新奇事件簿 從甲殼蟲(chóng)中引發(fā)的靈感

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Scientists may have found one answer to the problem of water shortages. It is a new material that collects water from the air. They got their idea from a small beetle that lives in the desert in Africa. The deserts of the Skeleton Coast in Namibia are very dry, but the Namib desert beetle is an expert at surviving in hot and dry conditions. Its shell is covered in small bumps that collect tiny water droplets from the air. The water is enough to keep the beetle alive. Scientists studied the shape and material of the beetle's bumps. They want to use what they found out about the beetle to make their own materials that can collect water from the air. This will help people who live in very dry areas.

科學(xué)家找到了缺水辦法。新型材料能夠吸收空氣中的水分。靈感來(lái)源于非洲沙漠中的甲殼蟲(chóng)。納米比亞“骷髏海岸”極其干燥，但納米布沙漠甲殼蟲(chóng)卻應(yīng)付自如。其背部布滿小突起，它能夠吸收空氣中的水滴。這些水足夠甲殼蟲(chóng)存活。就形狀和材質(zhì)，科學(xué)家對(duì)小突起進(jìn)行了研究。通過(guò)研究，科學(xué)家希望發(fā)明出“吸水”材料。幫助干燥地區(qū)民眾解決飲水問(wèn)題。

The scientists believe this new technology could help in many areas of our life. They said it could be very useful for power plants and for the heating and air conditioning in airplanes, cars and trains. One of the scientists, Philseok Kim, said: "Thermal power plants, for example, rely on condensers to quickly convert steam to liquid water. Our design could help speed up that process and even allow for operation at a higher temperature, significantly improving the overall energy efficiency." Another scientist, Joanna Aizenberg, said she was looking forward to the future of getting ideas for new technologies from nature. She said: "Everybody is excited about bio-inspired materials research."

科學(xué)家相信，新技術(shù)能夠應(yīng)用于多個(gè)方面。它可以改善飛機(jī)、汽車(chē)以及火車(chē)的供暖和空調(diào)設(shè)備，還可以增強(qiáng)電廠能效。菲爾斯克·金姆認(rèn)為：“例如火電廠，火電廠依靠冷凝器，將水蒸氣迅速液化成水。這種材料或?qū)⒓铀僖夯^(guò)程，甚至可以增加溫度，大大提高能效。”喬安娜·艾森貝格教授希望能從自然界尋找靈感，研發(fā)新技術(shù)。她表示：“人們對(duì)仿生材料研究表示期待。”