Last November Nasa launched a very unusual home delivery service – a rocket carrying four tonnes of supplies to the ISS - the International Space Station.
Among the scientific equipment were twelve bottles of red wine from the famous Bordeaux region of France.
在科学设备中，有十二瓶来自法国著名的波尔多地区的红酒。
Neil(尼尔)
The astronauts might have wanted a glass of wine with dinner, but the real purpose of the bottles was to explore the possibility of producing food and drink in space – not for astronauts but for people back on Earth.
In today’s programme we’ll be finding out how growing plants in space can develop crops which are more productive and more resistant to climate change here on Earth.
And we’ll hear how plants can grow in environments with little or no natural light. But first, today’s quiz question: what was the first food grown in space? Was it: a) potatoes; b) lettuce, or c) tomatoes?
OK. We’ll find out the answer later. Now, you might be wondering how it’s possible to grow plants without natural light. British company Vertical Future has been working on this problem by developing indoor farming methods in partnership with Nasa.
Here’s their Head of Research, Jen Bromley, explaining the process to BBC World Service programme, The Food Chain:
以下是他们的研究主管Jen Bromley向BBC世界服务节目《食物链》解释这一过程：
Jen Bromley(珍·布罗姆利)
Basically we use LED lighting and we use LED lights that are tuned to a specific wavelength. So, if you image what the rainbow looks like, the reason a plant looks green is because it’s not using all the green light – it actually reflects a lot of that back. So the reason why it looks pink in here is because we’re actually only using red light and blue light to grow the plants, and that essentially tailors the light diet so that the plants look black when you look at them because they’re not reflecting any light– they’re being super-efficient, they’re using up every photon that hits them.
基本上，我们使用 LED 照明，并且我们使用调谐到特定波长的 LED 灯。所以，如果你想象一下彩虹的样子，植物看起来是绿色的，因为它没有使用所有的绿光 —— 它实际上反射了很多绿光。所以它之所以看起来是粉红色的，是因为我们实际上只使用红光和蓝光来种植植物，这本质上是定制光饮食，所以当你看到植物时，它们看起来是黑色的，因为它们不反射任何光 —— 它们是超级高效的，它们正在消耗每一个照射到它们的光子。
Neil(尼尔)
The lack of natural light in space means that plants are grown using LED lights – LED is an abbreviation of ‘light emitting diode’ - an electronic device that lights up when electricity is passed through it.
太空中缺乏自然光意味着植物是使用 LED 灯种植的 —— LED 是“发光二极管”的缩写 —— 一种当电流通过时会亮起的电子设备。
Georgina(乔治娜)
On Earth plants look green because they reflect back any light travelling at a certain wavelength - the distance between two waves of light which make things appear to us in the various colours of the rainbow.
But when scientists control the wavelengths being fed, plants are able to absorb every photon – particle of light energy, making them appear black.
但是，当科学家控制被喂食的波长时，植物能够吸收每一个光子 —— 光能粒子，使它们看起来是黑色的。
Georgina(乔治娜)
Each particle of light that hits the leaves is absorbed and through photosynthesis is converted into plant food. Nasa found that different colour combinations, or light recipes, can change a plants’ shape, size and even flavour.
But the lack of natural light isn’t the biggest obstacle to growing food in space. Here’s Gioia Massa, chief plant scientist at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, to explain:
Microgravity is really challenging but plants are amazing! They can adapt to so many different environments – we call this plasticity because they can turn on or off their genes to really adapt to all sorts of conditions and that’s why you see plants growing in different areas on Earth - the same type of plant may look very different because it’s adapting to the environment in that specific location.
On Earth, plants use gravity to position themselves – shoots grow up, roots grow down. But this doesn’t apply in space because of microgravity - the weaker pull of gravity making things float and seem weightless.
Plants can only survive in these conditions due to their plasticity – the ability of living organisms to adapt and cope with changes in the environment by changing their biological structure.
Plants adapt themselves to being in space by manipulating their genes - chemicals and DNA in the cells of plants and animals which control their development and behaviour.
In the low-gravity atmosphere of space, plants become stressed but they adapt genetically.
在太空的低重力大气中，植物会受到压力，但它们会在基因上适应。
Georgina(乔治娜)
And as a result they’re stronger and more resilient to other, less stressful events when they return home to Earth.
因此，当它们返回地球时，它们会变得更强壮，更能抵御其他压力较小的事件。
Neil(尼尔)
Like those bottles of red wine orbiting Earth as we speak. The effects of microgravity on the wine’s organic composition will be studied and could hopefully offer solutions for growing food in Earth’s changing climate.
Today we’ve been discussing the possibilities of growing plants in space using LED lights – devices that use electricity to produce light.
今天，我们一直在讨论使用LED灯在太空中种植植物的可能性 - LED灯使用电力产生光的设备。
Neil(尼尔)
The energy needed for plants to grow is contained in photons – or light particles, travelling at different wavelengths – distances between light waves which make things look different colours.
植物生长所需的能量包含在光子或光粒子中，光波之间的距离不同波长，使物体看起来颜色不同。
Georgina(乔治娜)
Plants have evolved over millennia using the strong gravity on Earth. But this changes in space because of microgravity – the weaker gravitational pull making things in space float and seem weightless.
Luckily plants use their genes – the chemicals in DNA responsible for growth - to adapt to new environments by changing their biological structure – a process known as plasticity.
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