科学美国人60秒 SSS When We Fly to Mars, Microbes Will, Too
时间：2018-12-02 作者：英语课 分类：2017年Scientific American(十)月
When We Fly to Mars, Microbes Will, Too
飞向火星的不止是你，还有“我”
A humid bathroom is the perfect habitat for mold. But there are ways to avoid it. "We can just open the window and let some fresh air in!" Not so easy on a space station though, as astrobiologist Petra Schwendner of the University of Edinburgh explains.
潮湿的浴室是霉菌生活的绝佳场所，但是也有杜绝的办法。“我们只需要打开窗户，让新鲜的空气流通进来。”爱丁堡大学的天体生物学家Petra Schwendner解释道，但是在空间站这么做就不太容易了。
"It has been seen on the international space station or on the MIR that these microorganisms can accumulate. I've seen pictures where you could see this corrosion 1 caused by bacteria or an accumulation of fungus 2 behind wet towels."
在国际空间站，或者和平号上，就可以看到有很多微生物聚集在那里。我曾看过这样的场景，你可以看到细菌引发的腐蚀或者湿毛巾后面聚集着许多真菌。
So as we set our sights on Mars, what might grow in the spacecraft—essentially a human-scale petri dish—during the year-and-a-half-long flight?
所以，当我们把目光转移到火星，在长达一年半的飞行过程中，宇宙飞船中会长些什么呢?——更精准的说，是在有盖的培养皿中会长些什么呢?
The Mars500 habitat in Moscow simulated that trip, with six crew members confined inside. And Schwendner and her team tested microbial samples of the habitat over time.
“火星500”模拟了火星飞行任务，此次试验是在莫斯科的实验基地进行。有6名机组人员在飞船中。Schwendner 和她的团队测试了随着时间推移栖息地的微生物样本的变化。
They found what you might expect: a lot of human-related bacteria and fungi 3, mostly at levels deemed safe for life in space. But they also noticed a decline in microbial diversity over time—which could indicate a less-than-healthy microbial community that’s potentially more prone 4 to takeover by hostile bacteria.
他们发现结果和人们的预期一样：与人类相关的细菌和真菌，在太空中多处于安全水平。但是他们也注意到随着时间的推移，微生物的种类减少——这意味着敌对的细菌占领并衍生出了不太健康的微生物群落。
"Seeing this decrease is for us an important point or proof that continuous monitoring is an important fact and is really required for being able to maintain a healthy environment." The study is in the journal Microbiome.
“见证微生物群落的减少向我们证明了持续的监测非常重要，同时也是保持健康环境所必须的。”该研究结果发表在《微生物学》杂志上。
When we do rocket to the Red Planet, it'll be impossible to keep our spacecraft completely sterile 5. Humans are leaky animals. The real question might be how we'll keep our many microbes…from colonizing 6 Mars.
我们向火星发射火箭时，保持宇宙飞船完全无菌是不可能的。人类也会有破绽。真正的问题在于我们如何避免多种微生物……殖民火星。
- Corrosion is not covered by the warranty.腐蚀不在保修范围之内。
- Zinc is used to protect other metals from corrosion.锌被用来保护其他金属不受腐蚀。
- Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
- This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。
- Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
- The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。
- Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
- He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。
- This top fits over the bottle and keeps the teat sterile.这个盖子严实地盖在奶瓶上，保持奶嘴无菌。
- The farmers turned the sterile land into high fields.农民们把不毛之地变成了高产田。
- The art of colonizing is no exception to the rule. 殖民的芸术是� 有特例的。 来自互联网
- A Lesson for Other Colonizing Nations. 其它殖民国家学习的教训。 来自互联网