葡萄+微波炉=等离子炸弹？
YouTubers have gone grape crazy.
油管视频上最近掀起了一阵风潮。
In a plethora of internet videos, kitchen scientists have cut a grape almost in half—leaving just a strip of skin connecting the two sides--and stuck it in the microwave.
在超多的网络视频中，厨房科学家们将一颗葡萄切成近乎两半—只留一条皮连着两半—然后把它放入微波炉中。
In seconds, sparks erupt.
几秒钟内，就开始火花四溅。
Now, physicists think they know why this happens.
如今，物理学家们认为它们已经搞清了这是怎么回事。
Here’s the common explanation: water-heavy grapes trap the wavelengths of energy microwave ovens emit because the waves are roughly the same size as the diameter of grapes.
一下就是普遍的解释：富含水分的葡萄会阻挡微波炉的能量耗散，因为这种波长恰好跟葡萄的直径差不多。
That energy starts charging up electrolytes inside the fruit, which then flow from one half of the grape to the other—using the strip of skin like an electrical wire and gaining energy as they go.
这种能量会开始给这种水果内的电解质充电，然后它们就会从一般葡萄流向另一半——利用这条果皮作为电线，在这个过程中就会积聚能量。
The current quickly burns through the skin, causing the charged electrolytes to try to jump from one half of the grape to the other, supercharging the surrounding air into a bright flare of plasma—the same light-emitting state of matter responsible for the sun’s rays and fluorescent lighting.
电流会迅速通过果皮，使充好电的电解质试图从一半葡萄进入另一半，使周围的空气电荷过载而形成一团明亮的等离子体火焰——这与太阳的辐射和荧光灯是一样的原理。
To test this hypothesis, the researchers put grapes into microwaves and watched what unfolded with thermal cameras.
为了测试这个假说，研究员们把葡萄放入微波炉，然后在热成像摄像机里观察发生了什么。
Early on, the scientists found that a pair of grapes could also produce plasma, as long as they were kept within 3 millimeters of each other.
早前，科学家们发现，一对葡萄也能产生等离子体，只要它们的距离在三毫米以内。
If grapes can produce plasma without the skin strip, the researchers say, then the energy that produces the plasma must build up another way.
假如葡萄不用果皮相连也能产生等离子体，研究员们说，那么这种产生等离子体的能量可能是以另外的方式产生的。
The thermal cameras revealed a hotspot between the grapes from a buildup of electromagnetic energy—not inside the grapes where the internet’s explanation would predict.
热成像摄像机揭示了葡萄之间存在一个从电磁能集聚产生的热聚点——并不是像网上的解释说的那样在葡萄内部。
This led the physicists to a new explanation: When two grapes are close to each other in a microwave, the waves they absorb bounce back and forth in the tiny space between them, creating an increasingly powerful electromagnetic field.
这就使物理学家们产生了一种新的解释：当两个葡萄在微波炉中彼此靠近时，它们吸收的微波会在彼此之间的微小间隙中不断地反射，产生一种超级强力的电磁场。
This continues until the electromagnetic field becomes so powerful that it supercharges nearby electrolytes that then shoot out in a brief explosion of fiery plasma, the researchers report today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
这一过程会不断继续直到电场太强以至于附近的电解质过载，然后就会形成剧烈的等离子体爆发，研究员们今天在《国家科学学术进展》杂志上发表了论文。
Aside from damaging microwave ovens, the authors say their findings could, with the right materials, one day be extended to trap and concentrate visible wavelengths of light for use in nano-scale microscopy.
除了破坏微波炉之外，作者们说他们的发现也许可以，利用正确的材料，将来用于截留和聚集可见光以用于纳米尺度的显微镜中。
问题
利用葡萄产生等离子体的过程中，关键的两个步骤是什么？
A. 葡萄皮够细形成电线
B. 葡萄间隙不断反射微波
C.葡萄内的电解质电荷过载
D.葡萄的直径合适
留言回复正确选项即可获得红包啦，朋友们快来试试吧！
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