So, let me explain to you about this rye plant.
那么，我来给你们解释下这株黑麦。
If you take a little seed of many grasses—and remember rye is a grass;
如果你从很多草中取一点点种子——别忘了黑麦是一种草；
if you take a tiny little seed and you germinate it—actually, take one of my least favorite grasses that starts growing about May.
如果你取一点种子然后使它发芽——其实，拿一个我最不爱的五月开始生长的草来说好了。
What's my least favorite grass that starts growing about May?
我最不喜欢的在五月开始生长的草是什么？
Crabgrass.
马唐。
Crabgrass. Remember how I showed you in the lab, one little seed starts out producing one little shoot.
马唐。记得我在实验室给你们展示过，一颗小种子抽出一颗芽。
Then at a week or so later you've got about six shoots,
然后大概一个星期之后就有六颗芽，
and then, three weeks later you've got about fifteen shoots coming out all directions like this— all those little shoots up there?
三个星期后就有大约十五颗芽从各个方向冒出来——长在那里的小芽？
Well, that's what they did with the rye. And the little seedling started and pretty soon there were several shoots, and then more shoots.
他们也是这样处理黑麦的。小幼苗开始生长很快就有了一些芽，之后有了更多的芽。
In the end, that one single seed produced eighty shoots, with an average of fifty centimeters of height...
最后，那一颗种子发出了80颗芽，平均50厘米高，
from one seed, eighty shoots coming out, average fifty centimeters high.
一颗种子，发了80颗芽，平均每颗50厘米高。
When they looked at the shoot versus the root surface,
当他们对比观察芽和根表面的时候，
they found that the shoot surface, with all of its leaves, had a total surface area of about five square meters.
他们发现，芽表面包括其所有的叶子，总表面积达约5平方米。
Now, here's the biggie, when they looked at the root surface area,
让人惊讶的事来了，当他们观察根表面的时候，
you would expect that the root and the shoot would be in balance, right?
你们觉得根与芽会平衡，对吗？
So, they should be pretty close in terms of surface area, right?
它们的表面积应该很接近，对吧？
Uh-un.
不是。
What's that? Did somebody say “no”? Well, you're absolutely correct.
什么？有人说了不是吗？你说对了。
Instead of five square meters, the root system was found to have more than two hundred square meters of surface area.
他们发现根系的表面积大约200平方米，而不是5平方米。
Where did all of that extra surface area come from? Who did it?
额外的表面积来自于哪里？谁增加的？
Who was responsible for all those extra square meters of surface area?
谁让那些多出来的表面积产生？
What did roots do to increase their surface area?
根系做了什么来增加它们的表面积？
Student: Root hairs.
根须。
Root hairs, that's exactly it. So those root hairs were responsible for an incredible chunk of surface area.
根须，正是它。那些根须占据的表面积大到不可思议。
They constantly have to be spread out in the water so they can absorb minerals from the fertilizer, and of course they need oxygen access as well.
它们不时地得在水中延伸开来，才能从肥料中吸收矿物质，当然它们也需要获取氧气。