2019年经济学人伪造犀牛角(2)（打印版）

The next task they tackled was making a suitable binding matrix.

他们接下来要解决的任务是制作合适的粘合基质。

This, Dr Vollrath and his coauthor Mi Ruixin made from a fibrous protein-rich glue of the sort produced naturally by spiders and silkworms.

这是由沃拉斯博士和他的合著者Mi Ruixin用一种富含纤维蛋白的胶制成的，这种胶是由蜘蛛和蚕自然产生的。

They bundled the treated horse hairs as tightly as they could in a matrix of this glue, and then left the bundles in an oven to dry.

他们把处理过的马毛尽可能紧紧地捆在这种胶水的基质里，然后把这些马毛放在烤箱里烘干。

The result was a material that, with some polishing, looked like rhino horn.

结果，经过一些抛光打磨，这种材料看起来就像犀牛角。

Specimens on the black market are, however, inspected carefully before sale,

然而，黑市上的标本在出售前都要经过仔细检查，

so for the false horns to be effective they would need to stand up to closer scrutiny than the naked eye.

因此，为了使假的犀牛角能够以假乱真，它们需要经得起比肉眼更仔细的观察。

To this end, Dr Vollrath and Dr Mi decided to test their product in detail.

为此，沃拉斯博士和Mi博士决定对他们的产品进行详细的测试。

DNA analysis would certainly reveal fakes, but such analysis is complicated

DNA分析肯定会发现假货，但这种分析很复杂

and therefore hard to do in the sorts of back rooms in which rhino-horn sales tend to take place.

因此在犀牛角交易的辅助库房内很难做到。

The forgeries passed other tests with flying colours, though.

不过，这些赝品还是出色地通过了其他测试。

First, fake and real horn looked the same when examined under a scanning electron microscope.

首先，假牛角和真牛角在扫描电子显微镜下看起来是一样的。

Next, they behaved similarly when tested by a technique that compared their capacity to absorb heat.

第二，在进行吸热能力比较技术测试时，它们的表现相似。

Finally, when stressed or strained and then relaxed regularly for long periods, to probe their underlying mechanical properties,

最后，在经过一段长时间定期挤压放松，对它们的潜在的机械性能进行探测后发现，

the results for real and false horn were indistinguishable.

真角和假角的结果是无法区分的。

Whether using clandestine means to launch impeccable fakes onto the rhinoceros-horn market

利用秘密手段在犀牛角市场上推出无懈可击的假货

would truly reduce prices and sabotage demand remains to be tested. But it might.

是否能真正降低价格并妨碍需求，仍有待检验。但这是有可能的。

It is an old trick in warfare to flood the enemy with forged, worthless money. Something similar may yet help save the rhino.

用伪造的、毫无价值的钱淹没敌人是战争中的一个老把戏。类似的方法可能有助于拯救犀牛。