我國科考人員已經嘗試在南極種菜
Growing vegetables in the South Pole may sound as crazy as attempting to grow potatoes on Mars, as recently seen in "The Martian." In one of China's Antarctic research stations, however, researchers have done just that.
在南極種蔬菜聽起來可能和在火星種土豆一樣瘋狂，就像最近在電影《火星救援》中看到的一樣。但中國的南極科考站的科研人員們已經做到了。"In 'The Martian' Mark Watney is a botanist, but I am a surgeon. I am more comfortable with scalpels than spades," joked Wang Zheng, 41, an orthopedist who has just returned from duty at Zhongshan, one of China's Antarctic research stations.
41歲的王徵是一名剛剛從中國南極科考站之一的中山站返回的外科醫生。他開玩笑地說道：“《火星救援》裏馬克·沃特尼是一個植物學家，但是我是個醫生。我覺得還是用手術刀比用鐵鍬更舒服。”During his year of service, in addition to being the medic for the research team, Wang was tasked with exploring the feasibility of growing fresh vegetables.
在他爲期一年的服務過程當中，除了作爲研究小組的醫生，王徵還被交予了一個種植新鮮蔬菜的任務。
To grow plants in the Antarctic's extreme conditions, a specialized hydroponics system was developed by a Shanghai-based polar research center.
爲了在南極的極端天氣下種植植物，一個專門的水培系統被總部位於上海的極地研究中心開發了出來。"The system includes a nutrient-rich solution that helps us to germinate a lettuce seed in three days, and one month later fresh lettuce can be harvested once a week," said Wang.
王徵說；“該系統中包含營養豐富的溶液，可以讓生菜種子3天發芽，一個月後就可以每週收割一次。"Wang tried various plants. Lettuce, cucumber, tomato and Chinese cabbage all flourished. Chili, gombo and water melon were not so successful.
他嘗試了多種蔬菜，生菜、黃瓜、西紅柿和大白菜長得最好，辣椒、秋葵和西瓜則沒那麼成功。Previously, teams based at China's four Antarctic research stations -- Taishan, Great Wall, Zhongshan and Kunlun -- had to solely rely on food deliveries by China icebreaker "Xuelong," or Snow Dragon. A one-way trip takes 75 days and covers over 18,000 nautical miles.
以前，中國的四大南極科考站--泰山、長城、中山和崑崙的食物供給完全依賴破冰船"雪龍號"。"雪龍號"每一趟單程要75天，路程達到18000海里。"Despite my success, the supply is still limited. We often joked that the best gift in the South Pole is a fresh cucumber," said Wang.
王徵說：“儘管我成功了，但是供應仍然受限。我們經常開玩笑說，在南極最好的禮物是一個新鮮的黃瓜。”The fresh vegetables have proved popular, even with other researchers based in Antarctica. Foreign teams are always happy to accept an invitation to dinner at the Chinese station, he said.
新鮮的蔬菜已經被證實很受歡迎，甚至是在其他南極科考隊當中也是這樣。王徵表示，很多國外的科考隊都很高興能收到來自中國科考站的晚飯邀請。
