這是網路上的一篇文章
原本想聯繫作者
不過他的連結失效了
所以我就把 原始網址和 原始文章 貼在這裡
大家可以對照看
但是註釋如果放在最後面會變得難以閱讀
所以我這邊就分段放了
如果喜歡這篇文的話
但是註釋如果放在最後面會變得難以閱讀
所以我這邊就分段放了
10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know Were
Radioactive
We all know the obvious things that produce radiation: nuclear power plants, microwaves, atomic bombs, and holidays to certain parts of the Ukraine. However, it’s the less-obvious things that you’ve got to watch out for.
核電廠、微波、原子彈還有烏克蘭某些地區的紀念日(註1)，這些都是我們熟知會產生輻射的事物。卻有一些不起眼的東西，竟然有會有輻射，就讓我們一起來瞧一瞧
(註1)這邊應該指的是"車諾比核災紀念日"
日期為4/26
車諾比核災發生的地點是前蘇聯統治中的烏克蘭
詳情請參考維基的資料
並請參考這篇文章：車諾比的悲鳴
10
Brazil Nuts(巴西堅果)
The Brazil nut is one of the most radioactive foods in the world; however, don’t think that eating several handfuls of them will give you superpowers. It won’t (we tried). Instead, as one unfortunate obsessive nut eater found, doing this will just make your poop and urine extremely radioactive. The reason for this radioactivity is simple: the roots of the tree that produce the Brazil nut grow so deep into the ground that they absorb massive levels of radium, a naturally-occurring source of radiation.
巴西堅果是世界上輻射最強的食物之一。不過別妄想吃下一堆的巴西堅果可以獲得超能力。不可能的(我們已經試過了)。相反的，一個不幸的傢伙表示，過度攝取堅果，只會讓你的大便和尿含有高量輻射而已。
而巴西堅果含有輻射的理由是：這種樹的根會過度深入土壤，而吸收到存在於土壤深處的自然元素鐳，導致果實含有相當高量的輻射。(註2)
9
Grand Central Station(大中央車站)(註3)
New York City’s Grand Central Station is one of the largest railway stations in the world. It’s also, as many of the commuters that pass through it might be worried to know, one of the most radioactive. This is because many of the walls of the station, as well as its foundations, were built using granite, a rock capable of holding natural radiation. In fact, the radiation levels produced by the station are so high that they actually exceed the levels that nuclear power plants are legally allowed to emit.
紐約市的中央大車站是世界上最大的地鐵站。很多通行於這個車站的旅客得知這個消息可能會很擔心，中央大車站竟然也是最具輻射量的車站之一。
因為這個車站的牆壁與地基，使用的材料是花崗岩，而花崗岩本身就有保留自然輻射的能力。事實上，中央大車站的輻射量已經超出核電廠合法的輻射範圍了!
8
Living in Denver (居住在丹佛)(註4)
It’s a scientific fact that the higher in altitude you go, the more exposure to forms of cosmic radiation you receive. You can blame the Earth’s atmosphere for this: the atmospheric layer that surrounds the Earth gets thinner with the closer you get to it and, therefore, provides less protection to the people underneath it. This is a problem for the residents of Denver, as their city is approximately one mile above sea level. As a result, its population is blasted by twice as much radiation as those living at sea levels. Weirdly, however, this isn’t having an ill-effect on their health: one study found that populations who live at mountain elevations live longer and have healthier lives, proving that instead of superpowers, all this cosmic radiation might be causing people to develop super healing powers.
經科學證實，前往越高海拔的地區，會接收到越高量的宇宙輻射。你那可把罪都怪在地球的大氣層上：當你越靠近時，圍繞於地球的大氣層也相對的愈薄，也就是因為這樣，大氣不能提供我們完整的保護。
而丹佛位於海平面上約1英里(註5)的高度，這對丹佛的市民就成了一個頭痛的問題了。這裡的居民受到輻射量是住在海平面高度的居民的兩倍之多。
奇怪的是，這樣的輻射量竟然沒有對他們的健康造成影響：一項研究指出，居住在與山等高的海拔處，人們有更健康的生活，雖然宇宙輻射不能產生超能力，但它取而代之的提供人們發展出自癒的能力。
(註5) 1英里約1.609344公里
7
Exit Signs (緊急出口標示)
If you’re attending school or college, or work in an office, you have probably noticed the glowing exit signs dotted around the place. As they’re designed to be used during disasters to guide people to safety, they aren’t connected to the main power source of the building, as obviously everyone inside the building would be trapped in darkness if the power went out. So how do they generate this light? Long-life batteries? Hamsters on treadmills? No, sadly; instead, the light is generated by the samples of a radioactive isotope of hydrogen called tritium contained inside the sign. Unfortunately, however, if that same disaster that cut the power also causes that sign to smash, that same radioactive isotope can escape and contaminate the building and everyone in it.
