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科学美国人60秒 SSS 对蚂蚁来说 天空就是它们的指南针

时间:2020-05-12 05:26:31

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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。

GPS has completely transformed how we g?et around. But other animals have long had their navigation systems built right in—like ants and bees.

全球定位系统(简称GPS)改变了我们的出行方式。但其他动物早已拥有了内置的导航系统,比如蚂蚁和蜜蜂。

"We know their eyes are quite sensitive to polarized light, and the sky has a particular pattern of polarized light, relative to the position of the sun." Barbara Webb, a bioroboticist at the University of Edinburgh.

“我们知道它们的眼睛对偏振光非常敏感,而天空中有一种与太阳位置有关的特殊模式的偏振光。”爱丁堡大学的生物机器人学家芭芭拉·韦伯说到。

You can see polarized light firsthand if you take a pair of polarized sunglasses and rotate them against the sky—the light passing through the lenses changes. Webb says the insects have polarization like that built into facets1 of their compound eyes.

如果你拿起一副偏振光太阳镜,将其对着天空旋转,你可以亲眼看到偏振光——穿过镜片的光线会发生变化。韦伯表示,这些昆虫复眼的小平面内就有偏振现象。

"You can think of it as the equivalent of having a little polarization directional filter over them or lots of sunglasses pointed2 in different directions."

“你可以想象在它们眼睛上面有小型偏振方向过滤器,或有许多指向不同方向的太阳镜。”

But Webb was curious whether there's really enough information in the sky to give insects an accurate sense of direction. So her team built a sensor3 modeled after a desert ant eye and put it under artificial light meant to simulate the sky. They then fed that sensor input4 into a computational model meant to mimic5 the brains of desert ants, crickets and other insects with a celestial6 compass.

但韦伯很好奇,天空中是否真的有足够的信息,能让昆虫拥有准确的方向感。因此,她的团队制作了模仿沙漠蚂蚁眼睛的传感器,并将其置于模拟天空的人工光下。之后,他们将传感器数据输入计算机模型,该模型会模拟沙漠蚂蚁、蟋蟀和其他拥有天文罗盘的昆虫的大脑。

And they found that with the insects' innate7 sensing and processing equipment, they can likely sense compass direction down to just a couple degrees of error. The results are in the journal PLOS Computational Biology.

他们发现,有了这种昆虫内置的感知和处理设备,他们可能会感知到罗盘方向仅有几度的误差。研究结果发表在《公共科学图书馆·计算机生物学》期刊上。

A system based on that of insects could someday be a cheap, low-energy alternative to GPS. "Insects have very tiny brains. A brain the size of a pinhead that's using hardly any energy. And yet they're still able to navigate8 better than we can with GPS, which is a huge infrastructure9."

基于昆虫这种原理而建立的系统,有一天可能会成为GPS廉价且低能耗的替代品。“昆虫的大脑非常小。这种针头大小的大脑几乎不消耗任何能量。然而,它们的导航能力却能优于GPS这种巨型基础设施。”

Webb is now working on building a robot that can, like the desert ant, use light to get its bearings. Although after sundown, it may have to ask for directions.

韦伯目前正致力于研制像沙漠蚂蚁那样用光来确定方位的机器人。虽然太阳下山后,它可能就要问路了。

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 facets f954532ea6a2c241dcb9325762a2a145     
n.(宝石或首饰的)小平面( facet的名词复数 );(事物的)面;方面
参考例句:
  • The question had many facets. 这个问题是多方面的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • A fully cut brilliant diamond has 68 facets. 经过充分切刻的光彩夺目的钻石有68个小平面。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
3 sensor sz7we     
n.传感器,探测设备,感觉器(官)
参考例句:
  • The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
  • He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。
4 input X6lxm     
n.输入(物);投入;vt.把(数据等)输入计算机
参考例句:
  • I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
  • All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。
5 mimic PD2xc     
v.模仿,戏弄;n.模仿他人言行的人
参考例句:
  • A parrot can mimic a person's voice.鹦鹉能学人的声音。
  • He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another.他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。
6 celestial 4rUz8     
adj.天体的;天上的
参考例句:
  • The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
  • Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。
7 innate xbxzC     
adj.天生的,固有的,天赋的
参考例句:
  • You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
  • Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。
8 navigate 4Gyxu     
v.航行,飞行;导航,领航
参考例句:
  • He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
  • Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。
9 infrastructure UbBz5     
n.下部构造,下部组织,基础结构,基础设施
参考例句:
  • We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
  • We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设,发展各类群众文化。

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