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Designing smarter crops and botany with cactus-inspired attributes is a pretty big leap.
以仙人掌的特質為靈感設計出更聰明的作物和植物是相當大的進展。
But researchers are now identifying other superpowers that can be applied in dramatic ways to innovations that don't require plants at all -- for instance, new building materials.
但研究人員現在正在尋找其他的超能力，可以在完全跳脫植物的狀況下，以驚人的方式運用在各種創新上--例如新的建筑材料。
One of the most exciting advancements involves Copiapoa, a genus that comprises at least 32 species, mostly exclusive to the coastal Atacama region in northern Chile, the driest nonpolar desert on Earth.
最令人振奮的進展之一跟龍爪球屬的仙人掌有關，這個屬有至少32個物種，大部分只分布在智利北部的阿塔卡馬沿岸地區，也就是地球上最干燥的非極區沙漠。
For scientists, unlocking the mystery of how they endure starts with their unique shape.
對科學家來說，想解開這些植物的耐受力之謎，要先從它們獨特的形狀開始。
Most plants are five to six inches in diameter and can form into gray-greenish cushions that dot an eerie landscape otherwise devoid of vegetation.
大部分的龍爪球屬都是直徑約5到6英寸、會形成灰綠色的墊狀，點綴在這片沒有其他植被的詭異地貌上。
"Very little is known about the biology of these plants," says Carol Pena, a botanist from the University of Concepción in Chile who regularly treks into the barren hills of the backcountry to explore how they sustain themselves.
“我們對龍爪球的生物學知之甚少，”智利康塞普森大學的植物學家卡洛·佩尼亞說，她會定期爬上這些偏遠荒蕪的山丘，探索龍爪球究竟如何生存。
She often finds them tucked between folds of rock in a gully or set on steep cliffs facing the coast.
她常發現它們擠在溝壑的巖縫中，或是長在面朝海岸的峭壁上。
As Pena explains it, copiapoas probably survive by "drinking" the salty camanchaca fog that sweeps in from the sea every morning, as well as the dew that condenses on their spines and skin.
佩尼亞解釋稱，龍爪球可能是靠著“喝”每天早上從大海飄過來、咸咸的卡門卻加霧（智利北部從海岸飄往內陸的濱海濃霧）以及凝結在尖刺和表皮上的露水維生。
That revelation, documented by many scientists, has inspired biomimicry researcher Tegwen Malik, from Swansea University in the United Kingdom, to think about whether the dew-collecting process might be replicated in metal structures.
已經有許多科學家記錄到這項發現，而英國斯旺西大學的仿生學學者泰格玟·馬立克受到啟發，開始思考這種搜集露水的過程可否在金屬結構上復制出來。
Specifically, Malik took a close look at the conical, one-and-a-quarter-inch spines of the green and amber globular species C. cinerea var. haseltoniana and found that their surface has a series of tiny grooves that broaden at the base.
具體而言，馬立克仔細檢視了外表是綠色和琥珀色的球狀仙人掌“逆鱗丸”長達一又四分之一英寸的錐形尖刺，發現這些刺的表面有一連串細小的溝槽，靠基部的部分會比較寬。
"This creates a surface roughness gradient that enables dew droplets to be channeled along them even against gravity," she says.
“這造成了表面粗糙度的漸次變化，讓露珠可以沿著這些滿槽、甚至逆著重力方向流動，”她說。
Starting in 2013, she set out to re-create that structure by engineering a flat steel and aluminum replica of the stem and spines of the cactus, which she began testing under a series of different temperatures and humidities.
從2013年起，她著手重現這種結構，以鋼板和鋁板復制出這種仙人掌的莖和刺，然后在各種不同的溫度和濕度中進行測試。
After several years of experiments -- testing indoor and outdoor conditions, and with various cooling methods -- she finally got it to work.
經過幾年的實驗--在室內和戶外條件下利用各種冷卻方式測試--終于成功了。
In 2023, Malik published a study showing that the prickly, contoured surface was 8 percent more efficient at harvesting dew than a flat sheet used as a baseline.
2023年，馬立克發表了一篇研究，證實這種有弧度且帶刺的表面收集露水的效能，比當作基準的平面金屬板高出了8%。
To optimize her design, she imagines desert homes with these water-collecting features.
為了優化她的設計，她設想了具有這些集水功能的沙漠住宅。
The innovation could even be adopted more widely as a humanitarian measure to secure clean drinking water in arid regions that lack lifesaving resources.
這樣的創新甚至可以有更廣泛的運用，作為在缺乏救命資源的干旱地區能確保取得干凈飲用水的人道援助手段。
"The easiest way could be to place the dew-harvesting surfaces on roof tiles, but you could also have these structures in tents in the desert, for example," she says.
“最簡單的辦法可能就是把可收集露水的表面放在屋頂瓦片上，但也可以用在其他地方，例如沙漠的帳篷上”，她說。