那它們到底是怎麼發光的呢？長效電池？用倉鼠的跑步機發電？令人遺憾的，都不是。這些燈光的來源是放在號誌裏頭的氚(註6：音同"穿")，而氚是具放射性之氫的同位素。然而不幸的是，如果災難發生的時候，若在切斷電源的同時也破壞了燈誌，那這種同位素就會逸出，進而毒害建築裡的每個人。
6
Kitty Litter (貓砂盆)
If, for some reason, you ever feel the compulsion to perform a swan-dive into your cat’s litter box, you might want to re-consider your decision. Aside from the fact that it’s disgusting to even think that would be a good idea, kitty litter is one of the most common sources of radiation in your home. That’s because one of its major components is bentonite clay, a type of . . . well, clay, that’s great for soaking up poop and urine, but awful at not containing traces of naturally-occurring uranium and thorium. Which it does. Even worse, thanks to the way in which we just dump thousands of tons of cat litter in landfills each year, there’s a danger that this radiation might eventually spread to our groundwater.
這是因為貓砂的主要原料是"膨潤土"，恩...那就是土...，這種材料很適合掩埋大便和尿液，但是可怕的不是它含有鈾和釷存在過的痕跡，而是它本身就含有鈾和釷(註7)。更糟的是，因為我們每年倒了好幾千噸的貓砂到掩埋場，這種放射性物質最終可能會進入我們的飲用水裡面，而造成危害
(註7) 釷、鈾都是放射性元素
鈾是目前用來核能發電的原料
釷目前這在開發作為核能發電的燃料
5
Bananas (香蕉)
Bananas, like Brazil nuts, produce small quantities of radiation. But, whereas in the case of the Brazil nut this is the result of the tree soaking up radiation from the ground, Bananas suffer from this because it’s written into their genetic code. Before you start burying your bananas in a lead-lined coffin though, you should probably be aware that you’d have to eat roughly 5,000,000 of the things to get anything near radiation sickness. And, by that point, it’d all be moot anyway because there’s a chance you would have turned into a banana yourself. Nevertheless, this radiation is still detectable to Geiger counters, so much so that taking a hand of bananas through a radiation sensor at any border checkpoint would be enough to set the alarms off.
在你穿上鉛衣盔甲去買香蕉之前，你應該要知道，我們要吃下將近5,000,000條這種東西才會勉強得到輻射疾病。雖然這樣沒有意義，反正人有那麼一丁點機會自體轉換成香蕉(這樣翻應該沒錯吧??)。
雖然香蕉的輻射量還是會被"蓋革計數器"(註8)探測出來，不過拿著一串香蕉還是能安全通過海關的輻射探測儀啦!
(註8)蓋革計數器是可以探測輻射量的一種工具，維基資料在此
4
Granite Kitchen Worktops (花崗岩流理臺)
So, let’s say we’ve scared you into vowing never to eat bananas or Brazil nuts ever again. Your body is now a temple to clean non-radioactive living. However, if you’ve got a granite worktop in your kitchen, then there’s a good chance that nearly every piece of food that’s been prepared on it has been subjected to radiation. If you remember the story about Grand Central station, you’ll know why: it’s because granite is an excellent rock for retaining naturally-occurring radiation.
好啦，我們已經讓你嚇得發誓，從此以後不再吃香蕉和巴西堅果。你已經準備要淨身，好邁向無輻射的生活。
但是，如果你廚房裡的流理台是花崗岩製的，那你所有經手流理台的時候，就很有可能通通都沾染上了輻射。若你還記得中央大車站的故事，你會知道這其中的理由，因為花崗岩是吸收並保存自然輻射的絕佳材料。
好啦，我們已經讓你嚇得發誓，從此以後不再吃香蕉和巴西堅果。你已經準備要淨身，好邁向無輻射的生活。
但是，如果你廚房裡的流理台是花崗岩製的，那你所有經手流理台的時候，就很有可能通通都沾染上了輻射。若你還記得中央大車站的故事，你會知道這其中的理由，因為花崗岩是吸收並保存自然輻射的絕佳材料。
3
Cigarettes (香菸)
It won’t surprise you to learn that cigarettes are bad for you; after all, that’s what all those PSAs on TV say and everything on TV is true. Many cigarettes contain radioactive materials such as polonium-210 (the same radioactive isotope used to assassinate Alexander Litvinenko) and lead-210; as reasons to quit go, this is a big one. These materials, which survive in the tobacco leaves throughout the cigarette production process, are released into the air as a vapor when the cigarette is lit and inhaled into by the smoker. Although these materials are released at low concentrations, however, deposits of these chemicals can accumulate significantly in the organs of medium-to-heavy smokers and are thought to be linked to the development of certain cancers.
