯軟件、素材和咖啡上花錢。

If you watch YouTube then you for sure know what Patreon is.

如果你常看 YouTube 的影片，你應該會懂的。

And I'm not looking at this relationship as like a "oh, they give me money," I'm thinking of it as: you are part of the team.

我所追求的不是金源上的關係，而是把您當成我團隊的一分子。

You are down with the cause, you know what we do here and I appreciate that.

我非常感謝你們支持我的目標和方向。

You want to become my first patron?

想成為我第一位的贊助者嗎？

Head over to the little description blinky thing right here and check it out.

看到這個閃爍的小格子，麻煩大家可以點進去看一下。

Have fun, be good.

希望你們喜歡！

Thanks for watching.

謝謝收看！