时差N小时:沙漠的希望之光

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唐：神圣的灰白银胶菊，雅艾尔。

Yael: Holy what?

雅艾尔：神圣的什么?

Don: Guayule. It's a desert-dwelling shrub fromthe Southwest.

唐：灰白银胶菊。它是一种生长在西南部沙漠中的灌木。

Yael: What about guayule? I never even heard of it.

雅艾尔：灰白银胶菊是什么样的?我从来没听过。

Don: Several things. One of the most important features of the guayule plant is that it is asource of natural latex, ideal for making gloves and other natural rubber products used in themedical industry. But unlike the more common latex extracted from rubber trees, latex fromguayule plants does not contain the proteins that cause severe allergic reactions in somepeople.

唐：有几件事你应该了解一下。灰白银胶菊最重要的特点是它能分泌天然乳胶，是制造手套以及其它医疗工厂使用的橡胶制品的理想原料。但是跟常见的那些从橡胶树上提取的乳胶不同，从灰白银胶菊中提取的乳胶中没有会使人产生严重过敏反应的蛋白质。

Yael: Nice.

雅艾尔：不错。

Don: But that's not all. Crop researchers have discovered that the guayule plant is apotentially valuable source of energy. After the latex is extracted from the plant, you're leftwith the ground up stems and branches—called “bagasse.” Bagasse from guayule containsabout as much potential energy per pound as charcoal. USDA chemists are working to developefficient methods to convert bagasse into ethanol and other consumer ready products.Guayule has a few advantages as a source for biofuel. One is that it grows and thrives in thedesert. That means it can grow in areas where other crops can't. Guayule shrubs can also beharvested year round, and require very little fertilizer or chemicals to grow. On top of that, thelatex extraction process uses only water, no harsh solvents, so the process of producing latexand bagasse is relatively clean.

唐：还不止这些呢。研究者们还发现银胶菊是一种很有开发前景的能源。当你把乳胶从植物里提取出来后，就会剩下一大堆银胶菊的秸秆，我们称为“甘蔗渣”。每磅甘蔗渣里含有的能量和每磅木炭一样多。美国农业部的化学家正在研发一种有效的方法，以便把这些甘蔗渣转化成乙醇和其他可供消费的产品。作为生物燃料，银胶菊有一些优势。其中一项就是他在沙漠中茁壮的生长，这就表示了它能在其他生物无法生存的环境中存活。银胶菊灌木一年就能收获吗?它全年都能收获，且只需要一点点肥料和化学药剂。除此之外，银胶菊的乳胶提取工艺只需要水就够了，不需要严格的溶剂。所以生产乳胶和甘蔗渣的过程是比较清洁的。

Yael: That does sound promising. I'LL look forward to hearing more about guayule in thefuture.

雅艾尔：那听起来的确很有前途，我期望以后能多了解一些银胶菊的知识。

Don: I suspect we will.

唐：我猜会有机会的。