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JonathanDrori_2011S-_花儿的美丽花招_
Do you know how many species of flowering plants there are? 各位知道 有多少中开花植物么？
species:n.[生物]物种;种类;
There are a quarter of a million -- at least those are the ones we know about -- a quarter of a million species of flowering plants. 有25万种 -- 至少我们知道的有这么多 -- 25万中开花植物。
And flowers are a real bugger . 而花儿是个麻烦事。
bugger:n.家伙;同性恋者;鸡奸者;t.与…鸡奸;毁坏;
They're really difficult for plants to produce. 让植物繁育真的很困难。
They take an enormous amount of energy and a lot of resources . 需要大量的经历和许多资源。
enormous:adj.庞大的,巨大的;凶暴的,极恶的; resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数);
Why would they go to that bother ? 为什么会这么困扰？
bother:v.烦扰,打扰;使…不安;操心,麻烦;n.麻烦;烦恼;
And the answer of course, like so many things in the world, is sex. 当然,答案是,与世界上许多其他事物一样, 性别。
I know what's on your mind when you're looking at these pictures. 我知道当你们看这些图片时脑子里想的是什么。
And the reason that sexual reproduction is so important -- there are lots of other things that plants can do to reproduce . 有性繁殖如此重要的原因 -- 植物有许多其他的方式可以繁殖。
sexual:adj.性的;性别的;有性的; reproduction:n.繁殖,生殖;复制;复制品; reproduce:v.繁殖;复制;再现;生育;
You can take cuttings; they can sort of have sex with themselves; they can pollinate themselves. 可以用插枝的方式; 可以同株两性繁殖; 可以同株授粉。
pollinate:vt.对...授粉;
But they really need to spread their Black "> genes to mix with other genes, so that they can adapt to environmental Black "> niches . 但它们确实需要传播它们的基因 与其他的基因混合, 这样它们才能生态环境。
Black:黑色,黑色的 genes:n.基因;(gene的复数)
Evolution works that way. 进化就是这样起作用的。
Evolution:n.演变;进化;发展;渐进;
Now the way that plants transmit that information is through pollen . 现在植物传递这一信息的途径 是通过花粉。
transmit:v.传送;发射;播送;传播;传染; pollen:v.传授花粉给;n.[植]花粉;
Some of you may have seen some of these pictures before. 你们中一些人或许之前已经看过这些图片了。
As I say, every home should have a scanning electron microscope to be able to see these. 如我所说,每个家庭都应该有一台能看到这些的 扫描电子显微镜。
electron microscope:n.电子显微镜;
And there is as many different kinds of pollen as there are flowering plants. 有多少种开花植物就有 多少种不同类型的花粉。
And that's actually rather useful for forensics and so on. 这其实对法医学等等相当有用。
forensics:n.辩论术;辩论练习;
Most pollen that causes hay fever for us is from plants that use the wind to disseminate the pollen. 多数会导致我们患上花粉热的花粉 来自那些用风来 传播花粉的植物。
hay fever:n.花粉病; disseminate:vt.宣传,传播;散布;vi.散布;广为传播;
And that's a very inefficient process, which is why it gets up our noses so much. 这是个非常低效的过程, 这也是为什么花粉总是跑到我们鼻子里。
inefficient:adj.无效率的,效率低的;无能的;
Because you have to chuck out masses and masses of it, hoping that your sex cells, your male sex cells, which are held within the pollen, will somehow reach another flower just by chance . 因为其中大多数都被抛弃了, 希望包含在花粉中的生殖细胞, 雄性生殖细胞, 将能碰巧落到另一朵花上。
