科學家研發出世界首個“不可切割的”物質，靈感來自葡萄柚和貝殼

Researchers have developed an "uncuttable" material capable of deflecting grinders and cutting tools in what is thought to be a world first.

研究人員研製出一種“不可切割的”物質，可以使研磨機和切割工具偏移，屬世界首例。

The material, known as Proteus, is six times lighter than steel due to its porous make-up.

這種物質被稱爲Proteus，由於是多孔結構，所以比鋼輕6倍。

One of the people behind the invention, Dr Stefan Szyniszewski from Durham University, told Sky News that materials such as grapefruits and molluscs inspired the creation - believed to be the first manufactured uncuttable material.

它的發明者之一、來自杜倫大學的Stefan Szyniszewski博士對天空新聞臺說，葡萄柚和軟體動物等物質給了他們靈感，這是第一個人造的不可切割的物質。

Dr Szyniszewski said the mollusc shell was the "more important" of the inspirations, adding: "The seashell is very resistant to predators, so it doesn't open easily when the shark wants to eat it.

Szyniszewski博士說軟體動物的外殼是更重要的靈感來源，並且補充道：”貝殼對捕食者非常有抵抗力，當鯊魚想吃它們時，它們絕不會輕易張開外殼。“

"It's quite surprising, the resistance of the shell is about 2,000 higher than the bricks it is made of.

”令人驚訝的是，貝殼本身的抵抗力是組成貝殼的磚塊的2000倍。“

"This is because when you try to cut it open, the crack has travelled via this maze of this soft material in between the hard brick and this takes a lot of energy."

這是因爲堅硬的磚塊之間有錯綜複雜的柔軟材質，當你試圖切開貝殼時，裂縫在這些柔軟的材質中穿行，因而會花費很大的能量。”

Dr Szyniszewski, part of a team of researchers from England and Germany who created Proteus, added: "What I'm really excited about is that it's just a concept, so we made it out of steel and ceramic spheres."

發明Proteus的研究團隊成員們來自英國和德國，作爲其中的一員，Szyniszewski博士補充說道：”我很興奮，因爲這還只是一個概念，我們是用鋼鐵和陶瓷球製造它的。“

Dr Szyniszewski said the spheres can be swapped out for other materials, like plastic or foam, but still remain strong.

Szyniszewski博士說，球體可以換成其他材料，比如塑料或者泡沫，但整體依然會保持堅固。

He puts Proteus's "uncuttable" nature down to the way the ceramic spheres inside the steel act as "mini sandbags", which will break into particles and resist fast moving objects, such as grinders and saws - even blunting them against their own force.

他把Proteus的”不可切割“性歸結於，鋼鐵中的陶瓷球充當了”微型沙袋“的作用，它會破碎成顆粒並抵抗快速移動的物體（比如磨牀和鋸子）。而這些物體甚至會因爲切割產生的力而自身發生鈍化。