SSS 2010-09-24
时间：2018-12-24 作者：英语课 分类：Scientific American(九)月
This is Scientific American’s 60 Science, I’m Cynthia Graber. This’ll just take a minute.
Batteries add weight, and they need recharging. That’s serious business for implanted medical devices. When the batteries die, patients sometimes have to undergo another surgery. But what if there were a compact, flexible material that could harvest energy from the body’s own movement? That’s what Michael McAlpine’s lab at Princeton University designed. He was recently named to Technology Review's list of 35 top innovators under the age of 35.
The key is a novel form of piezoelectric materials. These become electrically polarized when they’re subject to mechanical stress, and so movement or pressure can generate electricity. But they’re ordinarily made of hard, inflexible 1 materials, which are also usually toxic 2.
So McAlpine’s team created nanoscale piezoelectric devices. They’re sequestered 3 between layers of silicone. Which, as we know from breast implants 4, is both flexible and biocompatible.
At a recent talk, McAlpine said that one of the first commercial uses could be to replace batteries in kids’ LED-lit sneakers. But he hopes to see them one day power pacemakers. They could be implanted on the lungs. And so, to keep your heart beating, you’d just take a breath. Which is the usual procedure.
Thanks for the minute, for Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Cynthia Graber
- Charles was a man of settled habits and inflexible routine.查尔斯是一个恪守习惯、生活规律不容打乱的人。
- The new plastic is completely inflexible.这种新塑料是完全不可弯曲的。
- The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
- There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。
- The jury is expected to be sequestered for at least two months. 陪审团渴望被隔离至少两个月。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Everything he owned was sequestered. 他的一切都被扣押了。 来自《简明英汉词典》