chuck:n.卡盘;夹头;辞退;(牛等的)颈肉;v.放弃;[机]用卡盘夹紧;(口语)抛出,逐出; masses:n.民众;大量(mass的复数);包块;v.集中;聚集(mass的三单形式); somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地; by chance:偶然;意外地;
So all the grasses, which means all of the cereal crops, and most of the trees have wind-borne pollen. 所有的草,这意味着所有的谷物, 和多数的树 靠风传播花粉。
cereal:n.谷物;谷类植物;adj.谷类制成的; wind-borne:adj.[植]靠风传播的,风传送的;
But most species actually use insects to do their bidding. 但多数物种 实际上利用昆虫来完成这一过程。
And that's more intelligent in a way, because the pollen, they don't need so much of it. 在某种程度上这更聪明, 因为这样并不需要太多的花粉。
intelligent:adj.有才智的;悟性强的;聪明的;有智力的
The insects and other species can take the pollen, transfer it directly to where it's required. 昆虫 和其他物种 能携带花粉, 把花粉直接转移到所需的地方去。
transfer:n.转移;调任;调离;[体]转会球员;v.调任;调走;转学;转移; directly:adv.直接地;立即;马上;正好地;坦率地;conj.一…就;
So we're aware, obviously, of the relationship between insects and plants. 很显然,我们注意到 昆虫和植物之间的关系。
There's a symbiotic relationship there, whether it's flies of birds or bees, they're getting something in return, and that something in return is generally nectar . 这是种共生关系, 无论是鸟儿还是蜜蜂, 它们都能获得回报, 通常获得的回报是花蜜。
symbiotic:adj.[生态]共生的;共栖的; generally:adv.通常;普遍地,一般地; nectar:n.[植]花蜜;甘露;神酒;任何美味的饮料;
Sometimes that symbiosis has led to wonderful adaptations -- the hummingbird hawk-moth is beautiful in its adaptation. 有时这种共生关系 会导致奇妙的适应性变化 -- 红裙小天蛾 是一种漂亮的适应性变化。
symbiosis:n.[生态]共生;合作关系;共栖; adaptations:n.适应;改编(adaptation的复数); hummingbird:n.蜂鸟;
The plant gets something, and the hawk-moth spreads the pollen somewhere else. 植物也有收获, 天峨把花粉传播到了别处。
Plants have evolved to create little landing strips here and there for bees that might have lost their way. 植物进化了, 到处创建降落的跑道, 蜜蜂可能迷失其中。
evolved:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;(evolve的过去分词和过去式) strips:n.条(strip的复数); v.剥夺(stirp的三单形式); here and there:各处,到处;
There are markings on many plants that look like other insects. 许多植物上有些 看起来像是其他昆虫的标记。
markings:n.标记;记分;成交价格记录(marking的复数);
These are the anthers of a lily , cleverly done so that when the unsuspecting insect lands on it, the anther flips up and whops it on the back with a great load of pollen that it then goes to another plant with. 这些是百合花的花粉囊, 非常巧妙, 因此当毫不知情的昆虫 落于其上时, 花粉囊翻转过来,带着许多花粉 击打在昆虫背部,这样就能跟随昆虫到其他植物那里。
anthers:n.花药;花粉囊;(anther的复数) lily:n.百合花:adj.洁白:纯洁的: cleverly:adv.聪明地; unsuspecting:adj.不怀疑的;未猜想到…的; flips:n.菲力普类(酒的一种);vt.掷;弹;轻击(flip的第三人称单数); whops:vi.打;抽出;征服;vt.打;抽出;征服;使突然摔倒;n.重击;打击声;突然摔倒;
And there's an orchid that might look to you as if it's got jaws. 有一种兰花 看起来就像是有下颚一般。
orchid:n.兰花;[植]兰科植物;淡紫色;adj.淡紫色的;
And in a way, it has; it forces the insect to crawl out, getting covered in pollen that it takes somewhere else. 在某种程度上说,它的确有;它强迫昆虫爬过, 沾上花粉,并把花粉带往别的地方。
crawl:v.爬;匍匐行进;(昆虫)爬行;缓慢行进;n.爬泳;缓慢的速度;自由泳;
Orchids : there are 20,000, at least, species of orchids -- amazingly, amazingly diverse. 兰花:至少有 两万种兰花 -- 多种多样的令人惊异。
