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科学美国人60秒 SSS 小麦也会"打喷嚏"并传播疾病

时间:2020-04-07 08:08:56

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(单词翻译)

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Christopher Intagliata.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列,我是克里斯托弗·因塔格里塔。

Humans can spread disease by sneezing. But less well known is the wheat plant's ability to do something strangely similar—from its leaves.

人类可以通过打喷嚏传播疾病。但鲜为人知的是,小麦植物的叶子也有能力做一些极其类似的事情。

"It's basically analogous1 to a human sneeze in terms of, you have a very fast and sudden expulsion of droplets2 that contain the disease or pathogen inside of it, and they get thrown away from the surface."

“这基本上与人类打喷嚏类似,非常迅速且突然地喷出含有疾病或病原体的液滴,这些液滴是从叶子表面被抛出的。”

Jonathan Boreyko, a mechanical engineer at Virginia Tech. He and his team were studying the ability of wheat plants to expel spores3 of a common pathogen, the wheat rust4 fungus5, from their leaves via this unusual mechanism6. So they inoculated7 wheat plants with the disease, created dew on the plants' leaves and then studied the ensuing action with high-speed microscopy.

乔纳森·博瑞科是弗吉尼亚理工大学的机械工程师。他和团队正在研究小麦植株通过这种不同寻常的机制,将常见病菌小麦锈菌从叶片上排出的能力。因此,他们给小麦植株接种这种病菌,使植株的叶子上产生露水,然后用高速显微镜研究之后的行动。

Here's what they saw. The leaves are extremely hydrophobic, meaning water beads8 up to minimize contact with the surface. And when two or more drops touch, energy gets released in the form of a catapulting action, which "sneezes" the droplets into the air several millimeters above the leaf surface. The droplets can then be picked up by light breezes or simply fall and spread to other plants. The process is surprisingly effective at launching spores: the researchers figure each leaf can launch 100 spores per hour during a morning dew.

以下是他们观察到的情况。叶片极其疏水,这意味着上面的水会形成水珠,尽量减少与叶面的接触。当两滴及两滴以上的水珠接触时,能量以弹射形式被释放,弹射动作将水滴“喷”到叶面上方几毫米处的空气中。之后,水滴可能会被微风带走,也可能直接落下,扩散到其它植物上。这个过程在发射孢子方面出奇地有效:研究人员认为,晨露期间,每片叶子每小时可发射100个孢子。

The results—and photos of the jumping drops—are in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface9.

研究结果和跳跃水滴的照片发表在《英国皇家学会会刊》上。

Next, Boreyko and his team want to see what happens if they spray stuff on the leaves that changes the way dew forms. "If we change the wettability of the leaves so they're no longer super hydrophobic, now the dew drops will be unable to jump when they grow. They'll just sort of cling to the leaf surface and not be jumping anymore."

接下来,博瑞科和团队想知道,如果他们在叶子上喷洒能改变露水形成方式的物质,会发生什么。“如果我们改变叶子的湿润性,让它们不再超级疏水,那露珠在形成时就无法跳跃。它们只会粘在叶面上,不再跳跃。”

Such treatment could perhaps put a stop to wheat sneezes and slow down the transmission of disease.

这种处理方式也许可以阻止小麦打喷嚏,减缓疾病的传播。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 analogous aLdyQ     
adj.相似的;类似的
参考例句:
  • The two situations are roughly analogous.两种情況大致相似。
  • The company is in a position closely analogous to that of its main rival.该公司与主要竞争对手的处境极为相似。
2 droplets 3c55b5988da2d40be7a87f6b810732d2     
n.小滴( droplet的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Droplets of sweat were welling up on his forehead. 他额头上冒出了滴滴汗珠。 来自辞典例句
  • In constrast, exhaled smoke contains relatively large water droplets and appears white. 相反,从人嘴里呼出的烟则包含相当大的水滴,所以呈白色。 来自辞典例句
3 spores c0cc8819fa73268b5ec019dbe33b798c     
n.(细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物)孢子( spore的名词复数 )v.(细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物)孢子( spore的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Ferns, mosses and fungi spread by means of spores. 蕨类植物、苔藓和真菌通过孢子传播蔓生。
  • Spores form a lipid membrane during the process of reproducing. 孢于在生殖过程中形成类脂膜。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
4 rust XYIxu     
n.锈;v.生锈;(脑子)衰退
参考例句:
  • She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
  • The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。
5 fungus gzRyI     
n.真菌,真菌类植物
参考例句:
  • Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
  • This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。
6 mechanism zCWxr     
n.机械装置;机构,结构
参考例句:
  • The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
  • The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。
7 inoculated 6f20d8c4f94d9061a1b3ff05ba9dcd4a     
v.给…做预防注射( inoculate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • A pedigree pup should have been inoculated against serious diseases before it's sold. 纯种狗应该在出售前注射预防严重疾病的针。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Disease can be spread by dirty tools, insects, inoculated soil. 疾病也能由不干净的工具,昆虫,接种的土壤传播。 来自辞典例句
8 beads 894701f6859a9d5c3c045fd6f355dbf5     
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链
参考例句:
  • a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
  • Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。
9 interface e5Wx1     
n.接合部位,分界面;v.(使)互相联系
参考例句:
  • My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
  • This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了,适用范围广。

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