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DeborahGordon_2014-_蚂蚁在脑科学、癌症和互联网领域带给我们的启发_
I study ants in the desert, in the tropical forest and in my kitchen, and in the hills around Silicon Valley where I live. 我研究各种蚂蚁 沙漠中的、热带雨林里的、 我厨房里的蚂蚁, 以及我硅谷的家周边山上的蚂蚁。
tropical:adj.热带的;热情的;酷热的; Silicon Valley:n.硅谷(美国加利福尼亚州一处计算机和电子公司聚集地,有时用以指任何计算机公司聚集地);
I've recently realized that ants are using interactions differently in different environments, and that got me thinking that we could learn from this about other systems, like brains and data networks that we engineer, and even cancer . 最近我注意到 蚂蚁在不同的环境下 交互方式也是不同的, 这让我想到或许我们能从中学到些什么 用到其它系统上。 例如大脑结构或者我们的数据网络 甚至是癌症。
recently:adv.最近;新近; interactions:n.[计]交互,相互作用;相互交流;干扰;(interaction复数) cancer:n.癌症;恶性肿瘤;
So what all these systems have in common is that there's no central control. 这些系统的共同点在于 没有一个中央控制结构。
An ant colony consists of sterile female workers -- those are the ants you see walking around — and then one or more reproductive females who just lay the eggs. 蚁群的工蚁由不育的雌性构成— 工蚁就是你能看到的蚂蚁— 而能够生育的雌性蚂蚁（蚁后） 只负责产卵。
colony:n.殖民地;移民队; consists:v.由…构成;由…组成(consist的三单形式); sterile:adj.不育的;无菌的;贫瘠的;不毛的;枯燥乏味的; female:adj.女性的;雌性的;柔弱的,柔和的;n.女人;[动]雌性动物; reproductive:adj.生殖的;再生的;复制的;
They don't give any instructions. 蚁后不会发号指令。
Even though they're called queens, they don't tell anybody what to do. 虽然它们叫做蚁后, 但是它们不会指挥其它工蚁。
So in an ant colony, there's no one in charge, and all systems like this without central control are regulated using very simple interactions. 所以任何蚁群都没有一个最高负责人, 所有这些系统都是没有中央控制的, 仅仅通过简单的交互方式进行运作.
regulated:v.约束,控制,管理;(regulate的过去式和过去分词)
Ants interact using smell. 蚂蚁的交互是通过嗅觉进行的.
They smell with their antennae , and they interact with their antennae , so when one ant touches another with its antennae , it can tell, for example, if the other ant is a nestmate and what task that other ant has been doing. 它们用触角（antennae）去嗅. 用触角来交流。 所以当一只蚂蚁的触角碰到另一只蚂蚁的触角 它就知道另一个蚂蚁 是不是同一个巢穴的 以及这只蚂蚁正要做什么事情.
antennae:n.[电讯]天线(等于aerial);[昆]触须;[植]蕊喙;直觉;
So here you see a lot of ants moving around and interacting in a lab arena that's connected by tubes to two other arenas . 现在你看到的这个蚂蚁的活动场所 通过玻璃管子跟另外两个场所连接着 蚂蚁在这些活动场所里走来走去.
interacting:v.交流;沟通;合作;相互影响;(interact的现在分词) arenas:n.竞技场(arena的复数形式);角斗场;
So when one ant meets another, it doesn't matter which ant it meets, and they're actually not transmitting any kind of complicated signal or message. 当一只蚂蚁遇到了另外一支蚂蚁, 遇见的是哪只蚂蚁并不重要, 它们也没通过触角传递 任何复杂的信号或消息.
transmitting:v.传送;输送;发射;传播;传染;(transmit的现在分词) complicated:adj.复杂的;难懂的;v.使复杂化;(complicate的过去分词和过去式)
All that matters to the ant is the rate at which it meets other ants. 唯一传递的是两只蚂蚁 相互遇见的频率.
And all of these interactions, taken together, produce a network. 这些交互信息汇总起来后, 我们就得到了一个网络.
