每朵摇曳的烛光中都是上百万颗钻石

原作者：
来源Flickering candle flame contains \'millions of tiny diamonds that are created and disappear\'  | Mail Online
译者Miss Zhang

Scientists have shown that a flickering flame is studded with millions of tiny diamonds.

科学家发现摇曳的烛光是由有无数颗微小的钻石镶嵌而成的。

Roughly 1.5million of the twinkling gems are created every second.

大约每秒能产生150万颗闪闪发光的宝石。

Sadly, for those whose eyes are lighting up the thought of making a fortune, the jewels are so small that up to 300,000 would fit on the head of a pin.

可悲的是对于那些想发财的人来说，这些钻石太小了，30万颗才有针尖那么大。

And they disappear in the blink of an eye.

而且眨下眼睛它们就消失得无影无踪。

But if scientists come up with a way of harnessing the technology, people could use little more than a candle and a match to ‘grow’ diamonds from scratch.

但是如果科学家掌握了这样技术的话，人们仅用蜡烛和火柴就能凭空造出钻石来。

As well as costing a fraction of the price of ‘real’ diamonds, they would be an ethically sound alternative to the blood diamonds mined in African war zones.

比起生产货真价实的钻石，这个成本很低很低，从人道主义来讲，这无疑比在非洲战乱地区靠压榨非洲人民血汗挖出来的钻石要好。

An alternative source of diamonds would also be a boon to industry, which uses the fantastically hard stones in everything from saw blades to prosthetic hips.

这种制造钻石的方法对工业来讲也是件好事，从锯条到人造屁股哪儿都要用到钻石。

The idea comes from a St Andrews University scientist challenged to find out just what is inside a flame.

这个发现来自St Andrews 大学的科学家，最开始他们是想知道到底火焰中到底有什么。

Wuzong Zhou, a professor of chemistry, said: ‘A colleague from another university said to me: "Of course, no one knows what a candle flame is actually made of."

一位名叫周武宗的化学家说：“另外一所大学的同事跟我说：‘你肯定不知道烛火是由什么构成的’

‘I told him I believed science could explain everything eventually, so I decided to find out.’

‘我告诉他说，我相信科学能解释一切，所以我决心一探究竟。’

The professor invented a filter that allowed him to successfully extract particles from the centre of the flame, where temperatures top 1,400C, and then examined them.'

周武宗发明了一个过滤器，它能从高达1400度得火心提取细小微粒，然后进行研究。

To his surprise, he discovered that the carbon in the candle wax had formed all four types of pure carbon, including diamonds and graphite, or pencil lead.

让他感到意外的是，他发现烛蜡所含有的碳是由纯碳，钻石，石墨和铅笔心的铅构成的。

Pure carbon can make very different structures depending on how the atoms are arranged and how they bond to each other.

纯碳能够呈现出不同的构造，这主要取决于碳原子的排列，以及他们之间的结合方式。

Professor Zhou said: ‘This was a surprise because each form is usually created under different conditions.

周教授说：“这是一个很意外的发现，因为不同条件下纯碳的构造是不同的。”

‘Unfortunately, the diamond particles are burned away in the process and converted into carbon dioxide, but this will change the way we view a candle flame forever.’

‘可惜的是，微小的钻石会在燃烧的过程消失，并转化成二氧化碳。但这个发现会彻底的改变我们对蜡烛的看法。’

The professor now plans to examine barbecue flames, to determine if they also contain fledgling diamonds - and if they gild the burgers and sausages that are eaten afterwards.

周教授计划继续研究烧烤产生的火焰，看看它们是否也有钻石，是不是会粘在汉堡，香肠上。

Rosey Barnet, artistic director of Shearer Candles, one of Scotland’s biggest candle firms, said: ‘We always knew that candles added sparkle to a room, now scientific research has provided us with more insight into why.’

Rosey Barnet，是苏格兰最大的蜡烛制造商Shearer Candles的工艺主任，他说：“我们一直知道蜡烛能照明，但科学研究给我们提供了更多真相。”

The discovery was foreseen more than 150 years ago by Michael Faraday, the father of electricity.In a lecture on the chemical history of the candle, delivered in London in 1860 at the prestigious Royal Society about the marvels of science, he told his audience that candlelight ‘has the glittering beauty of gold and silver, and the still higher lustre of jewels like the ruby and diamond; but none of these rival the brilliancy and beauty of flame'.

电学之父法拉第早到150年前就预见了这个发现。在一场关于蜡烛的化学史的讲座上，他对听众说：烛光“像金银一样闪烁，它更有着红宝石和钻石一样的光泽，但它们都比不上烛光的明亮和美丽。”

Burning gas has been used to make diamonds before but Professor Zhou is the first to show that the gems form deep inside something as simple as a candle flame.

以前人们曾用过燃烧气体的方式来获得钻石，但是周教授第一个向我们展示了珠宝深藏在像烛光一样平凡的物体中。

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