超级木头 The Super Wood

Researchers say they have created a new super-material in the laboratory.

研究人员称，他们在实验室制造出了一种新型超级材料。

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They say it is stronger, lighter and costs less than steel.

他们说这种材料比铁硬，比较轻，还比铁便宜。

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But the new material is not a product of high technology or a metallic substance.

但是这种新型材料不是高科技产品，也不是金属物质。

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It is wood.

它是木头。

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Researchers Liangbing Hu and Teng Li are with the University of Maryland in the United States.

Liangbing Hu和Teng Li是美国马里兰大学的研究人员。

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By using a few chemicals, heat and pressure,

通过利用一些化学物质、热量和压力，

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they have made wood 【3 times denser】 and 【10 times stronger】.

数字+times+adj.(er)  ...几倍

他们将木头的密度加大了3倍，硬度加强了10倍。

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Hu Says that means it can compele with some of the world's strongest materials,

Hu说，这意味着这种木头能和世界上一些最为坚硬的材料一较高下了。

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"We're interested in 【replacing steel and carbonfibers with】 strong wood structures," he said.

replace……with…… 把……替换为

Eg：I have replaced my old TV with a brand new one.

“我们有兴趣用坚硬的木头结构替换钢铁和碳纤维”，他说道。

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The process does not require any special raw,unprocessed material.

这个过程不需要任何特殊、未加工的材料。

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Hu said that means the cost of the product will be relatively low.

Hu说，这意味着产品成本相对较低。

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He added, "We can start with very cheap wood,

他补充说，“我们可以用廉价的木材，

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and we can also start with very fancy, expensive wood.

也可以用优质、昂贵的木材。

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But in the end, ultimately we get very similar performance."

但是最终的性能会非常相似。”

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The researchers are calling their product "superwood."

研究员把他们的产品称作“超级木头”。

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The researchers say the wood is strong enough

研究人员说，这种木头十分坚硬

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to build automobiles, airplanes, wind turbines and more.

能造汽车、飞机、风力涡轮机和其他东西。

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A report on their findings was published in the Journal Nature.

有关他们研究成果的一项报告发表在了《自然》杂志上。

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The researchers say super-strength wood

研究人员称，超级强度的木头

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would have 【 less of 】an effect on the environment

更少的…

对于环境的影响

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than the steel or other metals it could replace.

比它所能替代的钢铁或其他金属要小。

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However, 【their process is not pollution-free】.

…-free 没有……的

然而，它们的生产过程也不是没有污染。

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It uses some of the same chemicals 【involved in】 making paper.

(be) involved in sth. 被牵连进某事

involve sb. in sth. 将某人牵扯进某事

Eg：I wish I haven't involved you in this mess we're dealing with.

它会使用造纸过程中所使用到的一些化学元素。

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Researcher Teng Li says he and Hu are findingmany new ways to use wood,

研究员Teng Li说，他和Hu正在寻找木材的新用途。

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including creating batteries and see-through wood and paper.

包括制造电池、透明木材和纸张。

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“Wood has been existing on Earth（for）more than a million years.”

“木头在地球上已经存在了一百多万年了。”

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And human beings have been using wood for furniture, construction

人类一直以来将木头用于家具和建筑

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(for) more than 10 thousand years.

已经超过一万年了。

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And then the more we worked on this material, we realized,

我们越是研究这种材料，就越能意识到，

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we have never fully exhausted the potentialof this amazing material."

我们还没有充分挖就出这种神奇材料的潜力。“”

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Other scientists are finding new uses for wood as well.

其他的科学家们也正寻找木头的新用途。

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Researchers in Sweden have reported making wood-based super-strong fibers

瑞典的研究员们预警报告可以将这种木头的超强纤维

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for clothing and other materials.

用于制作服装和其他材料。

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