新奇事件簿 从甲壳虫中引发的灵感

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 beetle¹ 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 droplets² 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.

科学家找到了缺水办法。新型材料能够吸收空气中的水分。灵感来源于非洲沙漠中的甲壳虫。纳米比亚“骷髅海岸”极其干燥，但纳米布沙漠甲壳虫却应付自如。其背部布满小突起，它能够吸收空气中的水滴。这些水足够甲壳虫存活。就形状和材质，科学家对小突起进行了研究。通过研究，科学家希望发明出“吸水”材料。帮助干燥地区民众解决饮水问题。

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: "Thermal³ power plants, for example, rely on condensers⁴ 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."

科学家相信，新技术能够应用于多个方面。它可以改善飞机、汽车以及火车的供暖和空调设备，还可以增强电厂能效。菲尔斯克·金姆认为：“例如火电厂，火电厂依靠冷凝器，将水蒸气迅速液化成水。这种材料或将加速液化过程，甚至可以增加温度，大大提高能效。”乔安娜·艾森贝格教授希望能从自然界寻找灵感，研发新技术。她表示：“人们对仿生材料研究表示期待。”

1 beetle   

n.甲虫，近视眼的人

参考例句：

• A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。
• He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。

2 droplets   

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 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

4 condensers   

n.冷凝器( condenser的名词复数 )；（尤指汽车发动机内的）电容器

参考例句：

• This is an area where dynamics and condensers are used about equally. 这是一个动圈麦和电容麦差不多都同被使用到的区域。 来自互联网
• All condensers work by removing heat from the gas or vapour. 所有的冷凝器都是把气体或蒸汽的热量带走而运转的。 来自互联网