The science of macaroni salad: What's in a molecule? - Josh Kurz

翻译人员: Alicia Zhang 校对人员: Bighead Ge

We already know that the world is made of things,

我们都知道这个世界是由许多事物组成的，

things like cats

比如像猫

and macaroni salad,

还有通心粉沙拉，

and macaroni salad is made of things

通心粉沙拉也是由许多东西组成的

like mayo

比如蛋黄酱

and mustard

和芥末

and celery,

which are all made of molecules.

还有芹菜，

并且他们都是由分子组成的。

As we'll see, these molecules

像我们所看到的，这些分子

are made of the same stuff,

都是由同样的物质组成的，

just mixed together in different ways.

只是用不同的方法结合在一起。

Let's go back to our macaroni salad.

现在让我们回到通心粉沙拉上。

We've already unmixed things physically

我们已经物理上尽可能的

as much as we can.

把这些物质拆解。

Now, we'll go further and unmix things chemically

现在，我们要进一步的从化学角度进行还原

by breaking some bonds.

从打破一些化学键开始。

Many larger, complex molecules

很多大型的、复杂的分子

are just a bunch of smaller molecules bonded together

其实只是一些小型的分子结合在一起

like building blocks.

就像是积木一样。

Here, again, macaroni salad provides a nice example.

在这里，通心粉沙拉提供了一个很好的例子。

If you look at the pasta,

如果你观察着通心粉，

you'll notice it's made of a lot of this stuff,

你能够发现这其实是由许多物质组成的，

starch,

淀粉，

which is this molecule,

就是这个分子，

otherwise known as amylose.

同时也被称作“直链淀粉”。

Turns out, if you break some bonds,

如果你继续打破一些化学键，

amylose is made up of smaller molecules

直链淀粉也是由更小的分子——

of glucose, a simple sugar.

葡萄糖，一种单糖组成的。

If you take a bunch of these same glucose molecules

如果你把一些相同的葡萄糖分子

and rearrange them in a different way,

用另一种方法排列，

you get cellulose,

你就会得到"纤维素",

which is what plants are made of.

就是能够组成植物的东西。

So, while this piece of pasta made of amylose

你看，这个由直链淀粉组成的通心粉

and this wooden spoon made of cellulose

和这个由纤维素组成的木勺子

look vastly different,

看上去相当的不同，

they're both essentially made of the same molecules,

它们本质上是由同样的分子组成的，

just stuck together differently.

只是编排的方法不一样而已。

This type of breaking apart and recombining

像这样打破又重新组合化学键

is what goes on when you digest food.

是会发生在你消化食物的事情

The complex proteins found in the foods we eat,

在我们吃的食物中有一些复杂的蛋白质

like carrots and eggs,

像胡萝卜和鸡蛋，

can't be used by our bodies

没有办法直接被我们身体所用

because we are not carrots or chickens.

因为我们不是胡萝卜或者鸡

What we can use are the smaller molecules

我们可以吸收的是组成这些蛋白质的

that make up these proteins,

相同的分子，

the amino acids.

氨基酸，

During digestion, our bodies break these proteins up

在消化过程中，我们的身体打破这些蛋白质的化学键

into their amino acids

把它们变回氨基酸

so they can be rearranged and put back together

然后就能够将它们重新编排再组合

to make human proteins.

再变成人体所接受的蛋白质。

But let's keep breaking bonds.

不过我们现在要继续打破化学键。

All molecules are made up of atoms bonded together.

所有的分子都是由原子组成的。

If some molecules are building blocks,

如果分子是积木，

atoms are the building blocks

那么原子，

of the building blocks.

就是组成积木的积木。

And you'll notice that with the molecules

这样你会发现，

from macaroni salad,

组成通心粉沙拉的分子中，

the same six types of atoms keep showing up:

有六种相同的原子不停地出现：

carbon,

碳、

hydrogen,

氢、

oxygen,

nitrogen,

氧、

氮、

phosphorus,

磷、

and sulfur,

和硫，

or CHONPS.

或者简称“CHONPS”。

There's a few others,

这其中有一些其他的原子，

but the big six is what macaroni salad is made of.

不过这六种原子是组成通心粉沙拉的主要物质。

If we went a step further,

如果我们再进一步，

we could use these same atoms,

我们能够用这些同样的原子，

recombine them,

进行再组合，

and make other stuff

然后做出别的东西

like gasoline

比如汽油

or sulfuric acid,

或者硫酸，

methane,

甲烷

and nylon.

还有尼龙。

It's all made from the same elements

这些都是由组成通心粉沙拉的

that make up macaroni salad.

相同原子组成的。

So, to recap,

现在，概括一下，

everything is made of atoms.

所有的东西都是由原子组成的。

They are the stuff that things are made of.

他们是所有东西的根本。

Atoms are grouped together in different ways

原子会以不同的方式结合在一起

to form molecules.

产生分子。

These molecules are constantly being combined,

这些分子不断的被组合，

broken apart,

分解，

and recombined.

再组合。

They get thrown into mixtures,

他们就像是被扔进搅拌机里，

separated,

被分离，

remixed

再混合，

over and over and over again.

一遍一遍重复着这个过程。

The stuff that things are made of

能够组成东西的东西

is always in flux;

一直在流动，

it's always changing.

一直在变化。

Macaroni salad is only macaroni salad for a short time.

通心粉沙拉只会维持在通心粉沙拉一小段时间。

You eat it,

你吃掉了它，

some of it becomes part of you,

一些沙拉会变成你的一部分，

the rest eventually goes into the ocean

剩余的那些最终会去往海洋

and gets eaten by other animals that die,

会被那里的动物吃掉，动物死亡，

and after millions of years, they turn into oil,

然后在几百万年之后，它们会变成石油，

which is where gasoline comes from.

就是成为石油的东西。

And that's why gasoline and macaroni salad

所以这就是为什么汽油和通心粉沙拉

are not that different -

其实相差的并不大——

they're both made of the same stuff,

他们都是由相同的物质组成的，

just one tastes better.

只是一个更可口一点。