Bursting Bubbles Beget Itty-Bitty Bubbles
大泡泡生小泡泡
Bubbles. Big ones entertain children and tiny ones tickle champagne aficionados. Even witches appreciate what they bring to a boiling cauldron. If you, too, are a bubble lover, then you'll enjoy the latest bubble study published in the journal Nature. In it, scientists show that a bursting bubble can leave in its wake a ring of smaller bubbles, a finding that could have implications for disease transmission.
泡泡一直惹人喜爱。孩子们喜欢大泡泡，香槟控则迷恋小细泡。就连女巫也爱欣赏她们手底冒着气泡的大锅。如果你也喜欢泡泡，那你一定不会错过刊登在《自然》杂志上有关泡泡的最新研究。文章里，科学家们表明泡泡破裂时会产生一个由更小的子气泡构成的环，这一发现对研究疾病传播有着重大影响。
Bubbles are engaging because of their effervescence. Here one minute and then [popping sound] they're gone. Or so we thought. What the new study shows, however, is that when bubbles break open on the surface of a liquid or solid, they don't simply disappear.
泡泡因其特性而使人着迷。前一秒钟还在那里，下一秒就消失了。至少我们是这么认为的。然而，新研究表明不管是固态表面还是液态表面的气泡，当它破裂时，并不是简简单单地消失了。
Using high-speed videography, scientists observed surface bubbles as they burst. And they saw that when the skin of the bubble ruptures, it retracts. As this film folds in on itself, it can trap air, thus forming smaller, daughter bubbles. These daughters can then do the same, leaving behind a generation of grandbaby bubbles. And so on.
科学家们通过高速摄像观察泡泡破裂时其表面状况。他们发现，当泡泡破裂时，它们的表面薄膜会往回缩，由于这层薄膜会卷起，裹进空气，因此就形成了更小的子气泡。子气泡也依法炮制，留下一批更小的泡泡。以此类推。
The tinier the bubbles, the greater their internal pressure. So when these babies blow, they can disperse their contents far and wide. Which is fine if you're sipping champagne. But less welcome in a hot tub that might be full of cold and flu.
泡泡越小，内部压强越大。因此，当这些极小的泡泡们破裂时，便会携带着构成物四处飞散。这也正是你在啜饮香槟时口感怎么会这么好的原因。不过在你泡热水澡时，这些泡泡恐怕就不那么受欢迎了，因为它们很可能会带走热气，让你挨冻并患上感冒。
-Karen Hopkin
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