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DIYNMosquito_2018V-_蚊子嗡嗡叫的真相_
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(Mosquito buzzing) |
(蚊子嗡嗡叫声) |
Greg Gage : We've all heard the annoying sound of a mosquito , and we will stop at nothing to make it go away. |
格雷格 · 盖奇(Greg Gage): 我们都听过蚊子烦人的声音, 我们会不惜一切赶走它。 |
Gage:vt.以…为担保;以…为赌注;n.计量器;挑战;抵押品; annoying:adj.烦人的;使生气的;使烦恼的;v.使生气;打扰;骚扰;(annoy的现在分词) mosquito:n.蚊子
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While this sound may be maddening to us, perhaps it's music to a mosquito's ears. |
虽然这种声音可能会让我们抓狂, 但对蚊子来说,这可能是音乐。 |
maddening:adj.令人发狂的;使人恼火的;v.发狂(madden的现在分词);
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The mosquito's nervous system has almost as many sensory auditory cells as we do. |
蚊子的神经系统有着 与我们几乎同样多的听觉细胞。 |
nervous system:n.神经系统; sensory:adj.感觉的;知觉的;传递感觉的; auditory:n.听众;礼堂;adj.听觉的;耳朵的;
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But why would they have so many in such a small body, and why would they need to be so sensitive to sounds? |
但它们如此瘦小的身躯里 怎么会有如此多的听觉细胞? 为什么它们需要对声音如此敏感? |
sensitive:adj.敏感的;感觉的;易受影响的;n.敏感的人;有灵异能力的人;
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The answer is love. |
答案就是爱。 |
[DIY Neuroscience] |
【DIY神经科学】 |
(Music) |
(音乐) |
As humans, we do a lot to attract each other. |
作为人类,我们会 做很多事来互相吸引彼此。 |
Some things are conscious -- we put on makeup and make sure we smell nice. |
有些是有意识的—— 我们化妆, 并且确保自己闻起来不错。 |
conscious:adj.意识到的;故意的;神志清醒的; makeup:n.化妆品;组成;补充;补考;
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And some are unconscious . |
而有些是无意识的—— |
unconscious:adj.无意识的;失去知觉的;未发觉的;
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You may unconsciously point your body or even sit closer to someone you like. |
你的身体可能会不自觉地面向, 甚至会坐近你喜欢的人。 |
unconsciously:adv.不知不觉;无意识地;
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These are courtship behaviors, and a lot of animals have them. |
这就是很多动物共有的求偶行为。 |
courtship:n.求爱;求婚;求爱期;
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And mosquitoes are no different. |
蚊子也不例外。 |
mosquitoes:n.蚊子(mosquito的复数);
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So Haley's been spending her summer bravely listening to mosquitoes, and what she observed may surprise you. |
因此,海莉(Haley)整个夏天 都在勇敢地听着蚊子的叫声, 她的观察可能会让你大吃一惊。 |
bravely:adv.勇敢地;华丽地; observed:adj.观察的;观测的;v.观察;遵守;注意到(observe的过去分词形式);
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So we want to investigate how the mosquitoes make their song. |
我们想研究蚊子是如何发声的。 |
investigate:v.调查;研究;审查;
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So Haley, how do we record their wing beats? |
所以,海莉,我们该怎么 记录它们翅膀的振动? |
Haley Smith: We need to tether them. |
海莉 · 史密斯(Haley Smith): 我们需要把它们拴住。 |
tether:n.范围;系链;拴绳;vt.用绳或链拴住;
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First, we anesthetize them in a fridge or a bed of ice. |
首先,我们要麻痹蚊子, 把它们放进冰箱或是冰上, |
anesthetize:vt.使麻醉(anaesthetize);使麻痹;
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And then I transfer them to this petri dish of ice, just to get them even more anesthetized . |
然后把它们转移到冰培养皿中, 以便进一步麻醉它们。 |
transfer:n.转移;调任;调离;[体]转会球员;v.调任;调走;转学;转移; petri dish:n.培养皿(作细菌培养等用的有盖玻璃碟); anesthetized:vt.使麻醉(anaesthetize);使麻痹;
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Next, I take an insect pin , and what I do is put a tiny little dab of superglue on this pin. |
接下来,我拿一支昆虫针, 再在这根针上涂一点点强力胶。 |
pin:n.大头针;饰针;旗杆;胸针;v.别上;使不能动弹;按住;钳住; dab:n.轻拍;少量;熟手;比目鱼;v.轻拍;涂;轻擦;轻敷; superglue:n.超强力胶水;超效黏合剂;