So this is the network of the ants that you just saw moving around in the arena, and it's this constantly shifting network that produces the behavior of the colony, 这就是刚才你看到的蚂蚁 四处移动之后生成的网络图, 正是这张不断变化中的网络, 塑造了这个蚁群的行为,
constantly:adv.不断地;时常地; shifting:adj.不断移动的;流动的;v.转移;赶快;快速移动;变换;(shift的现在分词)
like whether all the ants are hiding inside the nest, or how many are going out to forage . 像是有多少蚂蚁躲在巢穴里, 多少蚂蚁出去寻食之类的信息.
forage:n.饲料;草料;搜索;vi.搜寻粮草;搜寻;
A brain actually works in the same way, but what's great about ants is that you can see the whole network as it happens. 大脑差不多也是这么工作的, 相比起来观察蚂蚁吸引人的地方之一, 是你可以看到整个网路是如何运作的.
There are more than 12,000 species of ants, in every conceivable environment, and they're using interactions differently to meet different environmental challenges. 蚂蚁的种类超过一万两千种, 你能想象到的环境里都有蚂蚁存在, 而且不同环境下的蚁群会使用 不同的交流方式以适应环境特点.
species:n.[生物]物种;种类; conceivable:adj.可能的;想得到的,可想像的;
So one important environmental challenge that every system has to deal with is operating costs, just what it takes to run the system. 例如不同环境下不同蚁群 普遍面临的问题之一 是如何控制运营开支, 即需要花多大成本 才能生存下来.
And another environmental challenge is resources , finding them and collecting them. 另一个环境带来的挑战是, 如何去搜寻和收集资源.
resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数);
In the desert, operating costs are high because water is scarce , and the seed-eating ants that I study in the desert have to spend water to get water. 在沙漠中, 水非常的稀少, 所以运营开支很大, 我研究的一种生活在沙漠中以植物种子为食的蚂蚁 寻找水源的同时需要消耗水.
scarce:adv.勉强;刚;几乎不;简直不;adj.缺乏的;不足的;稀少的;
So an ant outside foraging , searching for seeds in the hot sun, just loses water into the air. 所以当一只蚂蚁外出觅食的时候, 在火辣辣的太阳底下找种子的时候, 它体内的水分会被蒸发.
foraging:n.觅食(forage的ing形式);觅食力;
But the colony gets its water by metabolizing the fats out of the seeds that they eat. 而蚁群 可以通过消化种子富含的脂肪 产生需要的水.
metabolizing:vt.使新陈代谢;使变形;vi.新陈代谢;
So in this environment, interactions are used to activate foraging. 所以在这种环境下, 蚂蚁之间的交互 主要用来决定是否外出觅食.
activate:vt.刺激;使活动;使活泼;使产生放射性;vi.激活;有活力;
An o utgoin g forager doesn't go out unless it gets enough interactions with returning foragers , and what you see are the returning foragers going into the tunnel, into the nest, and meeting o utgoin g foragers on their way out. 一个准备外出的觅食者不会轻易外出, 除非得到了足够的归巢的觅食者的反馈, 你现在看到的是回来的觅食者, 在通过蚁巢的管道进入蚁穴时, 跟沿路准备外外出的蚂蚁进行交流.
foragers:n.抢劫者;强征队员;
This makes sense for the ant colony, because the more food there is out there, the more quickly the foragers find it, the faster they come back, and the more foragers they send out. 这对蚁群来说很重要, 因为外面的食物越多, 觅食的蚂蚁找到食物的速度越快, 它们回来的就更快, 那么就会有更多的蚂蚁出去觅食.
The system works to stay stopped, unless something positive happens. 这个系统默认的行为是按兵不动, 除非看到了足够的好处.
positive:adj.积极的;[数]正的,[医][化学]阳性的;确定的;n.正数;[摄]正片;
So interactions function to activate foragers. 所以在这里交互是为了决定是否出去觅食.
And we've been studying the evolution of this system. 我们已经研究这种系统演化有一段时间了.
evolution:n.演变;进化;发展;渐进;
First of all , there's variation . 首先, 这种演化各不相同.
First of all:adv.首先; variation:n.变异;变体;变奏;变种;
It turns out that colonies are different. 不同的蚁群的行为是不一样的.
