How do we separate the seemingly inseparable? - Iddo Magen

翻译人员: Brife Zhang 校对人员: Sophie Anderson

Your cell phone is mainly made of plastics and metals.

你的手机主要由塑料和金属制成。

It's easy to appreciate the inventive process

我们很容易理解那些

by which those elements are made to add up to something so useful and entertaining.

把各种元素加工成为有用又有趣的东西的发明过程

But there's another story we don't hear about as much.

但是有件事我们没怎么听过。

How did we get our raw ingredients in the first place

那就是，如何从自然中的混沌杂质

from the chaotic tangle of materials that is nature?

第一时间得到我们想要的原材料呢？

The answer is a group of clever hacks known as separation techniques.

答案就在被称为分离技术的一组聪明的手段中。

They work by taking advantage of the fundamental properties of things

它们通过利用物质的基本属性

to disentangle them from each other.

从而把物质相互分离。

Simple separation techniques apply to many physical scenarios,

在很多物理情况中会应用到简单的分离技术，

like separating cream from milk,

例如从牛奶中分离出奶油，

extracting water from soil,

从泥土中提取水分，

or even sifting out flecks of gold from river sand.

甚至从河砂中筛出黄金微粒。

But not all mixtures are so easy to unravel.

但并不是所有的混合物都是这么简单就被分离开的。

In some of those cases,

在某些情况下，

we can exploit the differences between physical properties within a mixture,

我们可以利用混合物物质性上的差异，

like particle size,

例如颗粒尺寸，

density,

密度，

or boiling point

或者沸点

to extract what's required.

去分离出我们想要的元素。

Take petroleum,

拿石油为例，

a mixture of different types of hydrocarbons.

它是由不同类的碳氢化合物混合而成。

Some of these are valuable as fuels,

其中有的碳氢化合物可作为宝贵的燃料，

and others make good raw materials for generating electric power.

其他的，则可以作为产生电能的原材料。

To separate them, experts rely on one important feature:

为了分离它们，专家们利用一个重要的特性：

different hydrocarbons boil at different temperatures.

不同碳氢化合物的沸点也有所差别。

During the boiling process, each type vaporizes at a precise point,

在沸腾过程中，每一种成分都在一个比较精确的沸点蒸发，

then gets separately funneled into a container

然后分别汇集在各自的容器中

and collected as a liquid as it cools.

冷却后以液体的形式储存。

Separation techniques also take us to the sea.

我们也将分离技术运用在海洋中。

In some drought-stricken countries,

在一些遭受旱灾困扰的国家里，

the ocean is the only available water source.

海洋是仅有的可用水源。

But of course, humans can't drink salt water.

当然了，人类是不能饮用盐水的。

One way to get around this problem

解决这个问题的办法

is to remove salt from sea water with reverse osmosis,

就是用反渗透方法将盐从海水中移除，

a process that separates water's ingredients by size.

这也是按大小分离水分子的过程。

A membrane with pores bigger than water particles,

一个比水质点大

but smaller than salt particles,

但却比盐分子小的有孔隙的薄膜，

only lets fresh water pass through,

只允许淡水通过，

transforming what was once undrinkable into a life saver.

将原来不能喝的水 变为可饮用的生命之源。

Meanwhile in the medical world,

同时在医学领域，

blood tests are a vital tool for evaluating a person's health,

血液测试是评估个人健康的重要手段，

but doctors typically can't examine blood samples

但是医生一般不能检查血液样本

until they've separated the solid blood cells

除非他将固态的血细胞

from the liquid plasma they're dissolved in.

从液体血浆中分离出来。

To do that, a powerful rotational force is exerted on the test tube,

为此，对试管施加强有劲的旋转力，

causing heavier substances with higher density,

让高密度的比较重的物质

like blood cells,

例如血细胞，

to move away from the rotational axis.

远离旋转轴。

Meanwhile, lighter substances with lower density,

同时，低密度的较轻物质，

like plasma,

例如血浆，

move to its center.

就会留在中心。

The tube's contents divide clearly,

试管内的物质被分得一清二楚，

and the blood cells and liquid plasma can be tested independently.

这样血细胞和血浆就可以分别被检测了。

But sometimes, unlike oil, seawater, and blood,

但有些时候，不像石油，海水和血液，

the parts of mixtures that we want to separate

我们想要分离的混合物成分

share the same physical properties.

有着相同的物理属性。

In these cases, the only way to isolate ingredients is by chemical separation,

在这种情况中，分离原料的唯一方法就是化学分离，

a complex process that relies on unique interactions

一个基于混合物成分和其他物质之间

between components within a mixture and another material.

独特相互作用的复杂的过程。

One of these methods is chromatography,

方法之一是色层分析法，

a tool forensic scientists use to examine crime scenes.

这也是法医学家用来检测犯罪现场的一种手段。

They dissolve gathered evidence in a gas,

他们把收集到的证据溶解在一种气体中，

and can monitor and analyze the ingredients

就可以检测并分析其成分

as they separate and move at varying speeds

由于每一种成分都有其特殊的化学性质

due to their unique chemical properties.

所以它们会以不同的速度分离。

That information then tells scientists precisely what was present at the scene,

科学家们能从这些信息中精确得知现场留下什么，

often helping to identify the culprit.

利于识别出罪犯。

Separation techniques are not just about industry,

分离技术不光运用于工业，

infrastructure,

基础设施，

medicine,

医学，

and justice.

和法律。

One of the most technically ambitious projects in human history

在人类历史中有一个"野心技术工程"

is a separation technique aimed at answering the fundamental question,

旨在以一种分离手法回答一个最基本的问题

"What is the Universe made of?"

“宇宙是由什么组成的？”

By accelerating particles to extremely high speeds

通过将粒子加速到极速

and smashing them into each other,

再让它们互相碰撞，

we can break them into their constituent parts ever so briefly.

能够在极短时间内将它们分成各自的组成部分。

And if we succeed at that, what's next?

如果我们成功了，那么接下来会是什么？

Is there a most elementary particle?

会有最基本的粒子存在吗？

And if so, what's it made of?

如果有，那它又是由什么构成的呢？