科学美国人60秒:蟋蟀用工具来放大叫声
日期:2019-03-08 11:46

(单词翻译:单击)

F@iqb,|fROai4lm3ve(qfb5

听力文本

azVZ&J@xI%

This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Jason G. Goldman.
Not too long ago we thought that only humans could make and use tools. Then Jane Goodall watched a chimpanzee called David take a small twig, snap the leaves off, stick it into a termite mound, and lick the insects off the stick. Seems some animals also made and used tools.
That observation was in 1960. Since then the club of tool users has expanded to include a wide range of primates, birds, marine mammals, and others. And now: an insect. Maybe.
Tree crickets use sound to attract mates. And they also fashion and use "baffles"—sound controllers—made of leaves to produce sound more efficiently. It's a behavior that's been known since at least 1975, but nobody ever really tried to figure out out how and why the bugs use the baffles.
"The way that tree crickets sing is to raise their wings and vibrate their wings back and forth. This causes sound to come off each surface of the wing, the front face of the wing and the back face of the wing."
University of Toronto biologist Natasha Mhatre.
But sound waves coming off the front of the wings and the sound waves coming off the back of the wings are out of phase with each other. The two sounds interfere with each other, making the call quieter.

C&;@Xr_=udixJwl)M

蟋蟀.jpg
To make a baffle, the cricket carves a small hole in the center of a leaf and sticks its body halfway through. The baffle absorbs sound coming from the back of the wings, and therefore lets the sounds coming from the front sides to come through loud and clear.
"And this prevents what we call acoustic short-circuiting, and therefore they make more sound."
But do these structures count as tools?
Mhatre weighed the behavior against the most recent definition for tool use described in the scientific literature. And based upon the requirements of that definition, it would seem that tree crickets do indeed make and use tools. The findings are in the journal Ethology.
So what does this discovery mean for the link between tool use and animal smarts?
"I don't know if I want to say it exactly this way but it actually takes tool use down a notch. Because if you see tool use in an animal, you can't immediately say the animal is smart. Even if you see optimal tool use in the animal, you can't say, well that's a really clever animal. Because actually that could be an inherited behavior."
Thanks for the minute for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Jason G. Goldman.

-NHuomg*6Ov)n(

lQzMJv;XNum.QcL47

参考译文

KAD*Rr_mX@JL

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学igo1P(_~SUD_。我是杰森·古德曼3zD;IXaKx^U!Q
不久之前,我们还认为只有人类才能制造和使用工具IpC#IS9Io;B5PbI。可是之后,珍妮·古德尔观察到一只名叫大卫的黑猩猩拿起一根小树枝,揪掉上面的树叶,将树枝插进白蚁丘里,然后舔掉树枝上的昆虫BL,-IGRT76E!*bp。似乎有些动物也能制造和使用工具B!f.AnHYl,#[0s
这是在1960年观察到的情况K+wFC+dc1jR!7@。自那以后,制造和使用工具的动物不断增加,包括灵长类动物、鸟类、海洋哺乳动物等各个物种Bj(Rio-~4f。而现在,昆虫也加入到了这一行列中*7)fFA0_=M^0Y&svNz。也许是这样U]xJIQ(Dw_T
树蟋用声音来吸引配偶ZZ2=lB5dxQ,。它们还会制作并使用“控声板”,这是由树叶制成的声音控制器,可以更有效地发出声音v^)~yp-0gsTY,Hi。这种行为至少从1975年开始就为人所知,但从没有人真正试图去弄清树蟋如何以及为何会使用这种控声板z]HeRJa_1f6y&5
“树蟋的发声方式是抬起翅膀来回振动h)^,oa+yrl87jOoP5gdj。这使翅膀的各面——前面和后面——都会发出声音WtZXI%cu)8LY+K45DBv。”
多伦多大学的生物学家纳塔莎·马特尔说到JB,d~Ni|!B#D%Jhsut
但是翅膀前面和后面发出的声波彼此不协调jBp,u)2ysD#73l6g3。这两种声音会相互干扰,使树蟋叫声变小y.A)#-Usb4WF~=|7-
为了制作控声板,树蟋会在一片树间切一个小洞,然后将半个身体穿过小洞==ZozJuB^AS*0。控声板会吸收翅膀后面发出的声音,这使来自翅膀前面的声音更加响亮和清晰*J;QER,QVU
“这可以防止所谓的‘声短路',所以它们能发出更响亮的声音BQ8ILzDHe!|。”
但这些结构算工具吗?
马特尔将树蟋的行为与科学文献对工具使用的最新定义进行了比较cyJN7xWdkmb[~@(wDJ。基于最新定义的要求,看起来树蟋的确是在制造并使用工具=gQD!6;ojZk;_TH。这项研究结果发表在《动物行为学》期刊上Z-i+eE56l*+SrDg
那对于工具使用和动物智慧之间的联系,这项发现意味着什么?
“我不知道我是否真的想这么说,但这一发现实际上降低了工具的使用T&~B_YZbE10wT。因为,如果你看到一只动物在使用工具,你不能马上就说那个动物有智慧_zLat~Px^]lZKMi!)。即使你看到该动物对工具进行了最优使用,你也不能说它非常聪明NQtGv0R)0!m@yfi.qLZ|。因为实际上那可能是一种遗传行为L(kqy*JfXC#u&p~=;Q6Y。”
谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学(c97czR_vQDj]%RZt*C&。我是杰森·古德曼*S|NO+jTScH^lO;Ul

%h+x!ouE]Z!]v+D

译文为可可英语翻译,未经授权请勿转载!

1S1Bb*0D~vgI-!

Z.|c~lHldm

重点讲解

6S;I8;g8zs

I^V+2k(@nO!k!IFo%TL*

重点讲解:
1. back and forth 来回;往返;
I could see the branches of the trees moving back and forth.
我能看到树枝来回摇摆6_so#c|JG%2sB)2xCPr
2. out of phase with 不同步的(地);不协调的(地);
The Skills Programme is out of phase with the rest of the curriculum.
技能课程与其他课程不协调o.(&%0A@#WS(P2dze
3. interfere with 妨碍;冲突;抵触;
She never allows her personal feelings to interfere with her work.
她从不让她的个人感情妨碍工作,U=14w)5#rU
4. even if 即使;尽管;纵然;
I only take on work that excites me, even if it means turning down lots of money.
我只做那些令我感兴趣的工作,即使这意味着要少赚很多钱4.a_^=2mX^.

j%mq@Cyh^tZQ5TRoIz

UOw(4K,2l-2oq[dh&-~sjK2%y~4i3ug57tl_n3kGMmr13
分享到
重点单词
  • interferevi. 妨碍,冲突,干涉
  • producen. 产品,农作物 vt. 生产,提出,引起,分娩,制片
  • definitionn. 定义,阐释,清晰度
  • curriculumn. 课程,全部课程 curricula(复数) cur
  • observationn. 观察,观察力,评论 adj. 被设计用来观察的
  • efficientlyadv. 有效地
  • rangen. 范围,行列,射程,山脉,一系列 v. 排列,归类于
  • twign. 小枝,嫩枝 v. 理解,领悟
  • stickn. 枝,杆,手杖 vt. 插于,刺入,竖起 vi. 钉
  • smartadj. 聪明的,时髦的,漂亮的,敏捷的,轻快的,整洁的