科學人上看到的珊瑚養殖專利 - 水族

想看看大家的看法，美國人想出如何創造水流的新方法。

中文科學人沒放線上版，所以只好放英文版。
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System and method for aquaculture of marine life-forms: Live corals make a
stunning addition to marine aquariums, but harvesting mature coral from the
wild threatens rare reef ecosystems. Coral cultivation or aquaculture could
help, especially in the U.S., where hobbyists buy approximately 80 percent of
the live coral sold in the world. The challenges to culturing corals include
generating the kind of multidirectional, strong currents created by waves and
tides, which are necessary for reef organisms to thrive. Karen Spartz, who
owns an aquaculture business in Indiana, came up with a solution.

不負責任大意翻譯：
1.活珊瑚超漂亮的！
2.野採禁止！破壞生態！
3.可是美國有全世界80％的活珊瑚市場，市場很大。
4.如何重現海洋中波浪與潮水所帶來不同方向的強勁水流？
5.印第安那州的Karen Spartz提出解決之道。

CREDIT: COURTESY OF U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
Patent no. 8,267,045 describes a system that mimics a marine environment
through water chemistry, temperature and the use of natural light to grow a
host of organisms, among them sea stars, anemones, fish and corals. Many of
these techniques are common solutions in the aquaculture business, but Spartz
added a large rotating tray. The wheel-shaped tray is buoyed by floats and
balanced by the distribution of individual domesticated corals. A single pump
moves water through a refugium—a subtank separated from, but sharing water
with, the main tank—containing macro- algae that filter and clean the water.
Well-placed outlets funnel the water back to the main tank and spin the tray,
giving riding organisms a constant current. “The corals like turbulence,”
she says.

1.專利號8267045是藉由控制水中化學物、溫度、自然光來模擬海洋環境的系統。
2.Karen Spartz的專利是添加了一個由浮標懸掛浮在水中的轉盤，水泵打水到
海藻過濾的過濾槽，海水經由設計的出水口流回主水槽時推動轉盤旋轉，創
製造持續的水流。


Spartz's patent also proposes a variation: a tray rigged with sails and
propelled by a fan. The wind-powered setup could be used to culture organisms
such as sea horses and nudibranchs, which do not tolerate direct water flow,
says David Baker, an assistant professor of biological sciences at the
University of Hong Kong.

1.香港大學生科系的David Baker說，這也可以改成風力驅動，更微弱的水流
適合培育海馬或裸鰓目軟體動物，他們無法承受太強的水流。

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可惜找不到實際操作器材圖片，底下是專利文：

http://www.google.com/patents/US8267045

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