科學(xué)美國(guó)人60秒中英文翻譯：火星探測(cè)器出現(xiàn)液態(tài)水
This is Scientific American 60 Secomds, Space. I'm Clara Moskowitz, got a minute?
If Martians exist, even the microbial sort, they probably need liquid water. Temperatures on the surface of the red planet are below freezing, but signs exist that water flowed in the past—and perhaps still does, thanks to a Martian version of anti-freeze.
Salts lower the freezing point of water, as anyone knows who's thrown salt on an icy sidewalk. And both NASA's Phoenix and Curiosity missions found salts called perchlorates sprinkled around the Martian surface.
To see how perchlorates might act on Mars, researchers recreated the pressure, humidity and temperature of the planet inside a metal cylinder. They put a thin layer of perchlorates on top of water ice inside the chamber. Within minutes, droplets of liquid water formed, even at minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Some scientists thought perchlorates might condense water vapor from the atmosphere. But within the cylinder, no liquid water formed in the presence of salts, either alone or on Mars-like soil, unless ice was present too. The study is in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The finding study could explain mysterious globules seen on the leg of the Phoenix in 2008. The lander may have been dotted with drops of otherworldly water.
Thanks for the minute for Scientific American 60 Secomds, Tech. I'm Clara Moskowitz.
科學(xué)美國(guó)人60秒中文翻譯：
這里是科學(xué)美國(guó)人60秒，太空系列。我是克拉拉·莫斯科維茲。
如果火星人真的存在，即便是火星上的微生物也需要液態(tài)水。這個(gè)表面呈現(xiàn)紅色的星球表面溫度低于零度，但曾經(jīng)竟然有水存在的潛在跡象，也許現(xiàn)在還有，這多虧了火星“特產(chǎn)”的防凍劑。
鹽可以降低水的凝固點(diǎn)，在寒冷的冬季向多滑的地面和過道撒鹽就是利用的這個(gè)原理。美國(guó)航空航天局發(fā)射的鳳凰號(hào)和好奇號(hào)都在火星的表面發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種叫做高氯酸鹽的物質(zhì)。
火星液態(tài)水.jpg
為了研究液態(tài)水是如何在高氯酸鹽的作用下形成的，科學(xué)家們?cè)以趯?shí)驗(yàn)室內(nèi)的金屬桶內(nèi)再造了著陸器的著陸環(huán)境，包括大氣壓力、濕度以及溫度。他們?cè)谕袄锏乃先錾狭吮”〉囊粚痈呗人猁}。即便室溫只有零下100華攝氏度，幾分鐘之內(nèi)，液態(tài)水還是形成了。
有科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，高氯酸鹽凝結(jié)了大氣中的水蒸氣從而形成液態(tài)水。不過實(shí)驗(yàn)表明，無論是在只有高氯酸鹽的試驗(yàn)中還是將鹽層放在類似火星的泥土上，當(dāng)沒有形成任何液態(tài)水，只有放在冰層上，液態(tài)水才可能形成。這項(xiàng)研究成果發(fā)布在《地球物理研究快報(bào)》上。
這項(xiàng)研究或許可以解釋2008年鳳凰號(hào)著陸器的腿上帶有神秘的液態(tài)球狀物體了。說不定，這就是來自外太空的液態(tài)水。