DEEP DIVES

As you explore Minecraft’s overworld, you’ll occasionally come across something rather special – a plains biome filled with bright yellow sunflowers. Our developers worked really hard on this one, so we recruited a huge team of naming experts to come up with a good name for it. The best they were able to manage was “sunflower plains”, so they were all immediately fired. It therefore brings me no pleasure to inform you that “sunflower plains” is the name of our biome of the month.
在 Minecraft 的主世界中探索时，你可能会碰见一块奇特的地方：平原群系上，长满了黄灿灿的向日葵。开发组费尽心思打造了这么一片美景，命名部也不能落下才对！所以我们组织了一大群命名专家来给这片地方起个响当当的名字。然而他们能想出的最好的名字居然只是“向日葵平原”，所以当即就给炒了。当告诉你“向日葵平原”就是我们本月群系的名字的时候，其实我内心是拒绝的。

Sunflower plains were added to Minecraft in 2013 as part of The Update that Changed the World . Trees began to grow there in the Frostburn Update in 2016, and cornflowers started to sprout in the Village & Pillage Update . Otherwise, they’re pretty much the same as they were way back in 2013.
向日葵平原于 2013 年发布的《改变世界的更新》中加入 Minecraft。2016 年《霜炙更新》后，那里开始长树木；《村庄与掠夺》更新后，矢车菊也探出了头。要是没有这些更改，向日葵平原就跟 2013 年刚加入时无异了。

The sunflower plains biome is a pretty smart place to set up home. They’re wide open so you’ll be able to spot any nasties approaching and won’t have to do too much terraforming. There are trees , which you can use for building materials. Plus the sunflowers serve as a handy compass – always pointing eastward, making navigation easier.
向日葵平原是块安家的好地方。那里平坦开阔，能迅速发现敌人的踪迹，而且不需要大加改造就能入住。平原上零星长着几棵树，可以用作建筑材料。向日葵还是现成的方向指示器，永远面向东边，这样一来辨别方向就容易多了。

In terms of fauna, there are horses, donkeys, bees, as well as the usual farm animals. But be wary at night for zombies, spiders, skeletons, and creepers – a fence around your property, lit up with torches, is an excellent way to keep these beasts at bay (and prevent your animals from escaping at the same time). Finally, in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, you’ll find villages and pillager outposts in this biome. So be a little more cautious when exploring.
动物方面有马、驴、蜜蜂，还有常见的饲养型动物。不过到了夜晚可就得当心点僵尸、蜘蛛、骷髅、苦力怕了。要是想把这些怪物挡在外面，在领地周边围起栅栏、插上火把，是个很好的办法，这样一来还能防止自家动物逃出。此外，在基岩版中，这片群系还有可能建着掠夺者前哨站，所以在探索时请多加小心。

Sunflowers in the real world have the scientific name Helianthus annuus. They resemble their Minecraft cousins pretty closely but grow even taller – up to three meters tall in normal conditions. The Guinness Book of World Records, however, lists the tallest ever sunflower as an incredible 9.17 meters – taller than a two-story house. Impressive!
现实世界中的向日葵学名为 Helianthus annuus，跟 Minecraft 里的向日葵长得大差不差，但却比 Minecraft 里的高上许多，通常可长到三米高。吉尼斯世界纪录认证的最高的一株向日葵高达 9.17 米，比两层别墅还要高，绝了！

As noted above, Minecraft’s sunflowers always face east. But in the real world, things aren’t quite so simple. Real sunflowers tilt during the day to track the sun while they’re young but stop when they start blooming, settling into a roughly easterly direction once they’re mature – perfect to catch the first rays of the morning sun.
前文也有提到，Minecraft 里的向日葵总是面朝东边，而现实世界中的向日葵可没有这么僵硬。现实中年轻的向日葵会随着太阳的轨迹来转动，不过这种行为会在花盘绽放后停止，成熟后就会一直朝向东边，便于捕捉清晨的第一缕阳光。

Humans have come up with plenty of ways to use these enormous, beautiful plants. They’re used widely in food production – sunflower oil is popular for cooking, and so are sunflower seeds as a snack. Sunflowers have also been used to decontaminate polluted ground – they suck up toxins like lead, arsenic, and uranium.
人类也挖空心思来利用这些庞大而绚丽的植物。向日葵广泛用于制作食品，很多人用葵花籽油来做菜，葵花籽还能当零食吃。向日葵可以够吸收铅、砷、铀等有害物质，所以也能用来净化受污染的土地。

So next time you’re wandering through one of Minecraft’s sunflower plains biomes, you can rest assured that all the toxins in the soil will have been removed by all the beautiful sunflowers. Thanks, sunflowers!
下次在 Minecraft 的向日葵平原群系中漫步时，你就放一万个心吧，土壤里的有害物质都已经被美丽的向日葵吸收掉了。谢谢你，向日侠！




【橄榄Chan（aka Olvcpr423）译自官网 2022 年 12 月 08 日发布的 Around the Block: Sunflower Plains；原作者 Duncan Geere】
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