On dry days, some colonies forage less, so colonies are different in how they manage this trade-off between spending water to search for seeds and getting water back in the form of seeds. 在旱季, 有些蚁群觅食的少, 不同蚁群之间的差异 就体现在它们如何做权衡 如何在消耗更多水分去寻找食物 以及获得更多食物和水之间权衡
trade-off:n.交换,交易;权衡;协定;
And we're trying to understand why some colonies forage less than others by thinking about ants as neurons, using models from neuroscience . 我们尝试将蚁群 类比成神经细胞组织 基于脑神经科学的相关理论 来理解蚁群觅食行为的差异。
neuroscience:n.神经系统科学(指神经病学,神经化学等);
So just as a neuron adds up its stimulation from other neurons to decide whether to fire, an ant adds up its stimulation from other ants to decide whether to forage. 所以就像是一个神经元是否触发, 取决于相连的神经元触发强度之和, 蚂蚁的行为也由其它蚂蚁决定, 是否要出去觅食。
neuron:n.[解剖]神经元,神经单位; stimulation:n.刺激;激励,鼓舞;
And what we're looking for is whether there might be small differences among colonies in how many interactions each ant needs before it's willing to go out and forage, because a colony like that would forage less. 于是我们就希望能够找到 觅食行为存在差异的蚁群之间 是否蚂蚁在觅食前交互的其它蚂蚁数量 也是存在对应差异的。 因为像那样的蚁群会更少外出觅食。
And this raises an analogous question about brains. 这个问题也可以用大脑来进行类比。
analogous:adj.类似的;[昆]同功的;可比拟的;
We talk about the brain, but of course every brain is slightly different, and maybe there are some individuals or some conditions in which the electrical properties of neurons are such that they require more stimulus to fire, and that would lead to differences in brain function. 我们提到的大脑 当然也是每个大脑都有些许不同的 肯定有一些个体 在某些环境下 他们的神经元的电特性决定了 需要接受更多的刺激才会激发。 而这会导致脑的功能差异。
slightly:adv.些微地,轻微地;纤细地; individuals:n.[经]个人;[生物]个体(individual的复数); electrical:adj.有关电的;电气科学的; stimulus:n.刺激;激励;刺激物;
So in order to ask evolutionary questions, we need to know about reproductive success. 而为了解答之前系统演化的问题, 我们首先需要研究下后代繁殖率。
evolutionary:adj.进化的;发展的;渐进的;
This is a map of the study site where I have been tracking this population of harvester ant colonies for 28 years, which is about as long as a colony lives. 这张图显示的是我的研究站附近的蚁群图 我在这个地方研究收获蚂蚁（一种西方蚁） 种群演化已经超过28年了。 这大概也是一个种群能够延续的时间。
site:n.地点;位置;场所;v.设置;为…选址; tracking:n.追踪,跟踪;v.跟踪;(track的现在分词) harvester:n.收割机;收获者; as long as:conj.只要;长达;如果;既然;
Each symbol is a colony, and the size of the symbol is how many offspring it had, because we were able to use genetic variation to match up parent and offspring colonies, that is, to figure out which colonies were founded by a daughter queen produced by which parent colony. 每一个圆圈都表示一个种群, 圆圈的大小表示后代的规模, 我们可以通过基因变化分析(genetic variation) 来确认种群之间的父子关系, 也就是能够确认每个蚁群 里面的蚁后来自于 哪个父代蚁群。
symbol:n.象征;符号;标志; offspring:n.后代,子孙;产物; genetic:adj.基因的;遗传学的;
And this was amazing for me, after all these years, to find out, for example, that colony 154, whom I've known well for many years, is a great-grandmother . 研究这么多年之后我有了一些 迷人的发现,例如,154号种群, 我研究很多年的这个, 算是祖母级别的。
great-grandmother:n.曾祖母;外曾祖母;
Here's her daughter colony, here's her granddaughter colony, and these are her great-granddaughter colonies. 这是她的女儿种群, 这是她的孙女种群, 这是重孙女种群。
great-granddaughter:曾孙女;
And by doing this, I was able to learn that offspring colonies resemble parent colonies in their decisions about which days are so hot that they don't forage, and the offspring of parent colonies 分析这些种群使我能够 发现后代种群（的多少）体现了 父代种群在炎热天气下 觅食的策略差异, 而且考虑到父代种群
resemble:v.看起来像;显得像;像;
live so far from each other that the ants never meet, so the ants of the offspring colony can't be learning this from the parent colony. 与后代种群之间距离很远,不可能遇见, 所以后代种群中的蚂蚁 不会从父代种群那里学习到什么。
