科學(xué)家們創(chuàng)造了一種奇怪的“活混凝土”，受損時可以自行愈合

科學(xué)家們創(chuàng)造了一種奇怪的“活混凝土”，受損時可以自行愈合

Scientists at the University of Colorado, Boulder have created what The New York Times calls a "living concrete", teeming with photosynthetic bacteria, that can grow itself and regenerate itself – much like a living organism.

科羅拉多大學(xué)博爾德分校的科學(xué)家們創(chuàng)造了《紐約時報》所稱的“活混凝土”，里面充滿了能進(jìn)行光合作用的細(xì)菌，這些細(xì)菌能自我生長和自我再生，就像活的有機體一樣。

The concrete is a mixture of gelatin, sand, and cyanobacteria that cools similarly to Jell-O, the Times reports.

據(jù)《泰晤士報》報道，這種混凝土是明膠、沙子和藍(lán)藻菌的混合物，其冷卻方式與果凍相似。

The resulting structure was able to regenerate itself three times after researchers cut it apart, suggesting a potential breakthrough in the nascent field of self-assembling materials.

經(jīng)過研究人員的三次切割，最終的結(jié)構(gòu)能夠自我再生，這意味著在新生的自組裝材料領(lǐng)域有了潛在的突破。

The living concrete, which the Colorado scientists made in partnership with DARPA, starts out as a sickly green color that fades as the bacteria dies off, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Matter.

根據(jù)周三發(fā)表在《Matter》雜志上的一項研究，科羅拉多科學(xué)家與美國國防部高級研究計劃局合作制造的這種活性混凝土，一開始是一種病態(tài)的綠色，隨著細(xì)菌的死亡，這種綠色會逐漸消失。

It really does look like a Frankenstein material, UC Boulder engineer and project leader Will Srubar told the NYT.

加州大學(xué)博爾德分校的工程師兼項目負(fù)責(zé)人威爾·斯魯巴爾對《紐約時報》說:“這真的很像科學(xué)怪人的材料。”

Even as the color fades, the bacteria survive for several weeks and can be rejuvenated – resulting in further growth­ – under the right conditions.

即使顏色褪去，細(xì)菌也能存活數(shù)周，并在合適的條件下恢復(fù)活力，從而進(jìn)一步生長。

DARPA is particularly interested in a self-growing material that it can use to assemble structures in remote desert areas, or potentially even in space, according to the NYT.

據(jù)《紐約時報》報道，美國國防部高級研究計劃局對一種能夠自我生長的材料特別感興趣，這種材料可以用于在偏遠(yuǎn)的沙漠地區(qū)組裝結(jié)構(gòu)，甚至可能用于太空。

If the living concrete can scale up to that level, it could reduce the amount – and weight – of materials that space agencies will need to launch.

如果活的混凝土能擴大到那個水平，就能減少太空機構(gòu)發(fā)射所需材料的數(shù)量和重量。

There's no way we're going to carry building materials to space, Srubar told the NYT. "We'll bring biology with us."

“我們不可能把建筑材料送到太空，”斯魯巴爾告訴《紐約時報》。“但我們會帶去生物學(xué)。”