Orchids:n.[园艺]兰花,淡紫色;称赞(orchid的复数);
And they get up to all sorts of tricks. 它们有各种各样的花招。
They have to try and attract pollinators to do their bidding. 它们必须尝试并吸引传粉者 帮助它们完成这一过程。
pollinators:n.[植][农学]传粉者(pollinator的复数);
This orchid, known as Darwin's orchid, because it's one that he studied and made a wonderful prediction when he saw it. 这株兰花,被称为达尔文的兰花, 因为它曾被达尔文研究 并在他看到这种兰花时给出了奇妙的预测。
prediction:n.预报;预言;
You can see that there's a very long nectar tube that descends down from the orchid. 可以看到这儿有一个很长的花蜜管 从兰花中 垂下来。
descends:下降;
And basically what the insect has to do -- we're in the middle of the flower -- it has to stick its little proboscis right into the middle of that and all the way down that nectar tube to get to the nectar. 基本上昆虫不得不做的是 -- 我们来到花的当中 -- 它把口器刺入 中间的部分 一路向下知道花蜜管 以得到花蜜。
basically:adv.主要地,基本上; proboscis:n.鼻子;[昆]喙;象鼻;[无脊椎]吻;
And Darwin said, looking at this flower, "I guess something has coevolved with this." 达尔文说,看看这花, “我猜测有些事物与其共同进化了。”
coevolved:vi.共同进化(发生于两种或多种生物);
And sure enough, there's the insect. 毫无疑问, 就是昆虫。
And I mean, normally it kind of rolls it away, but in its erect form, that's what it looks like. 我的意思时,通常它都是卷起来的, 但它伸直以后, 看起来是这样的。
normally:adv.正常地;通常地,一般地; erect:vt.使竖立;建造;安装;adj.竖立的;笔直的;因性刺激而勃起的;vi.直立;勃起;
Now you can imagine that if nectar is such a valuable thing and expensive for the plant to produce and it attracts lots of pollinators, then, just as in human sex, people might start to deceive . 现在可以想象一下 如果花蜜 这种如此有价值的事物 对植物来说生产的代价高昂 且又能吸引许多传粉者, 那么,就如在人类性行为中的那样, 人们或许开始相互欺骗。
valuable:adj.有价值的;贵重的;可估价的;n.贵重物品; deceive:v.欺骗;蒙骗;诓骗;欺骗(自己);
They might say, "I've got a bit of nectar. Do you want to come and get it?" 它们或许会说,“我有些花蜜。你想来拿点么？”
Now this is a plant. 这是一株植物。
This is a plant here that insects in South Africa just love. 这株植物 为南非的昆虫所喜爱。
And they've evolved with a long proboscis to get the nectar at the bottom. 它们进化出了长长的口器 以获取底部的花蜜。
And this is the mimic . 这是个模仿者。
mimic:vt.模仿,摹拟;n.效颦者,模仿者;仿制品;小丑;adj.模仿的,模拟的;假装的;
So this is a plant that is mimicking the first plant. 这种植物在模仿前一种植物。
mimicking:v.模仿人的言行举止;做滑稽模仿;像,似;(mimic的现在分词)
And here is the long-probosced fly that has not gotten any nectar from the mimic. 有一种长着长口器的苍蝇 它从假冒者那儿没得到任何花蜜。
Because the mimic doesn't give it any nectar. It thought it would get some. 因为假冒者没给它任何花蜜。它以为它可以得到。
So not only is the fly not got the nectar from the mimic plant, it's also -- if you look very closely just at the head end, you can see that it's got a bit of pollen that it would be transmitting to another plant, if only some botanist hadn't come along and stuck it to a blue piece of card. 因此,不但苍蝇 没有从假冒的植物那儿得到花蜜, 而且 -- 如果你非常近的观察 头的顶部,你会看到那儿有些花粉 这些花粉将被传播到其他植株上, 如果没有植物学家过来 把它粘到一张蓝色卡片上的话。