And so our next step is to look for the genetic variation underlying this resemblance . 于是第二步就是看看 这种相似性的基因学变异根源。
underlying:adj.根本的; v.构成…的基础; (underlie的现在分词) resemblance:n.相似;相似之处;相似物;肖像;
So then I was able to ask, okay, who's doing better? 然后我就可以提出这个问题:哪群蚂蚁的策略更好？
Over the time of the study, and especially in the past 10 years, there's been a very severe and deepening drought in the Southwestern U.S., and it turns out that the colonies that conserve water, that stay in when it's really hot outside, 在研究进行中的那些年里, 尤其是最近的十年, 实验所在的美国西南部 经历了非常严重和持久的干旱, 结果是那些更注重保持水分的蚁群, 那些大热天不出门的蚁群,
especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分; severe:adj.极为恶劣的;十分严重的;严厉的;苛刻的; deepening:n.加深,延深;向下侵蚀;v.使深化;加深(deepen的现在分词); drought:n.干旱;缺乏; conserve:vt.保存;将…做成蜜饯;使守恒;n.果酱;蜜饯;
and thus sacrifice getting as much food as possible, are the ones more likely to have offspring colonies. 也就是那些失去了更多觅食机会的蚁群, 反而是更有可能有后代蚁群的。
sacrifice:n.牺牲;舍弃;祭献;祭祀;祭品;v.牺牲;献出;作祭献
So all this time, I thought that colony 154 was a loser, because on really dry days, there'd be just this trickle of foraging, while the other colonies were out foraging, getting lots of food, but in fact, colony 154 is a huge success. 我曾经一度认为154号种群 是进化的失败者, 因为在旱季, 它们很少出去觅食, 反之其它的种群 会出去寻找更多的食物, 但是结果是,154号种群非常的成功。
trickle:v.(使)滴,淌,小股流淌;(使)慢慢走;n.细流;涓流;
She's a matriarch . 她是事实上的统领。
matriarch:n.女家长;女统治者;女负责人;受人尊敬的妇女;
She's one of the rare great-grandmothers on the site. 她是这个研究点非常少见的有重孙后代的蚁群
To my knowledge , this is the first time that we've been able to track the ongoing evolution of collective behavior in a natural population of animals and find out what's actually working best. 就我所知,这还是第一次 我们人类能够追踪到 自然界中野生生物群体的 集体行为进化 以及找到最适合环境的生存方式.
To my knowledge:据我所知; ongoing:n.发展; adj.持续存在的; collective:adj.集体的;共同的;集合的;集体主义的;n.集团;集合体;集合名词;
Now, the Internet uses an algorithm to regulate the flow of data that's very similar to the one that the harvester ants are using to regulate the flow of foragers. 现在, 互联网使用的算法 用来分配数据流动的算法 与这些蚂蚁使用的算法 即如何安排工蚁外出觅食的算法 非常相似.
And guess what we call this analogy ? 你们猜我们如何称呼这种相似性?
analogy:n.类比;类推;类似;
The anternet is coming. 蚁群互联网(Anternet)的到来.
(Applause) (掌声)
So data doesn't leave the source computer unless it gets a signal that there's enough bandwidth for it to travel on. 所以发送数据的电脑 在得到信号确认带宽足够之前 不会将数据发送出去.
bandwidth:n.[电子][物]带宽;[通信]频带宽度;
In the early days of the Internet, when operating costs were really high and it was really important not to lose any data, then the system was set up for interactions to activate the flow of data. 在互联网的早期, 发送和接收数据的成本非常高, 所以任何形式的数据丢失都是不可以接受的, 所以网络系统被设计利用相互之间的交互 来决定何时发送数据.
early days:初期;为时尚早;前期;
It's interesting that the ants are using an algorithm that's so similar to the one that we recently invented, but this is only one of a handful of ant algorithms that we know about, and ants have had 130 million years to evolve a lot of good ones, and I think it's very likely that some of the other 12,000 species are going to have interesting algorithms for data networks that we haven't even thought of yet. 发现蚂蚁跟我们人类最近才发明的算法 有这么大的相似性是很叫人惊喜的, 而且现在我们只发现了蚂蚁使用的算法中 一小部分的算法, 蚂蚁已经有了1.3亿年的历史 已经演化出很多好的算法, 因此我相信有可能 另外尚未研究的1.2万蚂蚁种类中 也有很多有意思的算法, 可以用于数据网络 这些算法甚至超过了我们的想象.
evolve:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;
So what happens when operating costs are low? 例如, 当运营成本很低的时候呢?
