Despite the material being about as common as can be, some are still poking and prodding it,

儘管材料已經普通得不能再普通了，但還是有人在戳穿它。

trying to unravel its mysteries.

試圖揭開它的神祕面紗。

Now one group of scientists experimenting with this material has stumbled onto a state of matter

現在，有一組科學家用這種材料進行實驗，偶然發現了一種物質的狀態

that was predicted 20 years ago: liquid glass.

這在20年前就被預測到了：液態玻璃。

Some of you are going to jump up right away and assert that glass is already a liquid.

有的人要馬上跳起來斷言，玻璃已經是液體了。

Well, I hate to shatter your world, but it turns out this is one of those myths that just won't go away.

我不想打破你的世界，但事實證明，這是一個不會消失的神話。

Glass is not a very slow moving liquid as some like to claim, unless we're talking cosmic time scales,

玻璃並不像某些人所說的那樣是一種非常緩慢移動的液體，除非我們談論的是宇宙時間尺度。

but it is an unusual solid.

但它是一種不尋常的固體。

While crystals tend to line up in neat orderly patterns, glass plays by different rules.

水晶往往會以整齊有序的圖案排列，而玻璃則有不同的遊戲規則。

Its structure is random and unpredictable, so it's known as an amorphous solid.

它的結構是隨機的，不可預知的，所以被稱為無定形固體。

While we tend to think of the silica based material used for windows and phone screens as glass,

雖然我們往往認為窗戶和手機螢幕使用的硅基材料是玻璃。

any rigid amorphous solid can be one.

任何剛性無定形固體都可以成為一個。

Plastic, for example, is a glass too.

比如說，塑膠也是一種玻璃。

Why glass forms this way, why it doesn't line up into neat rows except under theoretically impossible conditions—

為什麼玻璃會形成這樣的形狀，為什麼除了在理論上不可能的情況下，玻璃不會排成整齊的一排？

that is the mystery that keeps drawing scientists back to this material.

這就是吸引科學家們不斷回到這種材料的奧祕。

And that's why one group based out of Germany decided to try something new.

而這也是為什麼一個總部位於德國的團體決定嘗試新的東西。

They mixed plastic particles that ranged from one to ten micrometers in diameter with a solvent

他們將直徑為1至10微米的塑料顆粒與一種溶劑混合在一起

to form what's called a colloid.

以形成所謂的膠體。

A solvent is just a substance in which materials can dissolve to form a solution and colloids can be anything from jam to milk.

溶劑只是一種物質，材料可以在其中溶解形成溶液，膠體可以是任何東西，從果醬到牛奶。

Colloids can form glass and are easy to study because the particles in them are much bigger than atomic scale

膠體可以形成玻璃，並且容易研究，因為其中的粒子比原子尺度大得多。

and can be observed under a microscope.

並可在顯微鏡下觀察。

From there, scientists can draw conclusions about what's happening in other materials at smaller scales.

從那裡，科學家可以得出關於其他材料在更小尺度上發生的情況的結論。

Glass experiments with colloids are hardly new, but until now they had always been done with spherical nanoparticles.

用膠體進行玻璃實驗幾乎不是什麼新鮮事，但直到現在，他們一直都是用球形納米顆粒來做。

For their experiment, the scientists decided to use ellipsoidal particles,

對於他們的實驗，科學家們決定使用橢圓體粒子。

which unlike spherical particles have a clear orientation.

與球形粒子不同，它具有明確的方向性。

Because of their shape, it's easier to tell when they rotate versus when they translate,

由於它們的形狀，更容易分辨它們何時旋轉與何時轉換。

or move back and forth and side to side.

或前後、左右移動。

The researchers said they chose non-spherical plastic nanoparticles

研究人員表示，他們選擇了非球形的塑膠納米顆粒。

because they're more like the asymmetrical particles found in nature.

因為它們更像自然界中的不對稱粒子。

It wasn't until recently though, that scientists had the ability to make these materials.

不過直到最近，科學家才有能力製造這些材料。

When the researchers suspended a certain density of these ellipsoidal particles in a solvent, they formed a glass.

當研究人員將這些橢圓體顆粒懸浮在一定密度的溶劑中時，他們形成了一種玻璃。

They created rigid structures and couldn't rotate.

他們創造了剛性結構，不能旋轉。

But they could still translate back and forth, so the particles could be said to be in a liquid state.

但它們仍然可以來回轉換，所以可以說粒子處於液體狀態。

The researchers had accidentally created a new phase of matter!

研究人員意外地創造了一個新的物質階段!

Astonished by their findings, they dug through literature on the subject and actually found a 20-year-old paper

他們為自己的發現感到驚訝，他們翻閱了關於這個問題的文獻，居然發現了一篇20年前的論文。

that predicted such a thing might happen.

預測到這種事情會發生。

There were some things the paper didn't predict, like how similarly oriented particles

有一些事情論文沒有預測到，比如相似方向的粒子是如何

would bunch up and form structures that could then intersect with other structures at random angles.

會聚集起來，形成結構，然後可以與其他結構以隨機的角度相交。

The scientists suspect this behavior might explain why glass forms in seemingly random shapes as it cools.

科學家們懷疑這種行為可以解釋為什麼玻璃在冷卻時形成看似隨機的形狀。

But the case on glass is far from cracked.

但玻璃上的箱子遠沒有開裂。

This latest discovery may reflect some hidden truths about the material but there's plenty more research to be done,

這一最新發現可能反映了材料中一些隱祕的真相，但還有很多研究要做。

and I'm pretty sure glass will keep fascinating scientists for a long time to come.

我很確定玻璃會讓科學家們在未來很長一段時間內充滿魅力。

If you want to learn more about the mysteries of glass, check out Julian's video here.

如果你想了解更多關於玻璃的奧祕，請點擊這裡查看Julian的視頻。

And if there's another topic that'd you'd like to see us cover, let us know in the comments below.

如果還有其他你想看到我們報道的話題，請在下面的評論中告訴我們。

Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time!

感謝您的觀看，我們下次再見!