transmitting:v.传送;输送;发射;传播;传染;(transmit的现在分词) botanist:n.植物学家;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Now deceit carries on through the plant kingdom. 这种谎言遍布整个植物王国。
deceit:n.欺骗;谎言;欺诈手段;
This flower with its black dots: they might look like black dots to us, but if I tell you, to a male insect of the right species, that looks like two females who are really, really hot to trot . 这朵带着黑点的花: 它们或许在我们看来像是黑点, 但我告诉各位,对适当物种的雄性昆虫来说, 这看起来像是两只 非常非常性感的雌性。
trot:v.快步;疾走;小跑;骑马小跑;n.慢跑,小跑,小步快跑;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And when the insect gets there and lands on it, dousing itself in pollen, of course, that it's going to take to another plant, if you look at the every-home-should-have-one scanning electron microscope picture, 当昆虫到达并在上面着陆时, 把自己浸入花粉中,当然,这些花粉将会被它带到其他植物那儿去, 如果看看每个家庭都应该有的扫描电子显微镜的图像,
dousing:v.平息;使浸透;熄灭(douse的ing形式);
you can see that there are actually some patterning there, which is three-dimensional . 就能看到实际上那儿有些图案, 三维的图案。
three-dimensional:adj.三维的;立体的;真实的;
So it probably even feels good for the insect, as well as looking good. 它甚至能让昆虫感觉到舒服, 看起来也不错。
as well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且;
And these electron microscope pictures -- here's one of an orchid mimicking an insect -- you can see that different parts of the structure have different colors and different textures to our eye, have very, very different textures to what an insect might perceive . 这些电子显微镜图像 -- 这是一朵兰花在伪装成一只昆虫 -- 你能看到对我们的眼睛来说, 结构的不同部分有着不同的色彩和不同的纹理, 而昆虫或许能感知到 非常非常不同的纹理。
structure:n.结构;构造;建筑物;vt.组织;构成;建造; textures:n.纹理;材质(texture的复数);v.使具有某种结构(texture的三单形式); perceive:v.注意到;意识到;将…理解为;认为;
And this one is evolved to mimic a glossy metallic surface you see on some beetles . 这种兰花进化至能模仿 在一些甲壳虫身上看到的 有金属光泽的表面。
glossy:adj.光滑的;有光泽的; metallic:adj.金属的,含金属的; beetles:n.甲虫;v.快速移动;(beetle的第三人称单数和复数)
And under the scanning electron microscope, you can see the surface there -- really quite different from the other surfaces we looked at. 在扫描电子显微镜下 你能看到这表面 -- 这与我们看过的其他表面非常不同。
Sometimes the whole plant mimics an insect, even to us. 有时整个植物会 模仿成一只昆虫,即使我们看来也像是昆虫。
mimics:v.模仿; n.会模仿的人(或动物); (mimic的第三人称单数和复数)
I mean, I think that looks like some sort of flying animal or beast. 我的意思是,我认为这看起来像是某种飞行的动物或野兽。
It's a wonderful, amazing thing. 是美妙而神奇的事物。
This one's clever. It's called obsidian . 这是它的聪明之处。它被称为黑曜石。
obsidian:n.黑曜石;
I think of it as insidium sometimes. 我认为它有时是狡猾的。
To the right species of bee, this looks like another very aggressive bee, and it goes and bonks it on the head lots and lots of times to try and drive it away, and, of course, covers itself with pollen. 对于适合种类的蜜蜂来说, 这看起来像是另一只非常有侵略性的蜜蜂, 它会飞过来用头撞击它许多许多次,试着赶走它, 当然,这会让它沾上花粉。
aggressive:adj.侵略性的;好斗的;有进取心的;有闯劲的; bonks:n.性交;vi.性交;v.发出巨响;
