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(单词翻译)

This is Scientific American’s 60 Science, I’m Cynthia Graber. This’ll just take a minute.

Batteries add weight, and they need recharging. That’s serious business for implanted medical devices. When the batteries die, patients sometimes have to undergo another surgery. But what if there were a compact, flexible material that could harvest energy from the body’s own movement? That’s what Michael McAlpine’s lab at Princeton University designed. He was recently named to Technology Review's list of 35 top innovators under the age of 35.

The key is a novel form of piezoelectric materials. These become electrically polarized when they’re subject to mechanical stress, and so movement or pressure can generate electricity. But they’re ordinarily made of hard, inflexible1 materials, which are also usually toxic2.

So McAlpine’s team created nanoscale piezoelectric devices. They’re sequestered3 between layers of silicone. Which, as we know from breast implants4, is both flexible and biocompatible.

At a recent talk, McAlpine said that one of the first commercial uses could be to replace batteries in kids’ LED-lit sneakers. But he hopes to see them one day power pacemakers. They could be implanted on the lungs. And so, to keep your heart beating, you’d just take a breath. Which is the usual procedure.

Thanks for the minute, for Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Cynthia Graber
 


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1 inflexible xbZz7     
adj.不可改变的,不受影响的,不屈服的
参考例句:
  • Charles was a man of settled habits and inflexible routine.查尔斯是一个恪守习惯、生活规律不容打乱的人。
  • The new plastic is completely inflexible.这种新塑料是完全不可弯曲的。
2 toxic inSwc     
adj.有毒的,因中毒引起的
参考例句:
  • The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
  • There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。
3 sequestered 0ceab16bc48aa9b4ed97d60eeed591f8     
adj.扣押的;隐退的;幽静的;偏僻的v.使隔绝,使隔离( sequester的过去式和过去分词 );扣押
参考例句:
  • The jury is expected to be sequestered for at least two months. 陪审团渴望被隔离至少两个月。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Everything he owned was sequestered. 他的一切都被扣押了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 implants c10b91e33a66c4b5cba3b091fcdfe0ac     
n.(植入身体中的)移植物( implant的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Hormone implants are used as growth boosters. 激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Perhaps the most far-reaching project is an initiative called Living Implants From Engineering (LIFE). 也许最具深远意义的项目,是刚刚启动的建造活体移植工程 (LIFE)。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

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