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科学美国人60秒 SSS 二氧化碳浓度上升令帝王蝶不适

时间:2019-09-29 02:37:15

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(单词翻译)

This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Marissa Shieh.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是玛丽莎·谢赫。

One of the delights of summer is to see monarch1 butterflies dancing through the air. But it's becoming harder to see them in certain locales—in some places the population has dropped by as much as 90 percent. And climate change may make life even more challenging for these charismatic insects. That's because higher carbon dioxide levels can lower the amount of toxins2 in milkweed—the monarch caterpillar's food. The caterpillars3 use those toxins to protect themselves from a deadly parasite4 that produces spores5.

夏天的一大乐趣就是看着黑脉金斑蝶(俗称帝王蝶)在空中翩翩起舞。但是在某些地方,人们却越来越难以看到它们的身影,因为一些地方的帝王蝶数量已经减少了90%。而气候变化甚至会使这些魅力十足的昆虫的生活变得更加艰难。这是因为较高的二氧化碳水平会降低马利筋(俗名乳草)的毒素含量,马利筋是帝王蝶的食物。毛虫利用这些毒素来保护自己免受会产生孢子的致命寄生虫的伤害。

"When the caterpillars are really small...those spores get into the monarch's gut6 and they break apart and they start drilling holes in the gut lining7 and reproducing and just doing nasty parasite things that are bad for the monarchs8."

“当毛虫很小的时候,这些孢子就会进入帝王蝶的肠道,然后分裂并开始在肠道里钻洞、繁殖,做些令人厌恶的寄生虫会做的事情,而这对帝王蝶有害。

Leslie Decker, an ecologist at Stanford University. Decker and her colleagues raised hundreds of monarchs. They fed half of the caterpillars milkweed grown at current CO2 levels. The other half got milkweed grown at nearly double those CO2 levels.

斯坦福大学的生态学家莱斯利·德克尔说到。德克尔和同事养育了数百只帝王蝶。他们给其中一半的毛虫喂食了当前二氧化碳水平下的马利筋。另一半毛虫吃的则是在现有二氧化碳水平近两倍浓度的环境中生长的马利筋。

"What we found is that elevated CO2 changes the medicinal quality of the milkweed in a way that makes monarchs sicker. They're less able to tolerate their pathogen, so the parasite becomes more hurtful...to them. And it also reduces their overall lifespan when they're infected in comparison to uninfected monarchs."

“我们发现,高浓度的二氧化碳会在某种程度上改变马利筋的药用质量,这会使帝王蝶更不舒服。它们对病原体的耐受性会变差,继而会加大寄生虫对它们造成的伤害。与未受感染的帝王蝶相比,感染寄生虫的帝王蝶的整体寿命也会缩短。”

The caterpillars that ate milkweed grown with more carbon dioxide grew into butterflies that died as much as a week earlier than the normal life span.

食用二氧化碳浓度更高的马利筋的毛虫,在变成蝴蝶后,其寿命会比正常帝王蝶的寿命要短一周。

"As a human, you think, oh, well that's not that meaningful. But then as an insect, or as an insect that needs to reproduce within a week, it's pretty important." The study is in the journal Ecology Letters.

“作为人类,你可能会想,哦,那不算什么。但是作为昆虫,或者说作为需要在一周内繁殖的昆虫,这是相当重要的事情。”这项研究发表在《生态学快报》期刊上。

Decker say these findings are not just about butterflies and milkweed.

德克尔表示,这些发现不仅仅与蝴蝶和马利筋有关。

"Many of our medicines come from plants...and so what this study is highlighting to us, or at least creating a red flag for, is the fact that the medicinal contents in those plants could be changing under elevated CO2. They could be going up or down, but it could mean that we lose the medicinal efficacy, the protective ability of that green pharmacy9 around us."

“我们的许多药物都来自植物,因此这项研究向我们强调的,或者说至少向我们发出的危险信号是,这些植物中的药物成分可能会在二氧化碳浓度升高的情况下发生变化。它们可能会上升或下降,但这可能意味着,我们会失去药物功效,失去我们身边的绿色药房的保护能力。”

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Marissa Shieh.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是玛丽莎·谢赫。


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 monarch l6lzj     
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者
参考例句:
  • The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
  • I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。
2 toxins 18c3f40d432ba8dc33bad8fb82873ea8     
n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
  • Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 caterpillars 7673bc2d84c4c7cba4a0eaec866310f4     
n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 );履带
参考例句:
  • Caterpillars eat the young leaves of this plant. 毛毛虫吃这种植物的嫩叶。
  • Caterpillars change into butterflies or moths. 毛虫能变成蝴蝶或蛾子。 来自辞典例句
4 parasite U4lzN     
n.寄生虫;寄生菌;食客
参考例句:
  • The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
  • I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫,我要自己养活自己。
5 spores c0cc8819fa73268b5ec019dbe33b798c     
n.(细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物)孢子( spore的名词复数 )v.(细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物)孢子( spore的第三人称单数 )
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。
  • Spores form a lipid membrane during the process of reproducing. 孢于在生殖过程中形成类脂膜。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
6 gut MezzP     
n.[pl.]胆量;内脏;adj.本能的;vt.取出内脏
参考例句:
  • It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
  • My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。
7 lining kpgzTO     
n.衬里,衬料
参考例句:
  • The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
  • Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。
8 monarchs aa0c84cc147684fb2cc83dc453b67686     
君主,帝王( monarch的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Monarchs ruled England for centuries. 世袭君主统治英格兰有许多世纪。
  • Serving six monarchs of his native Great Britain, he has served all men's freedom and dignity. 他在大不列颠本国为六位君王服务,也为全人类的自由和尊严服务。 来自演讲部分
9 pharmacy h3hzT     
n.药房,药剂学,制药业,配药业,一批备用药品
参考例句:
  • She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
  • Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

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