新型材料的自我修复功能：碎屏能自动愈合

 　　A new self-repairing material has been developed by researchers in the UK and they say it’ll be ready to integrate into everything from smartphone screens to nail varnish¹ within the next five years.

　　英国研究员已开发一种能自我修复的新型材料，他们声称在未来5年内，这款材料将整合入所有的东西中——从智能手机屏幕到指甲油。

　　Originally developed for aeroplane wings, the technology has the potential to revolutionise a range of industries with the capacity to move into tiny cracks and harden inside like the way blood forms a dry, protective scab to heal flesh wounds.

　　这项科技原本是为飞机机翼打造的，但如今它拥有彻底改变一系列工业的潜能：新型材料能移至细微裂纹加固内部，就如同血液会自动形成干燥、保护性的痂来痊愈皮肉伤一样。

　　Made from a mixture of different carbon-based chemicals, this new healing agent produces a sheet of millions of microscopic² spheres. When a crack breaks these hollow microspheres apart, a liquid is released that moves into the newly formed gap. A chemical reaction then causes the polymerisation - or hardening - of this liquid, causing it to glue to the edges of the cracks and form a hard, near-invisible filler.

　　这种新型治愈体由不同碳基化工品混合而成，会生成一张由数百万微观球体构成的板面。当裂缝打碎了空心球体的表面，它会释放一种液体填补到新的裂缝中去。随后的化学反应生成聚合作用，将液体硬化，使之将裂缝边缘沾到一起，形成几乎看不见的坚硬填充物。

　　新型材料的自我修复功能：碎屏能自动愈合

　　The technology has been developed by a team from England’s University of Bristol, led by chemist Duncan Wass, and was presented at a Royal Society meeting in London last month.

　　这项技术是由英国布里斯托尔大学化学家邓肯·沃斯带领下的一支小队研发而成，上月于英国皇家学会会议上展示。

　　"We took inspiration from the human body," Wass told Chris Green at The Independent.

　　“我们从人类身体中获得了灵感，”沃斯告诉《独立报》的克里斯·格林。

　　"We’ve not evolved to withstand any damage - if we were like that we’d have a skin as thick as a rhinoceros³ - but if we do get damaged, we bleed, and it scabs and heals. We just put that same sort of function into a synthetic⁴ material: let’s have something that can heal itself."

　　“我们不是生来就能抵御一切伤害的——如果我们真能做到，那我们的皮肤就跟犀牛一样厚了——但如果我们真的受伤了，我们会流血，会结痂会愈合。我们只是将同样的原理应用到了合成材质中：让材料也能自我修复。”

1 varnish   

n.清漆；v.上清漆；粉饰

参考例句：

• He tried to varnish over the facts,but it was useless.他想粉饰事实，但那是徒劳的。
• He applied varnish to the table.他给那张桌子涂上清漆。

2 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

3 rhinoceros   

n.犀牛

参考例句：

• The rhinoceros has one horn on its nose.犀牛鼻子上有一个角。
• The body of the rhinoceros likes a cattle and the head likes a triangle.犀牛的形体像牛，头呈三角形。

4 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。