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It’s boating season. Which means it’ll soon be time for that annoying ritual—the scraping of the barnacles. They latch on tight and don’t let go.
现在是航运季节了。这也意味着恼人的藤壶又来了。它们巴在船上不放。
Barnacles can be a major pain: as they grow they build up calcium deposits under a boat’s paint. And their interference with smooth fluid flow can decrease fuel efficiency by up to 40 percent, a major problem for large vessels.
藤壶危害很大。随着它们的生长，它们产生钙质物沉积在船的油漆层。它们能减少大约40%的燃料利用效率，这对大船来说是个主要问题。
Currently, hull paint can be doped with poison, usually based on copper oxide, that leaches out slowly to kill the little critters. But the poison also escapes into the water and can kill other marine life.
目前，船体油漆可以添加有毒物质，通常是铜氧化物，这些有毒物质慢慢渗出，杀死这些藤壶。但是有毒物质也混入水中，同时杀死其他海洋生物。
Now, researchers might have a better option: a paint additive that kills just the barnacles, using their own behavior against them. It’s a toxin based on a molecule created by a bacterium. The researchers developed a method of embedding that toxin into the paint so that it only gets released when the barnacle penetrates the paint. The info was published in a university thesis.
现在，研究人员有更好的选择了，就是一种只杀死藤壶的油漆添加物，利用藤壶自己的行为杀死它们。这是一种由细菌创造的分子毒素。研究人员发明了一种方法将这种毒素嵌入油漆中，当藤壶附着在油漆上时就会释放毒素。这个信息发表在一篇大学论文上。
The scientists determined that the toxin works in low concentrations and could be effective for years. Which could lower the cost of paying the barnacle bill.
科学家确定毒素在低浓度下可以有效使用多年。这降低了治理藤壶的花费。
—Cynthia Graber