Operating costs are low in the tropics , because it's very humid , and it's easy for the ants to be outside walking around. 热带雨林里, 蚁群觅食的成本很低, 因为那里非常的湿润, 对于蚁群来说 外出觅食也非常容易.
tropics:n.热带地区; humid:adj.潮湿的;湿润的;多湿气的;
But the ants are so abundant and diverse in the tropics that there's a lot of competition . 但是蚂蚁的种类是如此的繁多 数量也非常庞大 因此蚂蚁之间的竞争非常激烈.
abundant:adj.丰富的;充裕的;盛产; diverse:adj.不同的;多种多样的;变化多的; competition:n.竞争;比赛,竞赛;
Whatever resource one species is using, another species is likely to be using that at the same time . 一个蚁群需要用到的任何资源 基本上都有竞争者 与之争夺.
at the same time:同时;另一方面;与此同时;
So in this environment, interactions are used in the opposite way. 所以在这样的环境下, 相互接触的用途 完全反了过来.
The system keeps going unless something negative happens, and one species that I study makes circuits in the trees of foraging ants going from the nest to a food source and back, just round and round, unless something negative happens, like an interaction with ants of another species. 蚁群的系统不断的扩张, 直到一些不好的事情发生, 我研究的一种蚁群会在丛林里 构建自己的觅食网络, 在蚁穴和食物时间不断的来回, 一圈一圈的觅食, 直到一些不好的事情发生, 例如遇到了 别的种类的蚂蚁.
negative:adj.[数]负的;消极的;否定的;阴性的;n.否定;负数;[摄]底片;v.否定;拒绝; circuits:n.环行路线;电路;线路;巡回赛;v.巡回;周游;(circuit的第三人称单数和复数)
So here's an example of ant security. 这是蚂蚁安防的一个例子.
In the middle, there's an ant plugging the nest entrance with its head in response to interactions with another species. 中间的位置, 一只蚂蚁 在跟另外的种群的蚂蚁触碰了触角之后 将蚁穴的入口用自己的头挡住了.
plugging:v.堵塞;封堵;补足;补充;推广;宣传;(plug的现在分词) in response to:响应;回答;对…有反应;
Those are the little ones running around with their abdomens up in the air. 这些小的、腹部朝上的蚂蚁 正在这周围走动.
abdomens:n.腹部;下腹;腹腔;
But as soon as the threat is passed, the entrance is open again, and maybe there are situations in computer security where operating costs are low enough that we could just block access temporarily in response to an immediate threat, and then open it again, instead of trying to build a permanent firewall or fortress . 但是一旦危险解除, 入口就会重新开启, 或许我们也可以联想到 在计算机安全领域 这个领域的运营成本也低到 我们可以临时的中断网络访问 以应对临时的威胁, 稍后继续开放, 而不是现在的做法 尝试构造一个永久的防火墙.
as soon as:一…就; temporarily:adv.临时地,临时; permanent:adj.永久的,永恒的;n.烫发; firewall:n.防火墙;vt.用作防火墙; fortress:n.城堡;堡垒;要塞;设防的地方;
So another environmental challenge that all systems have to deal with is resources, finding and collecting them. 另一个环境带来的挑战 所有的蚁群系统都需要面对的 是如何寻找和搜集资源.
And to do this, ants solve the problem of collective search, and this is a problem that's of great interest right now in robotics , because we've understood that, rather than sending a single, sophisticated , expensive robot out to explore another planet or to search a burning building, that instead, it may be more effective to get a group of cheaper robots exchanging only minimal information, and that's the way that ants do it. 蚁群为了解决这个问题, 采用了 而这个问题现在已经引起了 机器人研究人员的极大兴趣, 因为我们都知道, 与其用一个单一的 复杂且昂贵的机器人 去探索另外的星球 或去火场搜救, 或许有更好的方式 就是造一堆便宜的机器人 相互之间仅仅交换简单的信息, 就像是蚂蚁所做的那样.
robotics:n.机器人学; sophisticated:adj.复杂的;老练的;见多识广的;水平高的; explore:v.探索:探测:探险: effective:adj.有效的,起作用的;实际的,实在的;给人深刻印象; minimal:adj.最低的;最小限度的;
So the invasive Argentine ant makes expandable search networks. 这种外来的阿根廷蚂蚁 很擅长扩大自己的搜索网络.
invasive:adj.侵略性的;攻击性的; Argentine:adj.阿根廷的;银的;n.阿根廷人;银; expandable:adj.可膨胀的;可张开的;
They're good at dealing with the main problem of collective search, which is the trade-off between searching very thoroughly and covering a lot of ground. 它们非常善于解决集体搜索中的 主要问题, 即如何在两个不同的目标之间权衡 既要能够搜索的彻底 又要搜索的范围广.
