Time-bombing the future Part I 定时未来[第一部分]
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Working chemical factory 工作中化工厂
- 这是一篇探讨现代合成材料及新兴技术带来遗留污染物问题的深度文章，由E.T 编译整理。此为第一部分，随后将发布其余部分，敬请关注。
Synthetics created in the 20th century have become an evolutionary force, altering human biology and the web of life - Rebecca Altmansynthetics / sɪˈnθɛtɪks / N-PLURAL You can refer to synthetic clothing, fabric, or materials as synthetics. 合成纤维织物; 合成纤维; 合成物 e.g: Natural fabrics like silk and wool are better insulators than synthetics. 丝绸和羊毛之类的纯天然织物比合成纤维更加保暖
20世纪创造的合成材料已然成为一种进化动力，不断改变着人类生物学及生命之网。- 黎贝卡阿尔特曼
Time Capsule Cupaloy 1938
In September 1938, the fall before the New York World's Fair opened, a 5,000 - year time capsule was planted 50 feet beneath the Flushing Meadows fairgrounds. The capsule was 7.5 feet long, made of Pyrex glass and alloyed copper (called Cupaloy), and shaped like a torpedo - a long, thin metal shaft with a cone-shaped nose.Flushing Meadows– often referred to as Flushing Meadows Park, or simply Flushing Meadows, is a public park in the northern part of Queens, New York City. 法拉盛草地公园，或简称法拉盛草地，是纽约市皇后区的一个开放公园。time capsule N a container holding articles, documents, etc, representative of the current age, buried in the earth or in the foundations of a new building for discovery in the future 时空胶囊; 内存具有时代特征的文章、文件等的密藏容器，埋在地下或新建建筑物地基下供后人发现并了解现代情况fairground /ˈfɛəˌɡraʊnd/ N-COUNT A fairground is an area of land where a fair is held. 展销会场地, 游乐场Pyrex (trademarked as PYREX) is a brand introduced by Corning Inc. in 1915 for a line of clear, low-thermal-expansion borosilicate glass used for laboratory glassware and kitchenware. 派热克斯玻璃（Pyrex），又名百丽耐热玻璃是抗热性能极佳的一种玻璃，它被广泛应用于厨房用品、化学实验室仪器及光学设备等，它已经成为其原材料硼化玻璃的通用性商标。
一九三八年九月，那是纽约世博会即将举行的秋天，一个定时5000年的时空胶囊被树立在法拉盛草地公园游乐场底下50英尺处。时空胶囊长7.5英尺，使用派瑞克斯耐热玻璃及合金铜（也称可锻铜合金）铸造，外形很像一枚鱼雷 - 一根又长又细的合金轴上带着锥形鼻。
This wasn't the first example of a time capsule. But it was the first use of the term, although its mastermind, G Edward Pendray, briefly- and, as it turns out, tellingly - had considered calling it a 'time bomb' instead. Pendray was the publicist for the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and his time bomb was a master stroke of public relations, a clever scheme to retool Westinghouse's image as forward-thinking, and to best its rival, General Electric, founded by the showman-scientist Thomas Edison.mastermind /ˈmɑːstəˌmaɪnd/V-T If you mastermind a difficult or complicated activity, you plan it in detail and then make sure that it happens successfully. 策划e.g: There are many theories as to who masterminded the attacks. 关于谁策划了这些攻击，有许多的猜测。N-COUNT The mastermind behind a difficult or complicated plan, often a criminal one, is the person who is responsible for planning and organizing it. 幕后操纵者e.g.: He was the mastermind behind the plan to acquire the explosives. 他是获取炸药计划的幕后操纵者。publicist /ˈpʌblɪsɪst/N-COUNT A publicist is a person whose job involves getting publicity for people, events, or things such as movies or books. 宣传员
这并不是历史上第一个时空胶囊，但却是第一次使用这个称呼的，其实它背后的策划人格 爱德华彭德勒还曾考虑把它叫做“定时炸弹” - 简洁而又传神。彭德勒当时是西屋电气公司的公关, 他策划的 “定时炸弹” 是公关上的重磅出击，这非常明智的一举重塑了西屋电气前卫的形象，并助它力压对手-由杂耍科学家汤姆逊爱迪生创办的通用电气。
Our scientists have shifted the atoms in their lattices... [creating] stuffs that nature herself forgot to make," wrote Pendray in The Book of Record of the Time Capsule of Cupaloy (1938), his missive to the ‘futurians’ of 6939 CE, the year of the capsule's intended unearthing. Within, he noted, they would fire a light bulb, a safety pin, a slide rule, a telephone, Elizabeth Arden cosmetics, $2.91 in cash, a plastic Mickey Mouse cup, the 14th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica inscribed onto acetate film, and also 75 samples of the era's most advanced materials, including technologies such as Tungsten filaments, asbestos shingling and DuPont's just invented synthetic fibre, Nylon. Millions visited the time capsule, peering by periscope into what Pendray called its " immortal well". On the autumnal equinox of 1940, the month before the fair closed, Westinghouse sponsored a private send-off. Speeches were made. A gong sounded. At high noon, 500 more pounds of hot sealant - a proprietary blend of pitch, mineral oil and a chemical compound called chlorinated diphenyl, known today as polychlorinated biphenyls (or PCBs) - were poured into the well.lattice /ˈlætɪs/N-COUNT A lattice is a pattern or structure made of strips of wood or another material which cross over each other diagonally leaving holes in between. 