科学美国人60秒 SSS Heat Sensor Has Snaky Sensitivity
时间：2018-12-24 作者：英语课 分类：2017年Scientific American(二)月
One of the most exquisite 1 heat sensors 3 in the world—it’s not in some government lab. It's in the head of a snake. The pit viper 4, to be specific.
"They're incredibly sensitive. They beat any of the synthetic 5 counterparts, even the most expensive semiconducting systems used in infrared 7 or thermal 8 cameras today." Chiara Daraio, a materials scientist at Caltech. "They can effectively resolve a few millikelvin of temperature changes at a distance of up to a meter."
Now Daraio and her colleagues have designed a heat-sensing material that competes with the sensitivity of the snake. Using pectin. Same stuff you used to thicken jam. “Pectin, a double-stranded molecule 9 ubiquitously present in the outer cell wall of plant cells, acts effectively as a tiny molecular 10 temperature sensor 2." When temperatures go up, she says, the double-stranded molecule unzips, "like the zipper 11 of a jacket."
So they did what you usually do with pectin—they made jelly, using pectin, water and calcium 12 ions. They dried that out, and got a thin, transparent 13 film. Then, they had to test it. Which they realized they could do using a microwave and her son’s teddy bear. "Which can be heated up to a temperature of 37 degrees, roughly the temperature of a mouse or a running prey 14 for a snake."
And the pectin film was exquisitely 15 sensitive to the warmed-up teddy bear—on par 6 with the snake. The film could detect temperature changes as small as 10-thousandths of a degree celsius 16. The study is in the journal Science Robotics. [Raffaele Di Giacomo et al., Biomimetic temperature-sensing layer for artificial skins]
Daraio says the skin could give robots superior sensing abilities. "Allowing for example robots to determine whether they're moving around inanimate objects, other robots, or even humans or animals, which are evidently warmer bodies." Or, she says, it could be used in sensitive skin on prosthetic limbs for humans. If we can figure out how to connect this artificial skin up to something far more complicated. The brain.
—Christopher Intagliata
- I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
- I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。
- The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
- He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。
- There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句
- Envy lucks at the bottom of the human heart a viper in its hole.嫉妒潜伏在人心底，如同毒蛇潜伏在穴中。
- Be careful of that viper;he is dangerous.小心那个阴险的人，他很危险。
- 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。
- Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
- I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。
- Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
- Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。
- They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
- Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。
- A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
- This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。
- The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
- For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。
- We need calcium to make bones.我们需要钙来壮骨。
- Calcium is found most abundantly in milk.奶含钙最丰富。
- The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
- The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。
- Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
- The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。
- He found her exquisitely beautiful. 他觉得她异常美丽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He wore an exquisitely tailored gray silk and accessories to match. 他穿的是做工非常考究的灰色绸缎衣服，还有各种配得很协调的装饰。 来自教父部分