2019年经济学人 绯红色(1)

 

Humans are creatures with sophisticated colour vision, so the market for pigments² is big—about $30bn a year.

人类是具有复杂色彩视觉的生物，所以色素市场庞大—每年约300亿美元。

In this marketplace, however, not all colours are equal.

但在色素市场，并是不所有的颜色都是平等的。

In particular, bright reds, much desired for their attention-grabbing qualities,

特别是鲜艳的红色，因为其吸引眼球的特性而备受追捧，

are tricky³ to make, and each of the existing options has flaws.

它们很难制作，而且现有的每一种制作选择都有缺陷。

The especially vivid reds made from cadmium, lead and mercury are toxic⁴ and so their use is now restricted.

由镉、铅和汞制成的特别鲜艳的红色是有毒的，所以现在它们的使用受到了限制。

Cochineal, created by crushing up Dactylopius coccus, a species of scale insect, is safe to handle and consume,

胭脂虫红是一种通过碾碎胭脂虫球菌—一种介壳虫而制成的，它的处理和消费都很安全，

but its safety is trumped⁵ in the minds of some by its animal origin.

但在一些人的心目中，它的安全性被它的动物来源所超越。

A campaign by vegans in 2012, for example, forced Starbucks to remove cochineal from its Strawberry Frappuccinos.

例如，2012年严格的素食主义者发起的一项运动迫使星巴克将胭脂虫红从草莓星冰乐中移除。

Other red pigments, meanwhile, either start off dull (oxides of iron) or fade to dullness

同时，其他红色色素要么开始变暗（铁的氧化物），要么逐渐变暗

unless given special protection from ultraviolet light (Pigment¹ Red 254, the source of Ferraris' characteristic scarlet⁶ livery).

除非有特殊的紫外线防护（色素红254是法拉利特有的深红色制服的来源）。

The hunt is therefore on for a non-toxic, non-controversial, chemically stable red.

因此人们正在寻找一种无毒、无争议且化学性稳定的红色。

One of those searching is Mas Subramanian, a materials scientist at Oregon State University.

俄勒冈州立大学的一名材料学科学家Mas Subramanian就是其中之一。

Dr Subramanian already has one new pigment to his name.

Subramanian博士已经有了一种属于他的新色素。

In 2009, when trying to find a material known as a multiferroic, which has distinctive⁷ electronic and magnetic properties,

2009年，在试图寻找一种多铁质材料时（铁质材料具有独特的电子和磁特性），

one of his research students mixed oxides of yttrium, indium and manganese and heated them to 1,200°C.

他的一名研究学生将钇、铟和锰的氧化物混合，并将它们加热到1200摄氏度。

The result was a powder as brilliant as a bluebird's wing. YInMn, as it is now known, was the first new blue discovered for two centuries.

结果得到了一种像蓝知更鸟翅膀一样闪亮的粉末。现在这种颜色被称为YInMn，是两个世纪以来发现的第一种新蓝色。

The perfect red has so far eluded⁸ Dr Subramanian—in part because it is hard to predict the colour of a material before you make it.

完美的红色到目前为止还未出现在Subramanian博士的研究中—部分原因是在制作一种材料前，很难预测它的颜色。

Small alterations⁹ to a crystal's structure can dramatically alter which parts of the spectrum¹⁰ that crystal absorbs and which it reflects.

晶体结构的微小改变可以极大地改变晶体吸收和反射光谱的哪一部分。

The green of emeralds and the red of rubies¹¹, for instance, are both caused by chromium atoms,

比如，绿宝石的绿色和红宝石的红色都是由于铬原子造成的，

but the atoms in question are bonded¹² into their respective lattices in different ways.

但所讨论的原子以不同的方式结合到各自的晶格中。

1 pigment   

n.天然色素，干粉颜料

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls.古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。
• Who thought he might know what the skin pigment phenomenon meant.他自认为可能知道皮肤色素出现这种现象到底是怎么回事。

2 pigments   

n.（粉状）颜料( pigment的名词复数 )；天然色素

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls. 古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。 来自辞典例句
• The original white lead pigments have oxidized and turned black. 最初的白色铅质颜料氧化后变成了黑色。 来自辞典例句

3 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

4 toxic   

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。

5 trumped   

v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去分词 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• That woman trumped up various baseless charges against him. 那个女人捏造种种毫无根据的罪名指控他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several of his colleagues trumped up a complaint to get him removed from the job. 他的几位同事诬告他，使他丟掉了工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

7 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

8 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 alterations   

n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变

参考例句：

• Any alterations should be written in neatly to the left side. 改动部分应书写清晰，插在正文的左侧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code. 基因突变是指DNA 密码的改变。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

11 rubies   

红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色

参考例句：

• a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
• The crown was set with precious jewels—diamonds, rubies and emeralds. 王冠上镶嵌着稀世珍宝—有钻石、红宝石、绿宝石。

12 bonded   

n.有担保的，保税的，粘合的

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee.威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• This adhesive must be applied to both surfaces which are to be bonded together.要粘接的两个面都必须涂上这种黏合剂。