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科学美国人60秒 SSS 蜜蜂可以做加减法呢

时间:2019-09-29 07:14:31

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(单词翻译)

Honeybees Can Put Two and Two Together

It takes a big brain—a human brain—to do math. Or so you might assume. But scientists have found that other animals, such chimpanzees, monkeys, and even pigeons can perform some addition and subtraction1. Now new research shows that honeybees—with brains the size of sesame seeds—can perform basic math.

做数学需要大脑——人类的大脑。或者你可以这样假设。但科学家们发现,其他动物,如黑猩猩、猴子,甚至鸽子,也能做一些加法和减法。现在新的研究表明,拥有芝麻大小大脑的蜜蜂可以进行基本的数学运算。

Researchers put honeybees through 100 trials to train them to add and subtract. They put the bees in a Y-shaped maze2 and presented them with a certain number of either yellow or blue shapes. Yellow indicated the bee should subtract, while blue meant they should add.

研究人员对蜜蜂进行了100次实验来训练它们做加法和减法。他们把蜜蜂放在一个y形迷宫中,给它们一些黄色或蓝色的形状。黄色表示蜜蜂应该做减法,而蓝色表示蜜蜂应该做加法。

The bee then entered the “decision chamber,” where it was presented with a correct answer on one side and an incorrect answer on the other side. If they picked the right answer they were rewarded with a sugary solution. If not, they got bitter tonic3 water. The researchers also put the bees through another test trial without a reward or punishment to make sure there weren’t any scent4 marks influencing the bees’ choices.

然后,蜜蜂进入“决策室”,在那里,它会看到一边是正确答案,另一边是错误答案。如果蜜蜂选对了答案,就会得到含糖溶液的奖励。如果没有,他们喝的是苦汤力水。研究人员还让蜜蜂进行了另一项没有奖励或惩罚的试验,以确保没有任何气味痕迹影响蜜蜂的选择。

At first the bees picked answers at random5. “You see that the ability of the bees to do it starts at about chance level, 50%, showing us the bees are just choosing randomly6. Over time, competence7 comes up to about 80%, so they actually start to perform quite well.”

起初,蜜蜂随机选择答案。“你可以看到蜜蜂的这种能力开始时大约是50%,这表明蜜蜂只是随机选择。随着时间的推移,他们的能力会提高到80%左右,所以它们实际上开始表现得相当不错。”

Scarlett Howard, one of the study authors and a postdoctoral research fellow in neurobiology and cognition at Paul Sabatier University in France. She says the bees were even able to add and subtract correctly when presented with a number they had never seen before. The study is in the journal Science Advances.

斯嘉丽·霍华德是这项研究的作者之一,也是法国保罗·萨巴蒂尔大学神经生物学和认知学的博士后研究员。她说,当蜜蜂看到一个他们从未见过的数字时,它们甚至能够正确地加减法。这项研究发表在《科学进展》杂志上。

“Things like this let us know there’s a lot of complexity8 there and their brains might not be as simplistic as we once thought.”

“以上事情让我们知道,复杂的事情很多,蜜蜂的大脑可能不像我们曾经认为的那样简单。”


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1 subtraction RsJwl     
n.减法,减去
参考例句:
  • We do addition and subtraction in arithmetic.在算术里,我们作加减运算。
  • They made a subtraction of 50 dollars from my salary.他们从我的薪水里扣除了五十美元。
2 maze F76ze     
n.迷宫,八阵图,混乱,迷惑
参考例句:
  • He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
  • She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时,她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。
3 tonic tnYwt     
n./adj.滋补品,补药,强身的,健体的
参考例句:
  • It will be marketed as a tonic for the elderly.这将作为老年人滋补品在市场上销售。
  • Sea air is Nature's best tonic for mind and body.海上的空气是大自然赋予的对人们身心的最佳补品。
4 scent WThzs     
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉
参考例句:
  • The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
  • The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。
5 random HT9xd     
adj.随机的;任意的;n.偶然的(或随便的)行动
参考例句:
  • The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
  • On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查,发现肉变质了。
6 randomly cktzBM     
adv.随便地,未加计划地
参考例句:
  • Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内,分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
  • Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句
7 competence NXGzV     
n.能力,胜任,称职
参考例句:
  • This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
  • These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。
8 complexity KO9z3     
n.复杂(性),复杂的事物
参考例句:
  • Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
  • The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

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