thoroughly:adv.彻底地,完全地;
And what they do is, when there are many ants in a small space, then each one can search very thoroughly because there will be another ant nearby searching over there, but when there are a few ants in a large space, then they need to stretch out their paths to cover more ground. 它们是这么做的, 当搜索空间小而蚂蚁很多时, 它们会搜寻的非常彻底 因为它们知道临近的区域 有别的蚂蚁在搜索, 但是当搜索面积很大 且蚂蚁很少时, 它们会扩张自己的搜索路径 去覆盖更大的面积.
nearby:adj.附近的,邻近的;adv.在附近;prep.在…附近; stretch out:v.伸出;伸直四肢;
I think they use interactions to assess density , so when they're really crowded, they meet more often, and they search more thoroughly. 我想它们之间的接触主要交换的是蚂蚁的密度信息, 当它们的密度很大时, 它们碰见的就越多, 搜寻的也就越仔细.
assess:vt.评定;估价;对…征税; density:n.密度;
Different ant species must use different algorithms, because they've evolved to deal with different resources, and it could be really useful to know about this, and so we recently asked ants to solve the collective search problem in the extreme environment of microgravity in the International Space Station . 不同种类的蚂蚁使用的算法应该是不同的, 因为随着一代代的演化 它们需要的资源不同. 知道这些差异真的很有用. 所以最近我们把蚂蚁 放在微重力的极端环境中 希望能够帮助 国际空间站 解决集体搜索的难题.
evolved:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;(evolve的过去分词和过去式) extreme:adj.极端的;极度的;偏激的;尽头的;n.极端;末端;最大程度;极端的事物; microgravity:n.[生理]微重力; Space Station:n.太空站;航天站;宇宙空间站;
When I first saw this picture, I thought, 当我第一次看到这张照片, 我想,
Oh no, they've mounted the habitat vertically , but then I realized that, of course, it doesn't matter. 呀, 他们把蚁穴竖起来放着了, 但是马上意识到, 其实横竖都一样的.
mounted:adj.骑马的; v.准备; (mount的过去分词和过去式) habitat:n.[生态]栖息地,产地; vertically:adv.垂直地;
So the idea here is that the ants are working so hard to hang on to the wall or the floor or whatever you call it that they're less likely to interact, and so the relationship between how crowded they are and how often they meet would be messed up. 这个实验的想法是 蚂蚁要花大力气把自己挂在墙上 或者也可以说是地板上, 你怎么看都行 这样它们就没有精力去交互了, 所以关于蚂蚁密度的信息 以及它们相互遇见的频率 都会乱掉.
hang on to:紧紧抓住;紧握; messed:v.使不整洁;弄脏;弄乱;随地便溺(mess的过去分词和过去式)
We're still analyzing the data. 我们还在分析这些数据.
analyzing:adj.分析的;v.分析(analyze的现在分词);
I don't have the results yet. 我还没有结论.
But it would be interesting to know how other species solve this problem in different environments on Earth, and so we're setting up a program to encourage kids around the world to try this experiment with different species. 但如果我们能够知道地球上的 其它物种如何解决此类问题 这一定非常的有意思, 所以我们创建了一个活动 鼓励全世界的小朋友们 用不同的蚂蚁种类重复我们的实验.
It's very simple. 非常简单.
It can be done with cheap materials. 做起来也不需要多少成本.
And that way, we could make a global map of ant collective search algorithms. 这样, 我们就能够绘制一张 蚂蚁集体搜索算法的世界地图.
global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的;
And I think it's pretty likely that the invasive species, the ones that come into our buildings, are going to be really good at this, because they're in your kitchen because they're really good at finding food and water. 我想那些外来的蚂蚁种类, 那些混进我们大楼的蚂蚁, 对于集体搜索非常在行, 因为它们已经跑到你的厨房 非常地善于找到食物和水.