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I want to make sure that I get it on his thorax above his wings so that when he is suspended , his wings are still free to move. |
我要确保涂在它翅膀上方的胸部, 这样,当它被吊起时, 它的翅膀仍然可以自由移动。 |
thorax:n.[解剖]胸,胸膛;胸腔; suspended:v.悬;挂;吊;暂停;中止;(suspend的过去式和过去分词)
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So here's one down. |
好了,搞定了一只。 |
It's really hard to catch male mosquitoes in the wild because females are the only mosquitoes that are attracted to humans. |
在野外很难捕捉到雄蚊, 因为只有雌蚊才会对人类感兴趣, |
They feed on human blood. |
它们吃人血。 |
And now, we can try to get some recordings from them. |
现在,我们可以尝试录下它们的声音。 |
So this is the stand that I use to hold them. |
这是我用来拴住它们的架子。 |
I like to place it right over the microphone so that I can get a recording of the buzzing that you hear. |
我喜欢把它放在麦克风的正上方, 这样我就能录下你听到的嗡嗡声。 |
microphone:n.麦克风;传声器;话筒; buzzing:v.发出嗡嗡声;发出蜂鸣声;充满兴奋(或活动等);(buzz的现在分词)
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That sound is generated by how fast they're beating their wings. |
这种声音是由它们 拍打翅膀的速度而产生的。 |
generated:v.产生;引起;(generate的过去式和过去分词)
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This is a male. |
这是一只雄蚊。 |
The males have very bushy antennae , and they look kind of feathery . |
雄性蚊有着浓密的看似羽毛的触须, |
bushy:浓密的 antennae:n.[电讯]天线(等于aerial);[昆]触须;[植]蕊喙;直觉; feathery:adj.柔软如羽毛的;生有羽毛的;
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And they are also much smaller. |
而且它们更加纤细。 |
GG: So he's flying at around 600 hertz . |
GG:所以它翅膀拍打 频率大约是 600 赫兹。 |
hertz:n.[物]赫兹(频率单位);
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Can we try a female mosquito? |
我们可以试试雌蚊吗? |
female:adj.女性的;雌性的;柔弱的,柔和的;n.女人;[动]雌性动物;
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HS: Sure, here we go. |
HS:当然,我们来看看。 |
(Mosquito buzzing, lower pitch) |
(蚊子嗡嗡叫声,低音) |
GG: Wow. |
GG:哇哦! |
HS: This is a much lower frequency than the male. |
HS:这比雄蚊的频率低得多。 |
frequency:n.频率;发生率;重复率;频繁;
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GG: Yeah, it sounds completely different. |
GG:是的,听起来完全不同。 |
(Mosquito buzzing) |
(雄蚊叫声) |
(Mosquito buzzing, lower pitch) |
(雌蚊叫声) |
So is it because they're two different mosquitoes, or because they're male and female? |
是因为它们是两种不同的蚊子, 还是因为它们 一个是雄性,一个是雌性? |
HS: It's because they're male and female. |
HS:这是因为它们的性别。 |
GG: Alright, let's verify that. |
GG:好吧,我们来验证一下。 |
verify:vt.核实;查证;
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Can you bring in another female and see if she sounds like mosquito A or mosquito B? |
你能再找一只雌蚊听听它的声音 像蚊子 A 还是蚊子 B 吗? |
HS: Yeah. |
HS:好。 |
(Mosquito buzzing, lower pitch) |
(蚊子嗡嗡叫声,低音) |
And again, she is much lower than the male. |
再次,它比雄蚊的音调低很多。 |
GG: Yeah, she sounds different. |
GG:没错,这只雌蚊听起来不一样。 |
(Mosquito buzzing, lower pitch) |
(蚊子嗡嗡叫声,低音) |
Yeah, she's spot-on 400. |
没错,她恰好是 400 赫兹。 |
spot-on:adj.准确的;恰好的;adv.准确地;恰好地;
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HS: She really is. GG: That's really bizarre . |
HS:真的。 GG:这真是太奇怪了。 |
bizarre:adj.奇异的(指态度,容貌,款式等);
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HS: The females are at a much lower pitch . They were around 400 hertz. |
HS:雌蚊的音调要低得多, 大约是 400 赫兹。 |
pitch:v.抛:用力扔:针对:触地:n.场地:程度:力度:推销的话:纵摇:
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HS: And all of the females were around that, too. |
而且所有的雌蚊都差不多 在这个数值上下浮动。 |
They were much larger than the males, so they didn't have to flap their wings as fast to stay in free flight. |
它们比雄蚊大得多, 所以它们不需要快速地 拍动翅膀来保持自由飞行。 |
flap:n.拍打,拍打声; v.拍动; (帽边等)垂下;
