想让难吃的东西变好吃？你需要的是一把神奇的叉子
Japanese researchers creates electric fork that alters the taste of food
Did you know electricity can alter the way we taste food? Proving this fact is a revolutionary electric fork designed by Japanese researchers that can make any dish taste salty, thus acting as a substitute for the popular seasoning.
你知道电可以改变人类饮食的方式吗？由日本研究人员设计的电动餐叉证实了这一点，这种革新性的餐叉能够使食物变咸，成为常用调料的替代品。
According to Hiromi Nakamura, a Post Doc Research Fellow at Tokyo’s Meiji University, the technology can be very useful for people on special diets. Patients with low blood pressure, for instance, can easily go on a low-salt diet and still enjoy delicious food. And with the fork, there’s absolutely no risk of over-salting your food. Luckily, the voltage is so small that there is no risk of electrocution either.
东京的明治大学的博士后研究员中村博美称，这项技术尤其适用于特殊饮食的人群。例如，低血压患者在轻松保持低盐膳食的同时，亦可享用美味佳肴。用了电动餐叉，即使过度调味也绝对毫无危害，而且好在电压很小，所以也不存在触电的风险。
The idea of adding electricity to food was first revealed as an experiment at the Computer Human Interaction Conference in Austin, Texas, in 2012. Nakamura and her team connected a wire to a 9-volt battery and threaded it through a straw placed in a cup of sweet lemonade. Volunteers (who were asked to sign a waiver) reported that the charged lemonade tasted ‘blander’, because the electricity simulated the taste of salt.
2012年，在德克萨斯州奥斯汀举办的人机交互会议中，将食物中汇入电流的理念以实验的形式首度曝光。中村和她的团队把一根电线连接于一个9伏特的电池上，然后将这跟电线穿过一根插在甜柠檬水中的吸管。志愿者们（被要求签署免责条例）报告称，通电的柠檬水喝起来“口感更清淡”，因为电流冒充了盐的味道。
Nakamura, along with professor Homei Miyashita, now call the idea ‘Augmented Gustation’ and have refined the technology to be able to transfer an electric charge to food through forks and chopsticks. “The metallic part of the fork is one electrode, and the handle is another,” Nakamura explained. “When you take a piece of food with the fork and put it in your mouth, you close the circuit. When you remove the fork from your mouth, you disconnect the circuit. So it actually works as a switch.”
