three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas?

物質只有三態：固態、液態和氣態。

And then you got older and learned that plasma existed and you thought, “Ok, now I know

當我們年紀漸長，得知有血漿這種物質存在，我們就會想：「好吧，現在，

everything, it can't possibly get more complicated”?

我懂得更多事了，事情應該不可能更複雜了吧？」

Well, it just got more complicated.

然而，事情就是更複雜了。

Scientists have found a new state of matter that is a solid and a liquid at the same time,

科學家使用人工智能發現了一種固態與液態可以同時存在的新物質，

and they used artificial intelligence that could lead to future discoveries about what's happening inside planets and stars.

這種人工智能，已經引領著人類預測未來在行星與恆星內部發生的事件。

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh discovered that under extreme pressure,

愛丁堡大學的科學家發現，在極端壓力下，

the metal potassium starts behaving very strangely.

金屬鉀的表現格外異常。

In normal conditions, a bar of pure potassium is pretty unremarkable.

正常狀況下，一條純鉀是非常不起眼的。

I mean, aside from its tendency to explode if you get it wet.

我的意思是，如果你弄濕了鉀，它是有可能會爆炸的。

But dry potassium atoms link up and form orderly rows that conduct heat and electricity well.

但乾燥的鉀原子有順序地連接排列，是很好的熱能和電能傳導體。

For a long time, scientists thought that was all there was to potassium's structure,

長久以來，科學家們認為這就是鉀的結構，

until over a decade ago when scientists put sodium under extreme pressure.

直到十多年前，科學家們將鈉置於極端壓力之下，

At 20,000 times earth's atmospheric pressure, sodium transforms from shiny to transparent,

在 20,000 倍的大氣壓力下，鈉從閃亮變成透明，

and from a conductor to an insulator.

從導體變成絕緣體，

X-ray images showed the crystal structure had gone from simple to complex.

X 射線圖像顯示晶體結構已經從簡單變為複雜。

Sodium is an alkali metal just above potassium on the periodic table, so scientists reasoned

鈉是元素週期表中鉀正上方的鹼金屬，因此科學家們合理推論

if it behaves oddly under pressure, maybe potassium does too.

納在壓力下表現異常，鉀應該也是這樣。

And indeed, at extreme pressures, potassium atoms rearrange themselves from orderly rows

的確，在極端的壓力下，鉀原子會從有順序的行

into a much more complicated structure.

重新排列成更複雜的結構。

They form five tubes, arranged in an X shape.

它們會形成五個管狀，排列成 X 形。

Edge on it would look like a five on a playing die.

從邊邊看，就像骰子上面的 5 的形狀，

In between the outer tubes are chains of potassium atoms.

外面的管子之間是鉀原子鏈結，

Researchers describe it as two loosely linked sublattices, with the tubes acting as “host”

研究人員將其描述為兩個鬆散連接的亞晶格，管子充當「主體」原子，

atoms while the chains were “guest” atoms.

而鏈結則是「客體」原子。

When researchers turned up the heat on their high-pressure potassium, that's when things got weird.

當研究人員將高壓狀態下的鉀加熱時，事情就變得不一樣了。

X-ray images showed the chains disappeared.

X 射線圖像顯示，那些鏈結消失了，

To figure out where they went, they turned to computer simulation.

為了知道這些鏈結到哪裡去了，科學家們使用電腦模擬實驗。

They trained a neural network using small groups of potassium atoms until the artificial

他們用一小組鉀原子模擬神經網絡，直到人工智能

intelligence understood quantum mechanics well enough to simulate it on a larger scale, up to 20,000 atoms.

可以解算量子力學之後，就大規模模擬，上限可達 20,000 個原子。

Can we just take a moment to appreciate that computer science is at the point that software

讓我們在這裡感嘆一下電腦科學軟體

can teach itself quantum mechanics?

能夠自學量子機制。

When the computer model simulated potassium atoms at 20,000 to 40,000 times atmospheric

當電腦模組在 20,000 至 40,000 倍大氣壓力及 400 至 800 度 K 的環境，

pressure, and between 400 and 800 Kelvin, it showed that the chains between the tubes

模擬鉀原子時，實驗顯示，管子之間的鏈結融化成液態，

melted into liquid, while the tubes remained solid.

而管子仍維持固態，

The potassium was in both states at once.

這種狀況下的鉀是兩種狀態並存著。

The researchers described it as though you had a sponge that leaked water… except the

研究人員描述，這種狀況的鉀，就像你有一塊在漏水的海綿…

sponge is also made of water.

這個海綿也是水。

They dubbed this new phase of matter the “chain-melted state.”

他們稱這個新的物質階段為「鏈結融化狀態」。

While that is objectively fascinating, you may be wondering, “So what?

這種發明在客觀上也許是很令人驚艷，但是你可能會覺得：「那又如何呢？」

When is potassium going to be under those conditions?”

「鉀什麼時候會有機會處於那種環境呢？」

Potassium could exist in this state in the earth's mantle, though it's rarely in

鉀在地幔中是處於這種狀態，雖然它很少以純的方式呈現，

its pure form, what with its preponderance to react violently and explode.

它的優勢在於它能夠劇烈反應並爆炸。

The machine learning technique that developed the computer model, however, can be used for

機械學習技術提升了電腦模組，然而，這樣的技術可以用在

other elements in extreme situations beyond potassium.

除了鉀以外，極端情形下的原素。

Conditions are pretty tame on Earth's surface, but in the universe, extreme temperatures

地球表面的條件相當溫和，但在宇宙中，極端的溫度

and pressures are the norm.

和壓力狀況是常態。

Inside planets and stars matter could be doing all sorts of odd things.

行星和恆星內部物質會產生各種不尋常的事情。

Thanks to artificial intelligence we might be able to peel back the skin of alien worlds

由於人工智能，我們可以剝去外星世界的表皮層，

to take a peek at what's going on under the surface.

一窺表面下所發生的事件。

Fun Fact: This computer model worked really well, not only simulating the chain-melted

事實上，電腦模組非常有效，不僅可以模擬鏈結融化的狀態，

state, but all of potassium's fourteen known phase transitions.

還可以模擬鉀的 14 種已知相變，

That's more phases than I went through in high school.

這比我在高中時所學到的還要多。

If you love matter science check out this video here about scientists finding a new

如果你喜歡物質狀態，可以看一下這個視頻，有關科學家在地幔中

state of water hidden in our earth's mantle.

發現了水的新物質狀態。

Don't forget to subscribe and I'll see you next time on Seeker.

別忘了訂閱我們的頻道，下次 Seeker 見嘍！