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科学美国人60秒 SSS 用同位素验证假威士忌

时间:2020-02-25 01:43:11

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(单词翻译)

Fingering Fake Whiskeys with Isotopes2

“It came to our attention a few years ago that there were fraudulent whiskeys on the market.Gordon Cook of the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Center.

“几年前,市场上出现了假的威士忌,这引起了我们的注意。”苏格兰大学环境研究中心的戈登·库克说。

Scotch3 whiskey is Scotland’s product, and we felt that being a radiocarbon laboratory in Scotland, we should take a lead on this.”

“苏格兰威士忌是苏格兰的产品,我们觉得作为苏格兰的一个放射性碳实验室,我们应该在这方面发挥带头作用。”

Scotch whiskey is made from barley4, which absorbs carbon dioxide from the air as it grows. Most of the carbon is carbon-12. But a small percentage is the radioactive isotope1 carbon-14, which decays at a constant, known rate— and has therefore long been used to “carbon-date” biological samples.

苏格兰威士忌是用大麦酿造的,大麦在生长过程中会吸收空气中的二氧化碳。大部分是碳12。但是一小部分是放射性同位素碳14,它以一个恒定的、已知的速率衰变,因此长期以来一直被用于“碳定年”生物样本。

“Then, in the early 1950s, we had the start of the atmospheric5 weapons test, and these produce carbon-14. By 1960, you were twice the natural level. And ’63—there was a test ban treaty, so ’63 was the maximum. Since then, the level in the atmosphere has decreased as the radiocarbon goes into the biota6 and the oceans.”

然后,在20世纪50年代早期,我们开始了大气武器试验,这些武器产生了碳14。到1960年,是正常水平的两倍。63年有一个禁止核试验条约,所以63年是最高的。从那以后,随着放射性碳进入生物群和海洋,大气中的含量已经下降。”

So unusually high levels of carbon-14 are associated with barley grown during the years when nuclear testing was widespread.

因此,在核试验盛行的那些年里,大麦的碳14含量异常高。

There’s obviously a lot of money in whiskey. And some classics get bought not as imbibements but as investments. Last October, a 60-year-old 1926 bottle was auctioned7 off for $1.9 million.

威士忌显然有很多钱。有些经典作品不是作为饮料而是作为投资而被购买的。去年10月,一瓶有60年历史的1926年的葡萄酒以190万美元的价格被拍卖。

To make sure that the stuff inside bottles of Scotch whiskey matches what’s on the labels, Cook and his colleagues looked at levels of the carbon-14 in the drink. They calibrated8 levels of the radioactive variant9 of carbon in more than 200 different single-malt Scotch whiskey samples of known ages. The researchers then compared those levels to eight whiskeys claiming to have been bottled from 1847 to 1978.

为了确保苏格兰威士忌酒瓶里的东西与标签上的相符,库克和他的同事研究了饮料中的碳-14含量。他们校准了200多种已知年份的单一麦芽威士忌样品中碳的放射性变异水平。然后,研究人员将这些含量与声称从1847年到1978年间瓶装的八种威士忌进行了比较。

“We haven’t found any whiskeys purported10 to be from the 19th century that are genuine.”

 “我们没有发现任何来自19世纪的纯正威士忌。”

Because those allegedly 19th-century bottles contained material clearly produced during the nuclear-testing era. The study is in the journal Radiocarbon.

因为那些据说是19世纪的瓶子里装的显然是核试验时期生产的材料。这项研究发表在《放射性碳》杂志上。

Cook hopes these verification techniques will help keep the whiskey business true to the words of Robert Burns: “Here’s a bottle and an honest friend.”

库克希望这些验证技术将有助于保持威士忌业务忠实于罗伯特·伯恩斯的话:“这是一瓶酒,也是一个诚实的朋友。”


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1 isotope isotope     
n.同位素
参考例句:
  • The isotope ratio is directly used for comparing oils or gases.同位素比率直接用于比较各种石油或天然气。
  • How to apply a radio isotope?如何运用放射性同位素?
2 isotopes 92848c3160703e48dc3b552ac6f54115     
n.同位素;同位素( isotope的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • the many isotopes of carbon 碳的诸多同位素
  • Tritium is one of the mildest radioactive isotopes. 氚是最和缓的放射性同位素之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 scotch ZZ3x8     
n.伤口,刻痕;苏格兰威士忌酒;v.粉碎,消灭,阻止;adj.苏格兰(人)的
参考例句:
  • Facts will eventually scotch these rumours.这种谣言在事实面前将不攻自破。
  • Italy was full of fine views and virtually empty of Scotch whiskey.意大利多的是美景,真正缺的是苏格兰威士忌。
4 barley 2dQyq     
n.大麦,大麦粒
参考例句:
  • They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
  • He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。
5 atmospheric 6eayR     
adj.大气的,空气的;大气层的;大气所引起的
参考例句:
  • Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
  • Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。
6 biota nyVzZH     
n.生物区
参考例句:
  • They have had serious effects upon the biota of stream.它们对河流中的生物群体产生严重影响。
  • Historical biogeography attempts to reconstruct the biota history of the earth.历史生物地理学重建生物区系历史。
7 auctioned 1a9ab53832945db108ff2919e21fccc6     
v.拍卖( auction的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • It was sad to see all grandmother's lovely things being auctioned off. 眼看着祖母那些可爱的东西全都被拍卖掉,心里真不好受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 calibrated 6ac8922cd7bfd487c7dd1bd65d0f6191     
v.校准( calibrate的过去式和过去分词 );使标准化;使合标准;测量(枪的)口径
参考例句:
  • Power pesticide dusters can be calibrated and used to apply pertilizer. 动力杀虫剂可以调整用来施肥。 来自辞典例句
  • The flexible diaphragm is connected to a plat cantilever-calibrated spring. 柔韧的膜片一扁平的悬臂校正弹簧相连。 来自辞典例句
9 variant GfuzRt     
adj.不同的,变异的;n.变体,异体
参考例句:
  • We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段,提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
  • In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种,是数据驱动的测试。
10 purported 31d1b921ac500fde8e1c5f9c5ed88fe1     
adj.传说的,谣传的v.声称是…,(装得)像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
  • The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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