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科学美国人60秒 SSS 软件可以嗅出老鼠的吱吱声

时间:2019-09-30 01:43:46

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(单词翻译)

Software Sniffs1 Out Rat Squeaks2

Mice and rats vocalize. To us, many of the sounds they make are ultrasonic3—at too high a frequency to hear. But if we slow the calls down, they sound like squeaks. And not all squeaks are the same. The sounds that rodents5 make when they are excited versus6 disappointed can be quite different.

家鼠和大鼠发声。对我们来说,它们发出的许多声音都是超声波——频率太高而听不见。但是如果我们把声音放慢,它们听起来就像吱吱声。并不是所有的吱吱都是一样的。啮齿类动物兴奋和失望时发出的声音可能是完全不同的。

For example, here’s slowed-down audio of a rat drinking sugar water.

例如,这是一只老鼠喝糖水的慢放音频。

But this rat [different squeak] got played—it got non-sweetened water after becoming accustomed to sugar water.

但是这只老鼠(不同的吱吱声)玩了起来——它在习惯了糖水之后喝了不加糖的水。

“Calls around 22 kilohertz are usually associated with unhappy affect and calls around 55 kilohertz are happy affect.”

“大约22000赫兹的呼叫通常与不快乐的情绪有关,而大约55000赫兹的呼叫则是快乐的情绪。”

John Neumaier, a professor of psychiatry7 and pharmacology at the University of Washington.

John Neumaier,是华盛顿大学精神病学和药理学教授。

“So if you tickle8 a rat, it puts out a lot of 55 calls. If we give them a sucrose solution, then they put out a lot of calls at 55 kilohertz.”

所以,如果你给老鼠挠痒痒,它会发出55个声音。如果我们给它们蔗糖溶液,它们就会以55000赫兹的频率发出大量的叫声。”

Being able to interpret these different calls can help researchers understand the rodent4’s emotional state—which could affect the results of experiments on the animals.

能够解释这些不同的叫声可以帮助研究人员了解啮齿类动物的情绪状态,这可能会影响动物实验的结果。

Of course, listening to rodents in real time eats up resources. To code one hour of a recording9, “It takes 10 hours, you know, because you have to slow these recordings10 down in order to be able to listen to them.”

当然,实时聆听啮齿类动物的声音会消耗资源。一个小时的录音编码“需要10个小时,你知道,因为你必须放慢这些录音的速度,才能听到它们。”

To automate11 the process, Neumaier’s associates, Kevin Coffey and Russell Marx, used machine algorithms originally designed for self-driving cars to develop software that they call DeepSqueak. The program takes recordings of rodent squeaks and plots them by frequency and intensity12. By transforming the audio to a visual representation,"They were able to train the computer network to recognize what ultrasonic vocalization looks like and then to easily tell them apart from other kinds of noise."

为了实现这一过程的自动化,纽梅尔的同事凯文·科菲和拉塞尔·马克思使用了最初为自动驾驶汽车设计的机器算法来开发他们称之为DeepSqueak的软件。该项目记录啮齿动物吱吱的声音,并根据频率和强度绘制它们的分布图。通过把声音转换成视觉表现,“他们能够训练计算机网络识别超声波发声的样子,然后很容易地把它们与其他种类的噪音区分开来。”

The description of DeepSqueak is in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

DeepSqueak的描述发表在《神经精神药理学》杂志上。

The researchers have made the software available to any other scientists working with rodents who could use this kind of analysis.

研究人员已经将该软件提供给任何其他研究啮齿类动物的科学家,他们可以使用这种分析方法。

"In my mind it will democratize this kind of research so that people can afford to do it, because it's been a huge barrier."

“在我看来,这将使这类研究民主化,让人们能够负担得起,因为这是一个巨大的障碍。”


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 sniffs 1dc17368bdc7c210dcdfcacf069b2513     
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的第三人称单数 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • When a dog smells food, he usually sniffs. 狗闻到食物时常吸鼻子。 来自辞典例句
  • I-It's a difficult time [ Sniffs ] with my husband. 最近[哭泣]和我丈夫出了点问题。 来自电影对白
2 squeaks c0a1b34e42c672513071d8eeca8c1186     
n.短促的尖叫声,吱吱声( squeak的名词复数 )v.短促地尖叫( squeak的第三人称单数 );吱吱叫;告密;充当告密者
参考例句:
  • The upper-middle-classes communicate with each other in inaudible squeaks, like bats. 那些上中层社会的人交谈起来象是蚊子在哼哼,你根本听不见。 来自辞典例句
  • She always squeaks out her ideas when she is excited. 她一激动总是尖声说出自己的想法。 来自互联网
3 ultrasonic VlHwf     
adj.超声的;n.超声波
参考例句:
  • It was very necessary for people to take type-B ultrasonic inspection regularly.定期进行B超检查是十分必要的。
  • Sounds are classified into two kinds: sonic and ultrasonic.声波分为两类,即普通声波与超声波。
4 rodent DsNyh     
n.啮齿动物;adj.啮齿目的
参考例句:
  • When there is a full moon,this nocturnal rodent is careful to stay in its burrow.月圆之夜,这种夜间活动的啮齿类动物会小心地呆在地洞里不出来。
  • This small rodent can scoop out a long,narrow tunnel in a very short time.这种小啮齿动物能在很短的时间里挖出一条又长又窄的地道来。
5 rodents 1ff5f0f12f2930e77fb620b1471a2124     
n.啮齿目动物( rodent的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Rodents carry diseases and are generally regarded as pests. 啮齿目动物传播疾病,常被当作害虫对待。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Some wild rodents in Africa also harbor the virus. 在非洲,有些野生啮齿动物也是储毒者。 来自辞典例句
6 versus wi7wU     
prep.以…为对手,对;与…相比之下
参考例句:
  • The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
  • The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。
7 psychiatry g0Jze     
n.精神病学,精神病疗法
参考例句:
  • The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
  • A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。
8 tickle 2Jkzz     
v.搔痒,胳肢;使高兴;发痒;n.搔痒,发痒
参考例句:
  • Wilson was feeling restless. There was a tickle in his throat.威尔逊只觉得心神不定。嗓子眼里有些发痒。
  • I am tickle pink at the news.听到这消息我高兴得要命。
9 recording UktzJj     
n.录音,记录
参考例句:
  • How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间?
  • I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
10 recordings 22f9946cd05973582e73e4e3c0239bb7     
n.记录( recording的名词复数 );录音;录像;唱片
参考例句:
  • a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
  • old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐
11 automate oPLyy     
v.自动化;使自动化
参考例句:
  • Many banks have begun to automate.许多银行已开始采用自动化技术。
  • To automate the control process of the lathes has become very easy today.使机床的控制过程自动化现已变得很容易了。
12 intensity 45Ixd     
n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度
参考例句:
  • I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
  • The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

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