萤火虫的秘密
Scientists have long known what causes the yellow, orange or sometimes even blue flickers of light that fly around our back yard on summer evenings. They are the fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, and they have fascinated scientists and laypeople alike for ages. About 2000 species of fireflies exist today, and they mostly live in warm environments. These insects are actually beetles, and belong to the family Lampyridae.
科学家们早就知道是什么原因导致了夏季夜晚在我们后院飞来飞去的黄色、橙色甚至有时甚至蓝色的闪光。它们是萤火虫，也被称为闪电虫，多年来一直吸引着科学家和外行。目前约有2000种萤火虫，它们大多生活在温暖的环境中。这些昆虫实际上是甲虫，属于七鳃鳗科。
What causes those flickers? Scientists have known the basics all along – oxygen, magnesium, calcium, and luciferin, a chemical that is naturally occurring –that causes the bioluminescence from the firefly’s abdomen.
是什么导致这些闪烁?科学家们一直都知道一些基本的东西——氧、镁、钙和荧光素，一种自然产生的化学物质——它们会引起萤火虫腹部的生物发光。
However, the actual chemical reactions that cause the firefly’s light have been a mystery. Bruce Branchini at Connecticut College, Yale University, and his colleagues, seem to have solved the mystery. The findings of their study were recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and it sheds light on the chemistry that lies behind the bioluminescence.
然而，导致萤火虫发光的实际化学反应一直是个谜。耶鲁大学康涅狄格学院的布鲁斯·布兰奇尼和他的同事们似乎解开了这个谜团。他们的研究结果最近发表在《美国化学学会期刊》上，它揭示了生物发光背后的化学现象。
Branchini's studies showed that the oxygen responsible for the firefly's glow is in a special form: a superoxide anion. It is a form of molecular oxygen containing an extra electron. This enables the oxygen to react with luciferin, to produce the glow.
布兰奇尼的研究表明，引起萤火虫发光的氧气是一种特殊的形式：超氧阴离子。它是分子氧的一种形式，含有一个额外的电子。这使氧气与荧光素反应，产生光。
Stephen Miller, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, a chemical biologist, said that this phenomenon is important as an area of research because luciferin has potential uses in the medical field. For example, a team of scientists including Miller used luciferin to detect specific enzymes in the brains of living rats, which could lead to identifying a method of looking at the hidden mysteries of the human brain.
马萨诸塞大学医学院的化学生物学家斯蒂芬·米勒(stephen miller)说，这种现象作为一个研究领域很重要，因为荧光素在医学领域有潜在的用途。例如，包括米勒在内的一组科学家利用荧光素检测了活体大鼠大脑中的特定酶，这可能会导致发现一种观察人类大脑隐藏奥秘的方法。
Who knew that the humble firefly had so much chemistry in it! And so much promise for science!
谁又能知道卑微的萤火虫原来有这么多的化学成分!请对科学充满希望!
