評論
打印
When I say “salmonella,” what comes to mind?
當我提起“沙門氏菌”,你腦中馬上會浮現出什么?
Eggs? Chicken? Actually, think carrots, cucumbers, cantaloupes.
雞蛋?雞肉?實際上,想想胡蘿卜,黃瓜,哈密瓜。
It’s foods we eat raw that tend to cause the biggest salmonella outbreaks.
我們生吃的食物往往造成最大的沙門氏菌爆發。
But an invention by physicists at Auburn University could make testing for bacteria as simple as slapping on a sticker and waving a handheld scanner.
但奧本大學物理學家們的一項發明可能使測試細菌變得像撕下貼紙及揮舞手持掃描器一樣簡單。
The sticker part of the system contains a tiny sliver of metallic glass.
貼紙部分的系統包含一個金屬玻璃棉條。
The side touching the food is coated with phage E2, a virus engineered to stick only to Salmonella typhimurium bacteria.
觸摸食物的一邊涂有噬菌體E2,這是一種被研發成只會依附鼠傷寒沙門氏菌的病毒。
In the handheld scanner, a small wire coil creates an oscillating magnetic field, which makes the glass sliver in the sticker vibrate in sympathy.
而在手持掃描儀內部的小線圈創建的一個振蕩磁場使得在貼紙內的玻璃棉條同時產生震動。
The coil can measure that rate of vibration.
而線圈就會測量振動的頻率。
If salmonella is present under the sticker, it gets snagged by the phage and makes the sticker a touch heavier—enough to change its vibration frequency.
如果沙門氏菌目前在貼紙下,它會受到噬菌體阻礙，使貼紙變重從而改變其振動頻率。
The scanner could pick up the shift and sound an alarm.
掃描儀就會接收到這一變化之后報警。
The work appears in the Journal of Applied Physics.
這項研究已經在《應用物理》上發表。
The system should work on most produce—but probably not on chicken or eggs, because they can harbor salmonella on the inside.
該系統適用于多數生產,但雞肉或雞蛋可不行,因為它們會從內部產生沙門氏菌。
