新奇事件簿 世界上最古老的颜色

Most of us might think that the world's oldest colour is black or dark grey. However, scientists have found out that bright pink is the oldest known colour. Researchers looked at 1.1-billion-year-old rocks deep beneath the Sahara Desert. They crushed¹ the rocks into powder and found the bright pink colouring in them. This means that pink is the oldest colour on geological² record. Dr. Nur Gueneli from the Australia National University led the research. She made the discovery in a lab in Australia. Dr. Gueneli said the colour was produced by ancient organisms³ that lived in the oceans. She added that the oceans are so old they no longer exist. At that time, tiny organisms were the largest life forms on Earth.

多数人或许认为世界上最古老的颜色是黑色或深灰色。但是，科学家发现亮粉色才是世界上最古老的已知颜色。研究人员观察了撒哈拉沙漠深处的一些11亿年前的岩石。他们将岩石碎成粉末并发现其中含有亮粉色。这意味着粉红色是地质记录中最古老的颜色。澳大利亚国立大学的努尔·盖内利教授领导此次研究。她在澳大利亚的一间实验室中进行了研究。盖内利教授表示这种颜色是由居住在海洋中的古生物体所创造的。她还补充道，海洋十分古老，因此它们不复存在。那时，微小的生物体是地球上最大的生命形式。

Dr. Gueneli said her first reaction was "sheer⁴ amazement⁵". She said her team thought the rock powder might turn black when they were doing their experiments on it. Instead, it turned pink. Another researcher said: "I remember I heard this screaming in the lab. Dr. Gueneli came running into my office and said, 'look at this,' and she had this bright pink stuff…It turned out to be real colour, 1.1 billion years old." The rocks could contain other colours, from a blood red to a deep purple. Gueneli explained how important her find was. She said: "Imagine you could find a fossilized dinosaur⁶ skin that still has its original colour - green or blue. That is exactly the type of discovery that we've made."

盖内利教授表示她的第一个反应是“完全的震惊”。她说在进行实验时，她的团队认为岩石粉末或许会变成黑色。但是结果却是粉红色。另一名研究人员说：“我记得听到了实验室里的尖叫声。盖内利教授跑到我的办公室并说，‘快看啊’，她拿着这个亮粉色的东西...结果证明这是真实的颜色，已经有11亿年了。”岩石中可能含有其他颜色，比如血红或深紫色。盖内利解释了这个发现的重要性。她说：“想象一下你能找到化石恐龙的皮肤，它们还保留着原来的颜色—绿色或蓝色。我们所得到的就是这种类型的发现。”

1 crushed   

a.压碎的，倒碎的

参考例句：

• The car was completely crushed under the truck. 小轿车被卡车压得完全变形了。
• The box was crushed when the car ran over it. 汽车辗过箱子时把它给压碎了。

2 geological   

adj.地质（学）的

参考例句：

• aeons of geological history 数以亿万年计的地质史
• The workers skirted the edge of the cliff on a geological survey. 工人们沿着崖壁作了一次地质勘察。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 organisms   

n.有机物( organism的名词复数 )；有机体；生物；有机体系

参考例句：

• The organisms can be divided into discrete categories. 有机体可分为许多互不相联的种类。
• The cell is the unit of which all living organisms are composed. 细胞是构成一切生物的单位。

4 sheer   

adj.绝对的，全然的，峻峭的；v.躲开，躲避，使...避开； adv.完全，全然，峻峭

参考例句：

• He achieved his aim by sheer strength of will.他纯粹靠意志力达到了目的。
• I guess It'sheer waste of time arguing about it.看来争论这件事纯粹是浪费时间。

5 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

6 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。