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科学美国人60秒 SSS 企鹅粪便有助于南极洲生物多样性的繁荣

时间：2020-02-25 03:02:27

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（单词翻译）

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Christopher Intagliata.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是克里斯托弗·因塔格里塔。

Antarctica is known for its great expanses of white—and not just snow.

南极洲以其广袤的白色而闻名，这种白色不仅仅是雪。

"If it's fresh it might be white or pinkish, and eventually it all turns brown, muddy brown."

“如果是新鲜的，那可能呈现白色或浅粉色，不过最终都会变成棕色，暗棕色。”

Stef Bokhorst is an ecologist at Vrije University in Amsterdam, and the initially1 white stuff he's talking about is penguin2 poop.

阿姆斯特丹自由大学的生态学家斯代夫·博克霍尔斯特说到，他前面谈到的那个白色东西是企鹅的粪便。

"The first thing you notice of it is the smell. Basically you're squishing through puddles3, what you first think is mud, but it's actually just poo. And that produces that really strong ammonia smell you can really smell from miles away."

“你最先注意到的是它的味道。在吱嘎吱嘎地穿过水坑时，你以为你踩到的是泥，但实际上是粪便。它会产生非常强烈的氨气味道，几英里外都能闻到。”

But it’s not just the smell that travels on the wind. Ammonia contains nitrogen—a valuable fertilizer—so the winds carry nourishment4 to nearby mosses5 and lichens6. That, in turn, supports teeming7 communities of the largest fully8 terrestrial animals in Antarctica: invertebrates9 like springtails and mites10.

但随风传播的可不仅仅是气味。氨中含有氮，而氮是一种非常有价值的肥料，因此风会将营养物质吹到附近的苔藓和地衣那里。这反过来供养了南极洲最大的完全陆生动物群落：跳虫和螨虫之类的无脊椎动物。

Bokhorst and his colleagues took air and plant samples around the poop piles and found this airborne ammonia fertilizer enriches life as far as a mile away. The full details are in the journal Current Biology.

博克霍尔斯特和同事提取了粪堆周围的空气和植物样本，他们发现这种通过空气传播的氨肥甚至支持了一英里以外的生命。完整细节发表在《当代生物学》期刊上。

And the work makes it easier for scientists like Bokhorst to remotely estimate Antarctica's biodiversity. "We don't have to go to all of these field sites—we can actually basically sit at home, take all these pictures with satellites, and then get an idea where the highest biodiversity should be along the peninsula."

这项研究使博克霍尔斯特这样的科学家能更容易地远程估算南极洲的生物多样性。“我们无需前往所有现场，我们可以坐在家中，用卫星拍下所有这些照片，然后就能了解半岛沿岸生物多样性最高的地方在哪里。”

Of course, doctors have long taken a stool sample to get medical information about a patient, and now ecologists will be able to use imagery to track feces and predict its beneficial effects at the bottom of the world. In short: don't poo-poo the poo.

当然，医生长期以来一直通过粪便样本来获取患者的医学信息，现在，生态学家将有能力用图像来追踪粪便，并预测其在世界底部的有益影响。简而言之：不要拒绝便便。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 initially 273xZ     
adv.最初，开始
参考例句：
  • The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
  • Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。
2 penguin W3jzf     
n.企鹅
参考例句：
  • The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
  • He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。
3 puddles 38bcfd2b26c90ae36551f1fa3e14c14c     
n.水坑， （尤指道路上的）雨水坑( puddle的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • The puddles had coalesced into a small stream. 地面上水洼子里的水汇流成了一条小溪。
  • The road was filled with puddles from the rain. 雨后路面到处是一坑坑的积水。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 nourishment Ovvyi     
n.食物，营养品；营养情况
参考例句：
  • Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。
  • He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。
5 mosses c7366f977619e62b758615914b126fcb     
n. 藓类, 苔藓植物 名词moss的复数形式
参考例句：
  • Ferns, mosses and fungi spread by means of spores. 蕨类植物、苔藓和真菌通过孢子传播蔓生。
  • The only plants to be found in Antarctica are algae, mosses, and lichens. 在南极洲所发现的植物只有藻类、苔藓和地衣。
6 lichens 8ba13422ddec8ecf73fb1d0cb20f495f     
n.地衣( lichen的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • The only plants to be found in Antarctica are algae, mosses, and lichens. 在南极洲所发现的植物只有藻类、苔藓和地衣。 来自辞典例句
  • Litmus: Mixture of coloured organic compounds obtained from several species of lichens. 石蕊：从几种地衣类植物中获取的带色有机化合物的混合物。 来自互联网
7 teeming 855ef2b5bd20950d32245ec965891e4a     
adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注
参考例句：
  • The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
  • the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道
8 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地
参考例句：
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
9 invertebrates 7e45dc289993d00de9b9f14a70e51319     
n.无脊椎动物( invertebrate的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • Insects and worms are all invertebrates. 昆虫和蠕虫都是无脊椎动物。 来自辞典例句
  • In the earthworm and many other invertebrates, these excretory structures are called nephridia. 在蚯蚓和许多其它无脊椎动物中，这些排泄结构称为肾管。 来自辞典例句
10 mites d5df57c25d6a534a9cab886a451cde43     
n.（尤指令人怜悯的）小孩( mite的名词复数 )；一点点；一文钱；螨
参考例句：
  • The only discovered animals are water bears, mites, microscopic rotifers. 能够发现的动物只有海蜘蛛、螨和微小的轮虫。 来自辞典例句
  • Mites are frequently found on eggs. 螨会经常出现在蛋上。 来自辞典例句

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