格状结构 e.g.: We were crawling along the narrow steel lattice of the bridge. 我们沿着大桥窄窄的钢制格子爬行着。N-COUNT an array of objects or points in a periodic pattern in two or three dimensions, especially an array of atoms, ions, etc, in a crystal or an array of points indicating their positions in space 点阵; 原子晶格missive /ˈmɪsɪv/N-COUNT A missive is a letter or other message that someone sends. 书信; 函件 [HUMOROUS, LITERARY] e.g.：...the customary missive from your dear mother. ...你亲爱的母亲如常寄来的一封家书。The Futurians were a group of science fiction (SF) fans, many of whom became editors and writers as well. The Futurians were based in New York City and were a major force in the development of science fiction writing and science fiction fandom in the years 1937–1945. 未来人是一个科幻小说爱好者群体, 他们大多也成了编辑或作家。未来人的根据地是纽约市，1937-1945 年期间未来人是推动科幻小说写作和科幻影迷运动的主要力量。CE：公元是公历纪元的简称，是国际通行的纪年体系。以耶稣的生年为公历元年（相当于中国西汉平帝元年）。公元常以 C.E.（英文 Common Era 的缩写）表示，公元前则以 B.C.E.（英文 Before Common Era 的缩写）表示。这种纪年体系被各国采用。inscribe /ɪnˈskraɪb/V-T If you inscribe words on an object, you write or carve the words on the object. 题写; 刻 e.g.: Some galleries commemorate donors by inscribing their names on the walls. 一些展览馆把捐赠者的名字刻在墙上以纪念他们。V-T If you inscribe something in the front of a book or on a photograph, you write it there, often before giving it to someone. 题赠 e.g.: On the back I had inscribed the words: "Here's to Great Ideas! John." 在背面我题写了这样的话：“献给伟大的思想！约翰“.filament /ˈfɪləmənt/N-COUNT A filament is a very thin piece or thread of something, for example, the piece of wire inside a light bulb. 细丝tungsten filament [电]钨丝 asbestos /æsˈbɛstɒs, æz-/N-UNCOUNT Asbestos is a grey material that does not burn and that was used in the past as a protection against fire or heat. Clothing and mats are sometimes made from it. 石棉 asbestos shingle 石棉瓦 periscope /ˈpɛrɪˌskəʊp/N-COUNT A periscope is a vertical tube that people inside submarines can look through to see above the surface of the water. 潜望镜autumnal equinox N the time at which the sun crosses the plane of the equator away from the relevant hemisphere, making day and night of equal length. It occurs about Sept 23 in the N hemisphere (March 21 in the S hemisphere) 秋分点 gong /ɡɒŋ/ N-COUNT A gong is a large, flat, circular piece of metal that you hit with a hammer to make a sound like a loud bell. Gongs are sometimes used as musical instruments, or to give a signal that it is time to do something. 锣 e.g.：On the stroke of seven, a gong summons guests into the dining room. 7点整，一声锣响召唤客人们进餐厅。 sealant /ˈsiːlənt/N-MASS A sealant is a substance that is used to seal holes, cracks, or gaps. 密封胶 Proprietary Blend 专有配方；独家混酿chlorinated diphenyl 氯化二苯 chlorinated /ˈklɔːrɪˌneɪtɪd/ ADJ Chlorinated water, for example drinking water or water in a swimming pool, has been cleaned by adding chlorine to it. 氯化的diphenyl /daɪˈfiːnaɪl, -nɪl, -ˈfɛnɪl/ N → another name for biphenyl 联苯；二苯基
“科学家已经实现原子在晶格内的移动，造出一些自然未曾制造的东西。” 彭德勒在《铜合金时空胶囊记录书（1938）》里写道。这是他写给公元6939年 “未来人” 科幻迷们的一封信，公元6939年时空胶囊就可以出土了。他还写道，在时空胶囊里，他们将放置一个灯泡，一个别针，一条计数尺，一个电话，伊丽莎白雅顿牌化妆品，2.91美元现金，一只米奇塑料杯，刻写在醋酸纤维胶片上的第十四版大英百科全书，还那个时代最先进的材料样板75片, 包括钨丝，石棉瓦，以及杜彭最新研发出的合成纤维-尼龙。成千上万的人围观了时空胶囊，还有人通过潜望镜凝视着彭德勒称之为永恒的那口掩埋井。在一九四零年的秋分时节，世博会闭幕前一个月，西屋电气赞助了一个私人欢送仪式。演讲完毕，锣也敲了，在正午的时候，500磅滚烫的密封胶 - 一种由沥青，矿物油以及一种叫做氯化二苯（现称多氯联苯 Polychlorinated Biphenyls, 简称PCBs）的化合物制成的专有混合物，被浇灌到掩埋井里。
Westinghouse engineers said that the compound would last for thousands of years. Indeed, Westinghouse saw its first 'time bomb' as a nod to legacy itself. To leave a legacy is to gift something of meaning or value. For Westinghouse, technology and legacy were entangled ideas.See something as a nod to… 视某事/某物为对…的首肯，对…的佐证
西屋电气公司的工程师们说这种化合物可以保存数千年之久。也难怪，西屋电气将首个“时空炸弹” 视作他们留给后世遗产的佐证。为后世留下遗产就是赠与后世有意义或是有价值的东西。对于西屋电气来说，科技和遗产是不可分割的概念。
---------------------->> To be continued 未完待续<
- 这是一篇探讨现代合成材料及新兴技术带来遗留污染物问题的深度文章，由E.T 编译整理。此为第一部分，随后将发布其余部分，敬请关注。
Translated and Edited by E.T March 3rd, 2019
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