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GG: So they have larger wings, so they're flapping slower. |
GG:它们的翅膀较大, 所以它们拍动得比较慢。 |
flapping:n.拍动;摇摆运动;adj.摇摆运动的;挥动的;v.拍打,轻拍(flap的现在分词);
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And you noticed that all the females have the same frequency, roughly ? |
你注意到所有雌蚊的频率 是大致相同的吗? |
roughly:adv.粗糙地;概略地;
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And the males do, too. That's kind of interesting. |
雄蚊也是如此,真有趣。 |
So that must mean something. |
所以这当中一定存在某种意义。 |
Well, let's see what happens when we put the male and the female together. |
我们来看看把雄蚊 和雌蚊放在一起会怎样。 |
(Mosquitoes buzzing; pitch varies) |
(蚊子嗡嗡叫声,音调变化) |
HS: When I put them into the same hearing range, |
HS:当我把它们放在相同的听力范围, |
I noticed that they were kind of changing their tones . |
我注意到它们的音调在改变。 |
tones:n.声调;基本音色(tone的复数);v.调节音调(tone的第三人称单数);
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It was kind of more dull , almost. |
几乎更迟钝了。 |
dull:v.减轻; adj.枯燥无味的;
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(Mosquitoes buzzing) |
(蚊子嗡嗡叫声) |
And when I put it back in my spectrogram to see their interaction , they were meeting at the same tone. |
当我把它放回光谱图中 观察它们相互作用时, 它们最终达到了相同的音调。 |
spectrogram:n.光谱图;声谱图;光谱照片; interaction:n.[计]交互,相互作用;相互交流;干扰;
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GG: OK, pause. |
GG:好,暂停。 |
The males and females are singing a duet , meaning that they adjust their wings to be able to produce a common tone. |
雄蚊和雌蚊在二重唱, 意味着它们会调整翅膀拍打速度 以发出相同的音调。 |
duet:n.二重奏;二重唱; adjust:v.调整;调节;适应;习惯;
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You have the male singing up here at G, and you have the female singing down here at D, and when they get together , you're saying that they change the frequency of their wings such that they come together? |
雄蚊在唱 G 调, 雌蚊在唱比 G 低的 D 调, 当它们在一起时, 你是说它们会改变翅膀的频率, 这样它们就能变到一起? |
get together:聚会
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HS: Yeah, exactly. GG: And they sort of sing a duet. |
HS:是的,就是这样。 GG:它们有点像在二重唱。 |
(Mosquitoes gradually adjusting to identical pitch) |
(蚊子们慢慢调整至统一音调) |
gradually:adv.渐渐地;逐步地; adjusting:v.调整;调节;适应;习惯;(adjust的现在分词) identical:adj.同一的;完全相同的;n.完全相同的事物;
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HS: They're communicating to let each other know that they've basically found a potential mate . |
HS:它们通过交流让对方知道 它们已找到了潜在伴侣。 |
basically:adv.主要地,基本上; potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的; mate:n.助手,大副; v.使配对;
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GG: So in other words, the female tends to choose a male that best sings her duet. |
GG:所以换句话说, 雌蚊倾向于选择能和她唱 最佳二重唱的雄蚊。 |
And studies have found that if she's pregnant , she doesn't even bother . |
而且研究发现,若它怀孕了, 它甚至无需选择。 |
pregnant:adj.怀孕的;富有意义的; bother:v.烦扰,打扰;使…不安;操心,麻烦;n.麻烦;烦恼;
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So if we can understand the mosquito mating behavior, we may be able to disrupt it in the wild and prevent diseases like malaria . |
因此,若我们能够了解 蚊子的交配行为, 我们也许能够在野外破坏此行为 并预防疟疾等疾病。 |
mating:n.交尾;交配;v.交配;交尾;使交配;(mate的现在分词) disrupt:vt.破坏;使瓦解;使分裂;使中断;使陷于混乱;adj.分裂的,中断的;分散的; diseases:n.[医]病(disease的复数);[医]疾病;[植保]病害;疾病种类; malaria:n.[内科]疟疾;瘴气;
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But for now, the next time you hear a mosquito buzzing, just pause and remember she may be in love and she may be singing her song, looking for her perfect match. |
但目前来说, 当你下次听到蚊子嗡嗡叫的时候, 停下来,想想它可能在热恋中, 而且它可能在唱自己的歌 寻找着它的完美伴侣。 |
(Mosquito buzzing) |
(蚊子嗡嗡叫声) |
(Smack) |
(拍打) |