新华网8月19日电 据美国科技博客Gizmodo报道，科学家们受到章鱼皮肤变色的启发，初步制造出了一种变色纸，能够根据它所侦测到的温度改变颜色。这是我们人类向章鱼学习变色的一小步。

　　本周的《美国科学院院刊》(PNAS)上介绍了这种新型设备。

　　这种设备由对温度敏感的染料制成，在较低温度时为黑色，而在较高温度时则为透明。《大众机械》杂志介绍了它的原理。根据介绍，这种新型纸张注满了对温度敏感的染料，在较低温度时呈现为黑色，而当温度上升到华氏116度（约摄氏47度）时则会变为透明。这一层染料位于一层具有反射功能的白色的银“瓦片”上。“瓦片”下面还有极薄的一层硅电路用来控制染料的温度，再加上一层透明的硅胶基座。不过，这一摞加起来也只有200微米厚，相当于人类头发平均宽度的两倍。

　　在这一摞下面的还有一层基底，这是一层对光线敏感的光探测器。如果将上面的一摞划分为细小的“像素点”之后，每个像素点的染料层和银“瓦片”层的角落都开有刻槽，从而允许光线通过。光线到达光敏探测器之后最终控制颜色的变化。这种适应性的伪装系统能在光照条件改变的情况下一两秒内就作出反应。

　　当然，相比于章鱼，只有黑白两色的这种材料还比较原始。而且，这种纸张还需要能量供应，也只在特定温度下有效。不过项目的领导者，美国伊利诺伊大学香槟分校的约翰·罗杰斯表示，目前的设备更多的是一种对原则的证明。要想加以改进，他们可能会将对温度的感应更换为对电场的感应，将染料更换为更多彩的等等。

　　译者：梁爽

　　百度新闻与新华网国际频道合作稿件，转载请注明出处。

　　This Color-Changing Camouflage Is Inspired by Octopus Skin

　　If you have not yet witnessed the wonder of an octopus changing color instantaneously， then you should go do that right now. We humans are only slowly playing camouflage catch up. A new color-changing sheet that adapts to the light it senses brings us a tiny step closely to octopi.

　　The device， presented this week in the journal PNAS， is made of temperature-sensitive dye that appears black at cool temperatures and transparent at higher ones. Popular Mechanics explains how it works:

　　The top layer of the new device is loaded with a temperature-sensitive dye that appears black at low temperatures and clear at temps above 116 degrees F. This dye-filled layer sits on top of a layer of white reflective silver tiles， an ultra-thin layer of silicon circuits that control the dye's temperature， and a transparent silicone rubber foundation. All together， this stack measures less than 200 microns thick. (The average human hair is 100 microns wide.)

　　Underneath this flexible sandwich is a base layer containing an array of light-sensing photodetectors. The corners of each dye-filled pixel and silver tile above this photoreceptor layer are notched， creating gaps that are like holes in a mask， allowing light to get through to the photoreceptors so they know how and when to change color. This adaptive camouflage system can respond to changing patterns of illumination within just one to two seconds.

　　Black and white is， obviously， quite primitive compared to the amazing capabilities of the octopus. The device also sucks up power and only works at certain temperatures. But John Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign， who led the study， tells National Geographic this current device is more about proof of principle. To improve on the basic idea， they might swap in components that use electric fields instead of heat to change color and alternative dyes that appear as a variety of shades.