So the most familiar resource for ants is a picnic, and this is a clustered resource. 对于蚂蚁而言最为相似的资源 是野餐的地方, 是一个集中的资源.
familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友; clustered:adj.成群的;成簇的;v.群聚;聚集;(cluster的过去式和过去分词)
When there's one piece of fruit, there's likely to be another piece of fruit nearby, and the ants that specialize on clustered resources use interactions for recruitment . 当一块水果掉在地上, 周围很可能还有更多的水果渣, 因此生活在集中资源多的地方的蚂蚁 通过相互接触来召集伙伴.
specialize:vi.专门从事;专攻;专门研究(或从事) recruitment:n.补充;征募新兵;
So when one ant meets another, or when it meets a chemical deposited on the ground by another, then it changes direction to follow in the direction of the interaction, and that's how you get the trail of ants sharing your picnic. 所以当一只蚂蚁遇见另一只蚂蚁, 或是另一只蚂蚁沿路留下的 化学气味, 然后它就会改变自己的方向 冲着接触方提供的方向去搜寻 这就是为什么能够有一只蚂蚁大军 与你分享野餐的原因.
chemical:n.化学制品,化学药品;adj.化学的; deposited:v.存放;储存;放置(deposit的过去分词);adj.存放的;堆积的; trail:v.(被)拖,拉;疲惫地走,磨蹭;落后,失败;n.痕迹;踪迹;小路;路线;
Now this is a place where I think we might be able to learn something from ants about cancer. 现在, 我觉得我们或许可以 从蚂蚁身上获得治疗癌症的一些启发.
I mean, first, it's obvious that we could do a lot to prevent cancer by not allowing people to spread around or sell the toxins that promote the evolution of cancer in our bodies, 我是说, 首先, 我们可以做很多事情 来阻止癌症 例如禁止有人向其他人销售 可能增加我们身体患癌症风险的 有毒有害商品,
obvious:adj.明显的;显著的;平淡无奇的; toxins:n.[毒物]毒素,毒质;毒素类(toxin的复数); promote:v.促进;推动;促销;提升;晋升;
but I don't think the ants can help us much with this because ants never poison their own colonies. 但是我不认为在这点上蚂蚁能够帮助我们什么, 因为它们从来不会毒害同类.
But we might be able to learn something from ants about treating cancer. 但是我们或许可以从蚂蚁那里学到一些方法 来治疗癌症.
treating:v.以…态度对待;把…看作;处理;讨论;(treat的现在分词)
There are many different kinds of cancer. 癌症有很多不同的种类.
Each one originates in a particular part of the body, and then some kinds of cancer will spread or metastasize to particular other tissues where they must be getting resources that they need. 每一种癌症一开始都附着在身体的特定部位. 然后一些类型的癌症(癌细胞) 会扩散或传播到其它特定的组织结构中 它们需要在那里获得自己需要的资源.
originates:v.起源于(originate的第三人称单数形式); metastasize:vi.转移;迁徒; tissues:n.纸巾,手巾纸;(人、动植物细胞的)组织;(tissue的复数)
So if you think from the perspective of early metastatic cancer cells as they're out searching around for the resources that they need, if those resources are clustered, 现在如果你从这个角度 去看待早期癌细胞 它们也是在体内搜寻 寻找他们需要的资源, 如果这些资源是集中的,
perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的; metastatic:adj.(癌细胞的)转移性的;变形的;新陈代谢的;
they're likely to use interactions for recruitment, and if we can figure out how cancer cells are recruiting , then maybe we could set traps to catch them before they become established . 那么它们很可能通过相互接触来召唤更多的癌细胞, 那么如果我们能够破解癌细胞相互召唤的机制 我们或许就能够设置陷阱 在癌细胞聚集之前捕获它们.
recruiting:v.吸收(新成员);征募(新兵);动员;(recruit的现在分词) traps:n.陷阱,捕捉器; v.使落入险境; (trap的第三人称单数和复数) established:adj.已确立的;著名的;v.建立;创立;设立;(establish的过去分词和过去式)
So ants are using interactions in different ways in a huge variety of environments, and we could learn from this about other systems that operate without central control. 所以蚂蚁在不同的环境下 使用了完全不同的交互算法. 我们能够从中学习 并将结果用于那些没有 中央控制的系统.
variety:n.多样;种类;杂耍;变化,多样化;
Using only simple interactions, ant colonies have been performing amazing feats for more than 130 million years. 仅仅通过简单的接触, 蚂蚁已经创造了 长达1.3亿年的伟大历史.
performing:adj.表演的;演奏的;v.做;执行;演出;运转(perform的现在分词) feats:n.功勋(feat的复数);特技;
We have a lot to learn from them. 我们还有很多需要向它们学习.
Thank you. 感谢大家.
(Applause) (掌声)