科学家造出可以鉴别威士忌的“人工舌头”_BEC初级作文

科学家造出可以鉴别威士忌的“人工舌头”

研究团队在《纳米尺度》期刊上发表了文章，描述了他们的“人工舌头”是如何搭建在一块玻璃薄片上的。这个玻璃片有三组独立的阵列，每一组都包含200万个正方形的微型“人造味蕾”——每个边长只有100纳米，是人类味蕾大小的五百分之一左右。

wafer['wefɚ]: n. 圆片，晶片；薄片，干胶片

There are six different types of these squares in the device, three types made from gold and three from aluminium. Each of the three arrays contain one type of gold and one type of aluminium square.

设备中有六种不同的“方块”，三种由金制成，另外三种由铝制成。每一个阵列都含有一种“金方块”和一种“铝方块”。

When light is shone on an array, it interacts with the electrons at the surface of the squares, resulting in dips in the reflected light which can be measured. These dips appear at slightly different wavelengths depending on which type of square the light interacts with.

当光照到一个阵列上时，会与这些方块表面的电子相互作用，造成可以检测到的反射光降低。根据与光相互作用的方块种类不同，这些反射光的强度下降反映在略有不同的波长上。

Crucially, these dips shift depending on the liquid surrounding the arrays. The upshot is that each liquid gives rise to its own “fingerprint” of measurements. That means the device can be used to tell apart different liquids – and even identify them if they have been recorded before – without revealing their makeup, rather like our own tongues do.