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The simple carrot is a good source of Vitamin A,
胡萝卜富含维他命A，
but this fibrous root vegetable may also be an ally in the fight against climate change.
但这种富含纤维的根菜或有助于解决气候变化。
Scientists from Lancaster University working with a Scottish firm,
兰卡斯特大学科学家与一家苏格兰公司合作，
mashed up a lot of carrots to extract nanoplatelets, linked chains of atoms that are hard to break apart.
他们将胡萝卜捣碎提取纳米片，它由很难打破的原子链组成。
Adding this carrot extract to cement mixtures makes the resulting concrete a whole lot stronger.
将胡萝卜提取物加入到水泥混合物中，混凝土将会更加强劲。
Our preliminary results show that adding about half a kilogram of carrot nanomaterial
我们的初步研究结果表明，加入大约半公斤胡萝卜纳米材料，
will reduce about 10 kilograms of cement per one cubic concrete.
那么每立方米混凝土将减少大约10公斤水泥。
The nanoplatelets increase the amount of calcium silicate hydrate in concrete, that's what makes concrete strong.
纳米片提高了混凝土中钙硅酸盐水合物的数量。
In stress tests, the carrot concrete performed extremely well.
在压力测试中，胡萝卜混凝土的表现非常好。
It makes the concrete more stronger and we found out you could increase the strength by 80 percent
混凝土将更加强劲，我们发现强度提高了80%，
by using a small amount of this new material.
而只加入了一点点纳米材料。
That's not all the team at Lancaster University came up with.
这不是兰卡斯特大学团队所有的发明。
In a separate study, the team created another kind of cement that adds highly conductive potassium to the mixture.
在另一项研究中，团队发明了另一种水泥，它可以增强钾在混合物中的超强传导性。
Add a few bronze wires and these little blocks become little concrete batteries.
加入一些铜线，这些小方块变成了混凝土电池。
By connecting them to solar panels, bridges could hold a charge
将它们与太阳能电池板连接，桥梁可以储存电量，
long enough to power their own lights at night, and monitor their own structural health.
足够晚上照明灯光，并自行监控桥梁结构。
In addition to storing energy these batteries could be used as self-sensors.
除了可以储存能量，这些电池也可以充当自感式传感器。
Essentially you can build them into a structure like a bridge or a wind turbine
你可以用它来建造比如说桥梁或风轮机，
to detect cracks produced by winds or heavy traffic on a bridge.
检查桥梁被大风或交通拥堵造成的裂缝。
That's a huge and exciting idea, but what these researchers have discovered
这是一个令人振奋的重大消息，但研究人员的发现
could greatly reduce the carbon footprint of cement, and that could have a concrete impact in the fight against global warming.
大大减少了水泥造成的碳足迹，并将对解决全球变暖造成重大影响。
Kevin Enochs, VOA news.
VOA新闻，凯文·恩尼科思报道。
