TED演讲：气味背后的科学(9)

 　　And every single part of this mechanism¹ is actually plausible² in biology.  实际上，这个机制的每一个步骤在生物领域中都是可行的。

　　In other words, I've taken off-the-shelf components³, and I've made a spectroscope.  换句话讲，我用现成的部件做成了一个分光镜。

　　What's nice about this idea, if you have a philosophical⁴ bent⁵ of mind, is that then it tells you that the nose, the ear and the eye are all vibrational⁶ senses.  如果你有点哲学的天赋，你会发现这个点子的绝妙之处在于它告诉你，鼻子、耳朵、眼睛可以感知震动。

　　Of course, it doesn't matter, because it could also be that they're not.  当然，这关系并不大，因为他们不能感知震动也是有可能的。

　　But it has a certain -- it has a certain ring to it which is attractive to people who read too much 19th-century German literature. 但是，它有一定的，这个理论对某些人来说有一定的吸引力，对阅读了太多十九世纪德国文学的人来说有吸引力。

　　And then a magnificent thing happened: I left academia and joined the real world of business,  于是发生了一件绝妙的事情，我离开了学术界，到现实世界经营起生意，

　　and a company was created around my ideas to make new molecules⁷ using my method, along the lines of, let's put someone else's money where your mouth is.  一个公司在我的想法的基础上建成了，用我的方式合成新分子，依照这样一个理念：用别人的钱来喂自己的嘴。

　　And one of the first things that happened was we started going around to fragrance⁸ companies asking for what they needed, 最开始发生了一件事情，我们来到香水公司问他们需要什么，

　　because, of course, if you could calculate smell, you don't need chemists.  因为如果你能计算气味的话，当然也就不需要化学家了。

　　You need a computer, a Mac will do it, if you know how to program the thing right, OK?  你需要的是一台电脑，一台苹果电脑就成，如果你知道如何正确操作。

　　So you can try a thousand molecules, you can try ten thousand molecules in a weekend,  你可以试一千个分子，也可以一个星期试一万个分子，

　　and then you only tell the chemists to make the right one. 然后只需告诉化学家让他们去制造那一个正确的就可以了。

　　And so that's a direct path to making new odorants. 这是制造新气味的直接方式。

　　And one of the first things that happened was we went to see some perfumers in France -- and here's where I do my Charles Fleischer impression -- and one of them says,  最开始发生的事情是我们去法国见香水师，那里给我留下了一个印象，就像是查尔斯·弗莱舍经历的一般，其中一个人说，

　　"You cannot make a coumarin." He says to me, "I bet you cannot make a coumarin." “你一定合成不出香豆素。”他对我说，“我打赌你肯定合成不出香豆素。”

1 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

2 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

3 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

4 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

5 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

6 vibrational   

adj.振动的，摇摆的

参考例句：

• However, heating energizes the vibrational, rotational, and electronic motions all at once. 但是，加热会一下子把振动、转动和电子运动统统加强。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Such photons will excite the higher vibrational levels of the OH molecule. 这种光子会激发OH分子的较高振动能级。 来自辞典例句

7 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

8 fragrance   

n.芬芳，香味，香气

参考例句：

• The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
• The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。