科学美国人60秒 可以捕捉苍蝇的植物

（单词翻译）

This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Karen Hopkin.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是凯伦·霍普金。

They say you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

据说，用蜂蜜能比用醋捉到更多苍蝇。

But what if you had access to a remote-controlled carnivorous plant?

但如果你能获得一株远程遥控的食肉植物呢？

Because researchers have engineered a bio-inspired system, an artificial neuron, if you will, that can trigger the snap of a Venus fly trap.

研究人员设计了一种仿生系统，或者称为一个人工神经元，如果你愿意的话，这可以触发捕蝇草的突然闭合。

Hi, my name is Simone Fabiano. I'm associate professor at Linkoping University in Sweden.

你好，我是西蒙·法比亚诺。我是瑞典林科平大学的副教授。

Fabiano designed the trap-springing device using nerve cells as a kind of bio-based blueprint¹.

法比亚诺以神经细胞为生物蓝图设计了一个诱捕弹性装置。

The way our biological neurons work is that they integrate information from different inputs³ over time, perform computation, and communicate the result to other neurons by means of voltage pulses.

生物神经元的工作方式是，随着时间的推移，它们会整合不同的输入信息，执行计算，并通过电压脉冲将结果传达给其他神经元。

Now, standard, silicon-based systems can also deliver electrical pulses.

现在，标准的硅基系统也可以传输电脉冲。

But if you want to couple them with something living to produce bionic prosthetics or engineer any kind of brain/machine interface⁴.

但如果你想把它们与活的生物结合起来，生产仿生假肢或设计任何类型的大脑/机器接口。

Well, they suffer from several limitations.

嗯，他们受到了几个限制。

Such as rigidity⁵, poor biocompatibility, complex circuit structures, and operation mechanisms⁶ that are fundamentally different from those of biological systems.

比如硬度太高、生物相容性差、电路结构复杂、运行机制与生物系统也有根本上的不同。

To smooth biological integration⁷, Fabiano built his system from polymers that conduct both electrons, like, everyday electronics, and ions, which is how neurons get things done.

为了顺利地进行生物整合，法比亚诺用高分子建造了系统，这种高分子既能传导电子，也能传导日常电子和离子，而离子是神经元完成任务的方式。

It’s the ions that enable communication between biological and artificial neurons.

正是这种离子使生物神经元和人造神经元之间能够进行交流。

Each part of the artificial neuron, which the researchers describe in the journal Nature, has a direct counterpart in its biological role model.

研究人员在《自然》杂志上描述:人工神经元的每个部分，在其生物角色模型中都有一个直接的对应部分。

We have an input² terminal that acts as the biological neuron’s dendrite.

有一个输入端，可以充当生物神经元的树突。

That dendrite collects the incoming electrical signals and sends them to a capacitor which, like a neuronal cell body, integrates the information.

这个树突收集传入的电信号，并将它们发送到电容器，电容器就像神经元细胞体一样，整合信息。

Then, once the voltage reaches a specific threshold, a pulse is fired along organic amplifiers that mimic⁸ a nerve cell axon.

一旦电压达到特定的阈值，就会沿着模仿神经细胞轴突的有机放大器发射脉冲。

We use the ionic concentration-dependent switching characteristics of our transistors⁹ to modulate¹⁰ the frequency of spiking¹¹, which is to a large extent analogous¹² to biological systems.

我们使用晶体管离子浓度依赖转换的特性来调节猛增频率，这在很大程度上类似于生物系统。

So the ions control the current that flows from the faux neuron to its target, in this case, a live Venus flytrap, triggering the rapid-fire closure of its leafy appendages¹³.

离子控制着自人造神经元流向其目标的电流，在这种情况下，一个鲜活的捕蝇草会触发其枝叶急速闭合。

All in all, a dramatic demonstration¹⁴ of the potential of neuromorphic design that should give interested engineers, and interloping fruit flies, something to watch out for.

总而言之，对引人注目的神经形态设计电位的展示，会给感兴趣的工程师和闯入他人领地的果蝇提个醒。

For Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Karen Hopkin.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。