改变世界的17种物质

　　By far the most popular plastic, polyethylene is used in grocery bags, artificial joints and plastic bottles. It's even found in chewing gum. In fact, polyethylene is so ubiquitous that it's hard to imagine life without it. But in 1933 when English chemists Eric Fawcett and Reginald Gibson discovered it, they thought of it as nothing more than a waste product. Over 70 years later, more than 60 million tones of polyethylene are made each year; but there is a downside, as much of it ends up in landfill where it takes hundreds of years to degrade.

　　聚乙烯(C2H4)N

　　由于塑料得到大家喜爱，因此聚乙烯被广泛用于食品包装、人工接头和塑料瓶，它甚至可以用于制造香口胶。实际上，聚乙烯在生活中应用如此之广，很难想象哪里可以缺得了它。不过，在1933年英国化学家埃里克·福西特和雷德纳普·吉布森发现它的价值之前，人们更多的是把它看作一种工业废料。大约七十年后，聚乙烯每年产量达到六千万吨，不过目前它的产量正在下降，因为其最终废弃物需要深埋地下，数百年无法降解。

　　DDT — C14H9Cl5

　　In the 1950s and 1960s, DDT was used to eliminate malaria from Europe and North America in a program that, according to the World Health Organisation, saved an estimated 25 million lives. However, as early as the 1940s scientists had begun expressing concern over hazards associated with the use of DDT, and extensive research has since implicated the organ chlorine insecticide in the poisoning of humans, animals and the environment. As a result, its use has been banned or restricted in many countries.

　　滴滴涕（DDT）C14H9Cl5

　　1950和1960年代，欧洲以及北美把滴滴涕用于消灭疟疾，距世界卫生组织估计，这至少拯救了两千五百万人的生命。然而，早在1940年代，科学家们就开始关注与滴滴涕打交道造成的危险，并广泛研究了有机氯杀虫剂被大量使用之后对人类、动物和环境造成的毒害。因此，许多国家已经禁止或限制使用这种物质。

　　MORPHINE — C17H19NO3

　　A potent painkiller, morphine was first isolated by German pharmacist Friedrich Serturner in 1804. To this day, it remains the most important drug used to minimize suffering in terminally ill patients, particularly cancer sufferers. No other drug is as long-lasting and effective at managing severe pain. Despite this, 80 per cent of the world's population has access to just six per cent of the world's supply. Morphine is more widely distributed in the form of the illicit drug heroin, with an industry estimated at nearly A$100 billion annually.

　　吗啡C17H19NO3

　　1804年，德国药剂师弗里德里希·瑟托内尔首次分离出吗啡——这种强效止痛药。至今，它仍然是让晚期病患者，特别是癌症患者减少痛苦的最有效药物。目前还没有其他药物像它那样持久有效的抑制剧痛。尽管如此，占世界百分之八十的人口所能获得的仅占全球吗啡供应的百分之六。它更多的是作为非法毒品海洛因的有效成分出现，估计这一非法行业每年交易额达到一千亿美元。

　　AMMONIA — NH3

　　In the early 20th century, the world's growing population couldn't find enough ammonia to fertilize all its crops. Due to the discovery of a technique to mass-produce ammonia, called the Haber process, an estimated two billion people are not starving today. We produce 100 million tones of ammonia for fertilizer each year, but it is also an important ingredient in explosives.

　　氨NH3

　　二十世纪初，世界人口不断增长，但人们还没有认识到足够的氨可以让耕地更加肥沃。由于一种被称作哈伯制氨法的可以大规模制造氨的技术被发现，让世界上二十亿人口不再每天挨饿。如今每年我们生产一亿吨氨用于制造肥料，此外，它还是炸药的重要成分。