【视频讲解】

LSD is one of the most potent hallucinogenic drugs—active at just around 100 micrograms...a miniscule amount.
麦角酸酰二乙胺（简称LSD）是药效最强的致幻药之一，只要100微克左右的微小剂量就能产生致幻作用。

Potent
1. 效力强的
Their most potent weapon was the Exocet missile.
他们效力最强的武器是飞鱼导弹。
2. 有权势的，有权力的：
“The police were potent only so long as they were feared”(Thomas Burke)
“只有当他们害怕时，警察才是有权力的”(托马斯•伯克)
Hallucinogenic 迷幻药 《=》 hallucinatory 幻觉
Miniscule 微小
It has a miniscule market share, but its unique abilities make it important enough to be worthcatering to if you can do so without inconveniencing other users.
它的市场份额很小，但是其独特的功能使它具有了足够的重要性，颇值得我们关注，但前提是不给其他用户造成不便

That fact has fascinated pharmacologists for decades. Namely, how can it have such long-lasting effects...12 hours or more...at such tiny doses?
这一事实数十年来一直吸引着药理学家的目光。他们想知道，为什么它的药效能如此持久？如此小的剂量为什么能产生长达12个小时以上的药效呢？

Pharmacologist 药理学家
Namely 即，也就说
A district should serve its client, namely students, staff, and parents.
一个学区应该服务于其主顾，即学生、教职员工和家长。
long-lasting 持久的
One of the long-lasting effects of the infection is damage to a valve in the heart.

感染的其中一个长期后果是使心脏的一个瓣膜受损。
Dose 剂量

To find out, researchers legally obtained LSD. And built copies of the receptors it binds to in the brain—serotonin receptors.
为了弄清这一点，研究人员通过合法方式获得了LSD。他们复制了LSD在大脑中连接的受体——5-羟色胺受体。

Built
1. 被构造
2. 有…体格的（做形容词）
...a strong, powerfully-built man of 60.
…一位体格健壮的60岁男子。
Serotonin
血清素；5-羟色胺（血管收缩素）

They mixed the LSD and the receptors together, and crystallized the result. They then imaged the structure, using x-ray crystallography.
之后研究人员将LSD和受体混合，并将所得到的结果结晶化。最后他们运用X射线晶体学对结构进行成像。

Crystallize
1. 结晶
2. 使成形; 具体化,
He has managed to crystallize the feelings of millions of ordinary Russians.
他成功地阐明了数百万普通俄国人的感情。
-graphy 学
crystallography 结晶学
Geography 地理学
aerography 气象学

And they found that when LSD linked up with the serotonin receptor, a sort of "lid" formed over it. Almost like the drug went in, then pulled the door shut behind it.
研究人员发现，LSD与5-羟色胺受体相连时，会在上方形成一个“盖子”。就像药物进入以后关上后面的门一样。

link up
1. 连接；接合；
We must link up theory with practice.
我们必须把理论和实践联系起来。
2. 联合成团体
They linked up with a series of local anti-nuclear groups.

他们与一系列反对核武器的地方团体联合起来了。

"You could think of the top part of LSD as a hand, holding onto the latch and pulling it down." Bryan Roth, a pharmacologist at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill involved in the research.
“你可以把LSD的顶部想象成一只手，这只手抓住门闩拉下来。”布莱恩•罗斯是北卡罗莱纳大学教堂山分校的药理学家，他参与了这项研究。

latch
门闩
You left the latch off the gate and the dog escaped.
你没插门闩，狗跑了。

"This explains why LSD is so potent, why such a small amount of it is active, and secondly why it lasts for such a long period of time. Because basically once it gets in there it takes hours to come off the receptor." The study is in the journal Cell.
“这就解释了LSD为什么如此强大，为什么很少的剂量就能产生作用，为什么其药效可以持续如此长的时间。基本上来说，一旦它进入体内，那就需要数个小时才会离开受体。”该研究结果发表在《细胞》期刊上。

come off
1. 离开
2. 成功; 奏效
It was a good try but it didn't really come off.

这是一次好的尝试但未真正奏效。
3. 结果 (最差、最好)
Some Democrats still have bitter memories of how they came off worst during the investigation.
一些民主党人仍留有他们在调查中如何惨败的痛苦记忆。

The result may also explain why microdosing—taking even smaller amounts of LSD, at sub-psychedelic levels—might work as a mood enhancer, as some users have reported.
该结果也可以解释为什么微剂量……为什么即使服用很少量的LSD，产生轻度幻觉也可以使情绪兴奋，此前有使用者提到过这一点。

Psychedelic
1. 幻觉的
2. 有迷幻色彩的
...psychedelic patterns.
…光怪陆离的图案。
Enhancer 增强剂; 增强器
Cinnamon is an excellent flavour enhancer.
肉桂是一种绝佳的提味料。

"It's clear from the data we have that these small doses can engage these receptors, and of course we know that the receptors that LSD interacts with, they're the same receptors that are thought to be involved in antidepressant drug action."
“很明显，从我们获悉的数据来看，小剂量也可以对受体产生作用，当然我们知道，与LSD接触的受体同抗抑郁药的受体是一样的。”

interact with 相互交流；相互沟通；
The two chemicals interact with each other.
这两种化学物品相互作用。
Antidepressant => depressant => depress 沮丧

Roth does not advocate trying it out. But he says the discovery of the "lid" might someday lead to the development of novel antidepressants—ones with long-lasting effects, at just the tiniest of doses.
罗斯并不提倡进行试验。但是他表示，这一“盖子”的发现或许在某一天可以促进新型抗抑郁药的研发，一种只需要最小剂量就可以长时间有效的药物。

try out 试验；测验；
The method seems good but it needs to be tried out.
这个方法似乎不错，但需要试验一下。
Lid盖子
Novel 新奇的 = new
Protesters found a novel way of demonstrating against steeply rising oil prices.
抗议者们找到一种新奇的示威方式来反对石油价格的飙升。