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科学美国人60秒 SSS Windows Vex Bats' Echolocating Abilities

时间:2017-10-11 05:44:52

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(单词翻译)

Windows Vex1 Bats' Echolocating Abilities

干扰蝙蝠回声定位的烦人窗

Just as humans understand the shape of our surroundings by how light reflects off objects, bats use reflections of sounds they produce instead—what’s called echolocation. But despite their excellent sensing abilities, one type of obstacle vexes2 the animals: smooth vertical3 surfaces, like windows. Because windows reflect almost all the bats’ calls away from bats at an angle—creating the illusion of empty space.

正如人类会通过光对物体的反射来了解周围的环境状况一样,蝙蝠也会利用回声波来进行回声定位。不过,虽然它们拥有极强的感知能力,但有一种障碍物却令它们非常无奈,那就是光滑的垂直面,比如窗户。因为在某一角度上窗户会反射开几乎所有蝙蝠的声音,从而创造出一种真空区的错觉。

"To better understand it you can actually use a visual analogy." Stefan Greif, a sensory4 ecologist at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology5. Imagine standing6 in a dark room, he says, beside a mirror. "If then if you take a flashlight in your hand and shine it on the side onto this mirror, you would see that all the light is reflected away. You'd see it on the other side of the wall. So even visually this would look to you like there's a hole in the wall. There's nothing coming back from this place."

“你可以利用视觉类比来更好地理解这种现象。”马克斯·普朗克鸟类研究所的感官生态学家斯特凡?格雷夫说道。他说,你可以想象自己在一个黑暗的房间里,站在一面镜子的旁边。“然后,如果你拿起手电筒照在镜子上,你就会看到所有的光都被反射出去了。你会看到光打到了墙的另一边。所以即使从视觉角度看,你也会觉得墙上有个洞。这里不会反射任何东西。”

Light wouldn't come back to you unless you aimed the flashlight more or less perpendicular7 to the mirror—and same for bats and their calls. This perceptual glitch8 meant that in lab tests 90 percent of bats banged into a smooth vertical surface. (And by the way, the researchers say that none were hurt.) But here's the interesting bit: bats never smashed into a smooth horizontal surface.

除非你或多或少调整手电筒光的方向使其垂直于镜子。这就跟蝙蝠和它们的叫声一样。这种感知故障意味着,在实验室测试中90%的蝙蝠会撞到光滑的垂直表面。(特别说明,研究人员表示试验中没有蝙蝠受伤。) 但有趣的是:蝙蝠从来不会撞到光滑的水平面。

Greif says that's because plenty of horizontal planes exist in nature, like lakes and ponds. And even though a lake reflects calls away from the bat, bats have evolved to perceive the absence of sound reflections from horizontal surfaces as water. In fact previous studies have shown that bats will actually dip down for a drink from smooth horizontal surfaces—whether they're water-filled or not. The study is in the journal Science.

格雷夫表示,这是因为自然界中存在大量的水平面,比如湖泊和池塘。即使湖泊会反射开蝙蝠的叫声,蝙蝠的进化程度也已经达到能够感知水平水面的回声了。事实上,之前的研究已经表明,蝙蝠还会啄一下光滑的水平表面——不管其是否是水面。这项研究发表在《科学》杂志上。

So what are conservationists to do? "Obviously we have to be realistic, right? We can't start making all our windows rough and textured9." But if we build near crucial bat habitats, we could install acoustic10 deterrents11 to drive the flying mammals away from buildings. "And certainly you could start looking at architectural possibilities, if you don't make a smooth surface smooth all the way but make ridges12 inside, like a mosaic13." And perhaps bat-friendly architecture would result in new designs…pleasing to human perception, too.

那么,自然资源保护主义者应该做些什么呢?“很明显,我们必须要实事求是,对吧?我们不可能要求所有的窗户都变成粗糙且有纹路的状态。”不过,我们可以在主要的蝙蝠栖息地做建设时,安装上声障来驱赶这些蝙蝠使其远离建筑物。“当然,我们也可以从建筑学上着手。比如建筑表面不做成全光滑的,而是像马赛克一样内部做出脊状形态。”也许“亲蝙蝠”设计会体现在新型建筑设计上……同时还满足人类的感知需求。


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 vex TLVze     
vt.使烦恼,使苦恼
参考例句:
  • Everything about her vexed him.有关她的一切都令他困惑。
  • It vexed me to think of others gossiping behind my back.一想到别人在背后说我闲话,我就很恼火。
2 vexes 4f0f7f99f8f452d30f9a07df682cc9e2     
v.使烦恼( vex的第三人称单数 );使苦恼;使生气;详细讨论
参考例句:
  • Her continuous chatter vexes me. 她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • His continuous chatter vexes me. 他唠叨不休,真烦死我了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
3 vertical ZiywU     
adj.垂直的,顶点的,纵向的;n.垂直物,垂直的位置
参考例句:
  • The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
  • Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。
4 sensory Azlwe     
adj.知觉的,感觉的,知觉器官的
参考例句:
  • Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
  • The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。
5 ornithology HJCxh     
n.鸟类学
参考例句:
  • He found his vocation in ornithology.他发现自己适于专攻鸟类学。
  • His main interests are botany and ornithology.他主要对植物学和鸟类学感兴趣。
6 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
7 perpendicular GApy0     
adj.垂直的,直立的;n.垂直线,垂直的位置
参考例句:
  • The two lines of bones are set perpendicular to one another.这两排骨头相互垂直。
  • The wall is out of the perpendicular.这墙有些倾斜。
8 glitch Pejzq     
n.干扰;误操作,小故障
参考例句:
  • There is a glitch in the computer program somewhere.这个计算机程序中的某个部分有点小问题。
  • It could just be a random glitch that can be solved by restarting the machine.可能只是一个小故障,重新启动主机就能解决了。
9 textured jgRz7L     
adj.手摸时有感觉的, 有织纹的
参考例句:
  • The shoe's sole had a slightly textured surface. 鞋底表面稍感粗糙。
  • Shallow burial seems to preserve chalky textured porosity. 浅埋藏似能保留具白垩状结构的孔隙。
10 acoustic KJ7y8     
adj.听觉的,声音的;(乐器)原声的
参考例句:
  • The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
  • Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。
11 deterrents 7fd4769090c2c4c06dabffcf0eaea9b1     
制止物( deterrent的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Whereas attractants, repellents, and many incitants are olfactory substances, stimulants, and deterrents are usually gustatory. 引诱剂,排斥剂还是其他的兴奋剂都是嗅觉物质,但刺激剂和阻抑剂常常是味觉物质。
  • A lack of empathy for and knowledge of foreign business practices are deterrents to one's success. 投入不够以及对对外商业惯例知识的不足会对一个人成功造成很大的威胁。
12 ridges 9198b24606843d31204907681f48436b     
n.脊( ridge的名词复数 );山脊;脊状突起;大气层的)高压脊
参考例句:
  • The path winds along mountain ridges. 峰回路转。
  • Perhaps that was the deepest truth in Ridges's nature. 在里奇斯的思想上,这大概可以算是天经地义第一条了。
13 mosaic CEExS     
n./adj.镶嵌细工的,镶嵌工艺品的,嵌花式的
参考例句:
  • The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
  • The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

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