離開
進入中英對照讀新聞》Gel-like ice is the lightest form of water ever discovered 迄今發現最輕盈的水形態，凝膠般的冰
日本科研團隊透過電腦模擬，找出如棉花糖、凝膠般，迄今最輕盈的新款冰形態。圖為覆蓋在花朵上的普通冰晶。（法新社檔案照）
◎劉宜庭
The frosty cubes we pull from our freezers are just one of 17 possible types of ice, and an 18th type isn’t far from being made real.
我們從冰箱裡拿出來的冰塊，只是17種可能出現的冰類型之一，而第18種冰類型的出現，距離也不遠了。
Hexagonal ice, and the occasional cubic ice in our upper atmosphere, are the only two forms that occur naturally on Earth. Other ices might be found on exoplanets or in the atmospheres of the outer planets.
「六角形晶體結構冰」和偶爾出現的「立方體構冰」存在於我們的上層大氣，是唯二能在地球上自然形成的冰類型。其他類型的冰，則可見於系外行星或外行星的大氣層中。
Under atmospheric pressure or higher, water molecules get squeezed and freeze into a solid denser than normal ice. But when the pressure drops below this, water molecules become a less-dense, lightweight crystal that’s more air than molecule – like an icy candy floss. So far, we only know of two kinds of low-density ice: space fullerenes and zeolitic ices. But lighter ice structures hadn’t been spotted until now.
在一般大氣壓力或更高壓的情況下，被擠壓的水分子凝固成比正常水冰更密集的固體。不過，當大氣壓力降低，水分子會轉變成輕盈、密度較低的晶體，分子內含有更多空氣，就像是冰的棉花糖。目前，我們只知道兩種低密度的冰：「富勒烯冰」和「沸石冰」。更輕盈的冰結構，迄今仍未被辨識。
Masakazu Matsumoto at Okayama University in Japan and his team played molecular Jenga to find this new type of ice, removing and reconfiguring existing zeolitic ice structures to make them lighter. They found more than 300 different nanoscale structures through computer simulations.
日本岡山理科大學的松本正和研究團隊，透過分子疊疊樂，發現這款新類型的冰；他們移除並重新配置既存的「沸石冰」結構，使其更加輕盈。研究團隊透過電腦模擬，找出超過300種不同的奈米尺度結構。
新聞辭典
candy floss：名詞，棉花糖。例句：During the 18th century when candy floss was first recorded in Europe, it was very expensive.（棉花糖18世紀首見於歐洲記載時，價格非常昂貴。）
space fullerenes ices：名詞，富勒烯冰。例句：Space fullerenes are 80 per cent of the density of normal ice.（富勒烯冰的密度，是正常水冰密度的80%。）
zeolitic ices：名詞，沸石冰。例句：Zeolitic ices are between 50 and 90 per cent the density of normal ice.（沸石冰的密度，是正常水冰密度的50%至90%。）
