For Mashable, I'm Lauren Gores. Pothole's on plain roads for long enough. At least that's what a group of students at Case Western Reserve University thought when they put a new spin on silly-putty. The five inventors won a science and engineering competition by creating a short-term fix to the campus's pothole problem.
這是Mashable，我是Lauren Gores。坑洞在平坦的道路上夠久了。至少當一群凱斯西儲大學的學生在為橡皮泥重新定義的時候，他們是這樣想的。這五個發明者藉由創造一種校園道路坑洞問題的暫時修補方案，而贏了一項科學工程競賽。
Their invention uses non-Newtonian fluids, the weird substances act both like a solid and a liquid, depending on how much force they are under. Some of the fluids move like liquid until they're compressed, which is why these folks can walk on it without sinking. Silly-putty is just one example. Others include paint, ketchup and just plain cornstarch and water. You can probably already guess how this applies to potholes. When water that seeped into the road freezes and expands, it breaks up the asphalt. When that soft pavement gets run over by a car, it breaks in crumbles.
他們的發明使用非牛頓流體，一種取決於受到外力的多寡，而同時表現得像固體和液體的怪異物質。一些流體直到受到壓擠前都像液體一樣流動，這也是為什麼這些人們可以在上面行走而不沉下去。橡皮泥只是一個例子。其他包括油漆，番茄醬和僅僅是純玉米澱粉跟水。你也許已經可以猜到這如何應用到路面坑洞。當水滲入路面結冰並膨脹，它會擠破柏油。當那柔軟的道路被汽車輾過，它會裂成碎塊。
The students' specially-designed fluid fills in the pothole then turns rigid when cars pass over it. The team's formula is top secret while they're still trying to get it patented. To test their invention, they put the fluid in special bags, filled in a nearby pothole and laid a black adhesive cloth over it. The bag held up for a week of testing, and the students say they should be sturdy enough to last several weeks.
這種學生特殊設計的流體填進路面坑洞，然後在車子壓過時會變堅硬。當他們還在試著獲得專利時，這隊伍的配方是最高機密。為了測試他們的發明，他們把流體放在特製袋子裡，填放入一個附近的路面坑洞，而且放一塊黑色膠布在上面。這袋子撐過了一個星期的測試，學生們說它們應該夠堅固可以持續用好幾個星期。
It's not meant to be a permanent fix, but more like a stop-gap. One of the students tells Science, "The fluid filled bags can be carried around in the trunks of police cruisers or vans and dropped into potholes on the spot by employees with little training or experience."
這不是代表永久的修補，但是更像是一個暫時填補物。其中一個學生告訴《科學》雜誌：「這流體填充的袋子可以被攜帶在警察巡邏車或是小貨車的行李箱裡面，並且可以讓沒甚麼訓練或經驗的員工，在現場丟入路面坑洞。」
For winning their competition, the students got nine thousand dollars and encouragement to start selling their pothole patches. They've already been approached by several companies, talked about "throwing your money down the hole." From Mashable, I'm Lauren Gores.
因為贏得比賽，學生們得到九千美金(約台幣二十七萬)並受到鼓勵去開始賣他們的路面坑洞補釘。已有幾間公司接洽他們，提到要「把你們的錢丟進洞裡」。這是Mashable，我是Lauren Gores。
