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Both groups hope to get around these complications, but in different ways.
兩組人都希望避免這些問(wèn)題，但使用的方式不同。
The researchers at Berkeley, led by Omar Yaghi, announced their results last year.
Omar Yaghi領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的伯克利的研究人員在去年宣布了他們的結(jié)果。
They propose to replace the zirconium-based metal-organic framework with one based on aluminium.
他們建議將鋯基金屬有機(jī)骨架替換為鋁基金屬有機(jī)骨架。
Not only is aluminium cheaper than zirconium, it is better at binding to and then releasing water, making the trap's operation smoother.
鋁不僅比鋯便宜，而且更容易與水結(jié)合并釋放水，使捕集器的操作更加順暢。
On top of this, Dr Yaghi has found that by mixing graphite into the powder from which the framework is compounded,
最重要的是，Yaghi博士發(fā)現(xiàn)，通過(guò)將石墨與粉末混合制成框架，
in order to make it black, and therefore heat-absorbing, he can eliminate the need for copper foam.
使其變黑，從而達(dá)到吸收熱量的目的，他可以消除對(duì)泡沫銅的需求。
In Connecticut, meanwhile, Steven Suib and his colleagues,
與此同時(shí)，在康涅狄格州，Steven Suib和他的同事
who have just reported their result in Environmental Science and Technology Letters, propose getting rid of both framework and foam,
在《Environmental Science and Technology Letters》中發(fā)表了自己的結(jié)果，他們建議拋棄框架和泡沫，
and replacing them with birnessite, a type of manganese dioxide. Birnessite is abundant in nature.
用將它們替換為水鈉錳礦—一種二氧化錳。水鈉錳礦資源豐富。
It is also easy to make artificially. It is therefore cheap.
人工制作也很容易。因此，它很便宜。
Like metal-organic frameworks, birnessite is riddled with tiny holes that allow air to move around inside it, to maximise adsorption.
和金屬-有機(jī)骨架一樣，水鈉錳礦布滿了小孔，空氣可以在里面流動(dòng)，最大限度地吸附。
And it, too, is black and therefore heat-absorbing.
它也是黑色的，因此可以吸收熱量。
Both proposals work. Tested in desertlike conditions in a laboratory—and in Dr Yaghi's case in an actual desert, too—
兩種建議都可行。在類似沙漠的條件下在實(shí)驗(yàn)室里測(cè)試—Yaghi博士是在真正的沙漠中進(jìn)行測(cè)試的—
they absorb and regurgitate reasonable fractions of their weight of water every day. They are nothing like as productive as desalination plants,
它們每天吸收和反芻相當(dāng)比例的水。它們完全不像海水淡化廠那樣高產(chǎn)，
and so would have to be built at large scale to generate water in commercially useful quantities.
因此必須大規(guī)模建造才能產(chǎn)生商業(yè)上有用的水量。
But one thing deserts do have is lots of cheap land. If either or both of these inventions can be manufactured at scale,
但是沙漠里有很多便宜的土地。如果這兩項(xiàng)發(fā)明中的一項(xiàng)或兩項(xiàng)都能大規(guī)模生產(chǎn)出來(lái)，
then the deserts may bloom—if not with plants, at least with water-collection farms.
那么沙漠就有可能蓬勃發(fā)展—如果不是用工廠，至少是用集水的農(nóng)場(chǎng)。
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