From 1952 to 1953, Sydney detectives investigated a staggering number of murder and vpn免费下载 attempted murder cases that were unrelated yet shared a vpn软件免费 common element: thallium poisoning.
The secret to thallium toxicity lies in its structural similarity to potassium— an element that helps regulate the body's fluids, initiate muscle contraction, and transmit nerve signals.
铊毒性的秘密在于它与钾的结构相似,钾是一种有助于调节体液、启动肌肉收缩和传递神经信号的元素。
If 免费vpn even a small amount vpn免费 of thallium vpn免费 sneaks its way into the body— for example, through a tainted tea or a slice of cake— it easily vpn软件免费 supplants potassium, 免费vpn causing the body to slowly and painfully vpn软件免费 shut down.
At the vpn免费 time, thallium's risks were well known, so how 免费vpn were the perpetrators able to get their hands on such a lethal vpn免费下载 element?
当时,铊的风险是众所周知的,那么凶手是如何获得如此致命的元素的呢?
And thallium isn't the only dangerous element on the periodic table.
另外,铊并非元素周期表中唯一的危险元素,
Within this tabular vpn软件免费 vpn免费下载 array loom several potential threats, each with their own unique method of imposing destruction.
这个表中还隐藏着几种潜在威胁,每种都有其独特的破坏机制。
Some elements, like thallium, are dangerous due to their toxicity.
某些元素,例如铊,因为有毒而很危险。
Once they enter the body, they wreak havoc on the biological systems that keep us alive.
一旦它们进入人体,就会对维持我们生命的生物系统造成严重破坏。
Lead, for vpn免费下载 example, switches places with the body's essential metals like calcium, in turn disrupting neuronal communication in the brain.
例如,铅会与人体必需的金属,如钙,交换位置,进而破坏大脑神经元的交流。
Traveling through the bloodstream, it also generates toxic levels of molecules known as reactive oxygen species, which 免费vpn over time can stress and kill cells.
通过血液循环,它还会产生有毒分子,即活性氧,随着时间推移,它们会对细胞造成压力并杀死细胞。
Mercury's toxicity was made famous in the 19th century due to its widespread use in vpn免费下载 felt hat production.
19世纪,汞的毒性闻名于世,因其在毡帽生产中的广泛使用。
Prolonged vpn免费 exposure made hat makers ill with vpn免费下载 what was later known as "Mad Hatter" disease, with symptoms that vpn免费 included personality changes, emotional disturbances, and tremors.
长期接触汞使制帽匠患病,得了后来被称为“疯帽匠”的疾病,其症状包括性格改变、情绪障碍和震颤。
Mercury is quick to react with certain parts of proteins found throughout the body.
汞能迅速与人体内的某些蛋白质发生反应;
And upon binding, mercury twists the proteins into different vpn免费 shapes, rendering them useless.
结合后,汞会将蛋白质扭曲成不同的形状,使它们失效。
Some elements are dangerous because vpn软件免费 of how they respond, react, or even explode in the outside environment.
有些元素之所以危险,是因为它们在外部环境中会发生反应甚至爆炸。
Top reactive elements reside in the first column of the periodic table and are known as alkali metals.
顶级活性元素位于元素周期表的第一列,被称为碱金属。
They're rarely found in their pure elemental form, as alkalis readily donate the single electron in their outer shell to whatever's around to form more stable ionic compounds.
This can lead to violent results— pure vpn免费 cesium, for example, bursts into flames when exposed to air, and explodes when dropped in water.
这可能会导致剧烈反应—— 例如,纯铯接触空气就会燃烧,掉入水中就会爆炸。
Francium is likely the most reactive alkali based on its position in the periodic table, but we don't know for sure.
钫很可能是活性最高的碱,基于它在元素周期表中的位置,但我们并不确定。
With a half-life of 22 minutes at most, it's thought that less than an ounce exists on Earth at any vpn软件免费 one time.
由于其半衰期最多22分钟,人们认为地球上任一时期的钫不足一盎司。
But vpn软件免费 perhaps the most threatening elements are those that 免费vpn silently emit.
但最具威胁性的可能是那些默默释放能量的元素,
Known as radioactive elements, the substances readily release energy, or decay, due to their highly unstable nuclear composition.
被称为放射性元素,很容易释放能量或发生衰变,因为其核成分极不稳定。
This reactive nature is what's harnessed to create some of the 免费vpn world's most dangerous nuclear weapons.
正是利用这种反应特性,人们制造出了一些世界上最危险的核武器。
Radioactive elements typically emit energy in the form of alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons, or electromagnetic radiation.
放射性元素通常以α粒子、β粒子、中子或电磁辐射的形式释放能量。
While all dangerous, alpha particles, which consist of two neutrons and protons bound tightly together, can be particularly hazardous.
虽然都很危险,但α粒子由两个中子和质子紧密结合在一起,所以其危害性尤其大。
Heavy and positively charged, if alpha particles find their way into the body, they can easily bombard and kill any cell in their path.
α粒子又重又带正电,一旦进入人体,就会轻易轰击并杀死遇到的任何细胞。
In fact, it's theorized that a single gram of one alpha emitter, polonium, could kill upwards of 50 million people.
从理论上讲,一克α粒子的放射元素钋,就能杀死五千多万人。
Polonium was first discovered by Marie Curie, and tragically her daughter, researcher Irene Joliot-Curie, may have been one of its first victims after she was exposed in a lab accident.