科學家們創(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.

科羅拉多大學博爾德分校的科學家們創(chuàng)造了《紐約時報》所稱的“活混凝土”，里面充滿了能進行光合作用的細菌，這些細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，最終的結構能夠自我再生，這意味著在新生的自組裝材料領域有了潛在的突破。

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.

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

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，細菌也能存活數(shù)周，并在合適的條件下恢復活力，從而進一步生長。

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的沙漠地區(qū)組裝結構，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。”