這種物質從菸草葉製作成香煙的過程中殘留下來，當香菸被點燃而且被吸入時，這種物質會以煙霧的形式逸散到空氣中。雖然這種物質以極低的濃度被釋出，但這些化學物質會累積，尤其是在中後期癮君子的器官裡，而且這個現象被認為與某些癌症有密切關聯。(註12)
(註9) 公共服務宣導= PSAs = Public Service Announcements
(註10) 因同葡
(註11) Alexander Litvinenko為原俄羅斯中情局中校，2000年時前往英國，並於
2006年10月被暗殺
(註12) 這裡不得不提到一篇科學人的報導，連結在此，有更詳細的報導喔
2
Old Pottery and Glassware (舊陶器和玻璃製品)
It might have been sweet of your grandma to leave you all those old vases and pieces of glassware in her will, but don’t be fooled: you need to go and get rid of them immediately, sentiment be damned. Many items of pottery produced before 1960—mainly those with a orange or red colour—contain high levels of uranium, on account of it being mixed into the glaze that gives the pieces that distinctive color. Likewise, if you’ve got any items of antique glass with a greenish-color, they also contain uranium. Needless to say, we don’t recommend drinking from those items anymore especially given that much old porcelain also leaks lead.
當你的奶奶在遺囑裡留給你一些有歷史的玻璃器皿時，或許你會感到很甜蜜，不過，千萬不要被騙了：你要做的是放開你的手，馬上丟掉它們，不該過度的留戀。
很多陶製品被製於1960年以前(多數為橘色或紅色)，並都含有高量的鈾，這些鈾使用在釉彩裡，是要讓這些器皿的顏色更加鮮豔出眾。同樣的，如果你手上有任何綠色調的骨董，它們同樣也含有鈾。更不用說，我們並不建議各位使用這些器皿來喝東西，何況瓷器還會釋出鉛咧。
當你的奶奶在遺囑裡留給你一些有歷史的玻璃器皿時，或許你會感到很甜蜜，不過，千萬不要被騙了：你要做的是放開你的手，馬上丟掉它們，不該過度的留戀。
很多陶製品被製於1960年以前(多數為橘色或紅色)，並都含有高量的鈾，這些鈾使用在釉彩裡，是要讓這些器皿的顏色更加鮮豔出眾。同樣的，如果你手上有任何綠色調的骨董，它們同樣也含有鈾。更不用說，我們並不建議各位使用這些器皿來喝東西，何況瓷器還會釋出鉛咧。
1
Glossy Magazine Paper (雜誌的亮面紙張)
If a magazine publisher wants to blow some money, it might start printing onto glossy paper, mainly because it looks nicer, but also because they think consumers are part-magpie and therefore more likely to buy something if it’s shiny. However, getting paper to look that sleek and glossy requires it to be covered in kaolin, a type of white clay. Like the clay that forms kitty litter, this clay is also capable of holding radioactive elements such as uranium and thorium. This clay is also used commonly as a food additive and as an ingredient in many over-the-counter drugs.
如果雜誌的出版商想砸大錢，他們或許會開始使用亮光面紙，主要是因為這樣一來，雜誌會比較漂亮，而且他們覺得顧客根本就是喜鵲再世(註13)，比較喜歡買一些閃亮亮的東西。
但是要讓紙看起來發亮且光滑，需要在表面塗上一層陶土，一種白色的黏土。就如同貓砂裏頭的土，這種黏土也能保留一些放射性元素，比如說鈾和釷。這種黏土也普遍運用在食品添加物裡頭，還有許多非處方藥也使用它為原料。
(註13) 喜鵲喜歡叼走一些亮晶晶的東西
所以這裡用part-magpie形容喜歡亮晶晶物品的人
沒有留言:
張貼留言