Fry French Fries in Space

在太空炸薯條

Frying French fries in space may be possible， according to a recent study by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki， Greece.

On Earth， we have gravity and buoyancy. Gravity makes sure that the oil stays in the cooker， and buoyancy allows the bubbles that come out of the fries to travel upward so that the fries are cooked. In space， which is under microgravity， there is no buoyancy. So scientists for long believed that frying wasnt possible.

The research team first designed a sealed container that could fry the potato safely in zero gravity. European Space Agency （ESA） then took the researchers on a ride. The plane climbed up， and then， at a certain point， headed down just like a roller coaster. There were about 20 seconds of microgravity when the plane reached the highest point， during which the team did tests.

To their surprise， the fries were cooked， and the bubbles were able to escape. This was because when being fried， the water inside the potato turned into vapor. The vapor created pressure when released from the potato. The pressure inside the potato allowed the bubbles to go out and let the oil come in， according to the research paper. It showed that “frying can occur in space”.

希臘塞薩洛尼基亞里士多德大學(xué)最近的一項研究表明，在太空中炸薯條或許是可行的。

地球存在重力和浮力。重力將油留在炊具中，浮力使炸薯條產(chǎn)生的氣泡向上流動，從而炸熟薯條。然而，微重力條件下的太空中沒有浮力。因此，長期以來，科學(xué)家們一直認(rèn)為在太空中炸薯條不可行。

該研究小組首先設(shè)計了一個密封容器，以確保在零重力的環(huán)境下，能安全地炸土豆。隨后，歐洲航天局帶著研究人員坐飛機進(jìn)行實驗。飛機向上爬升，然后在某個高度像過山車一樣向下俯沖。飛機到達(dá)這一最高點時，約能產(chǎn)生20秒時長的微重力環(huán)境，以供研究小組進(jìn)行測試。

出乎意料，薯條被炸熟了，土豆中的氣泡竟然能夠逸散。根據(jù)研究報告，這是因為炸土豆時，土豆內(nèi)部的水變成了蒸氣，這些釋放出來的蒸氣會產(chǎn)生壓力。土豆內(nèi)部的壓力使氣泡排出，讓油進(jìn)入。該研究表明，“油炸這一烹飪方式可以在太空中實現(xiàn)”。

This isnt the first attempt for scientists to fry French fries in “space”. Early in 2014， with the help of ESA， a group of researchers conducted studies under various gravities. The agencys large centrifuge can create artificial gravity from 1 to 20 g， with g referring to the gravitational acceleration at the surface of the Earth.

It has four arms and can spin fast. During the spin， things held by the arm are under centrifugal force， which is the source of artificial gravity. The fries were cooked under different gravities from 1 to 9 g.

They discovered that the French fries had the most crispy crust under 3 g. Its interesting to mention that Jupiters gravity is 2.4 times that of Earths gravity. So， French fries may have the perfect taste if cooked on Jupiter， compared with other planets in the solar system.

這不是科學(xué)家們第一次嘗試在“太空”中炸薯條。早在2014年，歐洲航天局就協(xié)助一組研究人員在各種重力條件下進(jìn)行了研究。該機構(gòu)的大型離心機可以產(chǎn)生1至20個g的人造重力，其中g(shù)指的是地球表面的重力加速度。

離心機有四條機械臂，可以快速旋轉(zhuǎn)。在旋轉(zhuǎn)過程中，機械臂上的物體受到人造重力的作用，即離心力。油炸薯條的實驗是在1至9個g的不同重力條件下進(jìn)行的。

研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)薯條的外皮在重力條件低于3個g時是最酥脆的。有趣的是，木星的引力是地球引力的2.4倍。因此，與太陽系中的其他行星相比，木星上炸的薯條或許味道最好。

Word Bank

bubble /'b?bl/ n. 氣泡? v. 氣泡；冒泡

The water in the pan was beginning to bubble.

vapor /'ve?p?（r）/ n. 蒸氣

spin /sp?n/ v. （使）快速旋轉(zhuǎn)

The plane was spinning out of control.