乘坐塑料飞船上火星并非奇思妙想我们每天都使用塑料袋,它们普通得令我们不愿意多看一眼, 谁会想到制作它们的塑料也许会带着我们登上火星呢? 制作塑料袋的材料是一种聚合体,叫聚乙烯,它们的分子有能力屏蔽绝大多数危险的宇宙辐射。这一点科学家们早已知道,可惜的是聚乙烯材料太脆弱,用它制作宇宙飞船简直难以想象。 Mars on a plastic spaceship is not a whirlwind of wonder. We use plastic bags every day. They are so ordinary that we do not want to take a second look. Who would think that the plastic from which they are made may carry us onto Mars? Materials for making plastic bags Is a polymer, called polyethylene, their molecules capable of shielding the vast majority of dangerous cosmic radiation. Scientists have known this long ago that it is a pity that the polyethylene material is so fragile that it is hard to imagine using it to make a spaceship.