The other thing it does is that this plant mimics another orchid that has a wonderful store of food for insects. 它做的另一件事是 这种植物模仿成另一种 富含昆虫喜爱的 食物的兰花。
And this one doesn't have anything for them. 但其实什么也没有。
So it's deceiving on two levels -- fabulous . 因此它在两个层面上进行欺骗 -- 真难以置信。
deceiving:v.欺骗;蒙骗;诓骗;欺骗(自己);误导(deceive的现在分词) fabulous:adj.难以置信的;传说的,寓言中的;极好的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Here we see ylang ylang, the component of many perfumes . 我们看到的是依兰, 有浓烈香味的部分。
component:n.成分;部件;组成部分;adj.构成的; perfumes:n.香水(perfume的复数); v.使充满香气;
I actually smelt someone with some on earlier. 实际上我之前闻到过。
And the flowers don't really have to be that gaudy . 这些花实际上没有必要这么艳丽。
gaudy:adj.华而不实的;俗丽的;n.盛大宴会;
They're sending out a fantastic array of scent to any insect that'll have it. 它们散发出奇妙的香味 吸引任何有兴趣的昆虫。
fantastic:奇异的,空想的 array:n.数组,阵列;排列,列阵;大批,一系列;衣服;v.排列,部署;打扮; scent:n.香味;香水;气息;察觉;v.嗅出;闻到;觉察出;预感到;
This one doesn't smell so good. 这朵花闻起来不怎么样。
This is a flower that really, really smells pretty nasty and is designed, again, evolved, to look like carrion . 这朵花 实际上闻起来非常难闻 再提一次,这是进化而来, 它看起来像是腐肉。
nasty:adj.极差的:令人厌恶的:不友好的:n.令人不愉快的事物: carrion:adj.腐肉的;腐朽的;n.腐肉;臭尸;不洁之物;
So flies love this. 因此苍蝇喜欢它。
They fly in and they pollinate. 苍蝇飞进去并帮其授粉。
This, which is helicodiceros, is also known as dead horse arum . 这是白星海芋, 也被称作死马海芋。
arum:n.海芋属植物;白星海芋属;
I don't know what a dead horse actually smells like, but this one probably smells pretty much like it. 我不知道死马闻起来什么味儿, 但这朵花或许闻起来非常像。
It's really horrible . 实在太可怕了。
horrible:可怕的,极讨厌的,
And blowflies just can't help themselves. 绿头蝇情不自禁。
blowflies:n.绿头苍蝇(等于blowfly或bluebottle);
They fly into this thing, and they fly all the way down it. 飞入其中, 一路飞入其中。
They lay their eggs in it, thinking it's a nice bit of carrion, and not realizing that there's no food for the eggs, that the eggs are going to die, but the plant, meanwhile , has benefited, because the bristles release and the flies disappear to pollinate the next flower -- fantastic. 在上面产卵, 认为这是块很不错的腐肉, 没有意识到这儿可没有卵的食物,这些卵会死在这儿, 但同时这株植物会受益, 因为硬毛松开 苍蝇消失了, 授粉至另一朵花 -- 太奇妙了。
meanwhile:adv.同时,其间;n.其间,其时; bristles:n.猪鬃(bristle的复数形式);v.毛发直立(bristle的三单形式); release:v.释放;发射;让与;允许发表;n.释放;发布;让与; disappear:v.消失;失踪;不复存在;
Here's arum, arum maculatum, lords and ladies, or cuckoo-pint in this country. 这是海芋植物,欧海芋, 斑叶阿若母,在这个国家称为延龄草。
lords:n.(英国)贵族,大人,大臣;v.使成贵族;作威作福;(lord的第三人称单数和复数)
I photographed this thing last week in Dorset. 我上周在多塞特拍摄的这个。
This thing heats up by about 15 degrees above ambient temperature -- amazing. 这家伙加热升温 比环境温度大约高15度 -- 不可思议。
ambient:adj.周围的;外界的;环绕的;n.周围环境;
And if you look down into it, there's this sort of dam past the spadix, flies get attracted by the heat -- which is boiling off volatile chemicals , little midges -- and they get trapped underneath in this container. 如果看看它内部, 肉穗后面是个有点像大坝的东西, 苍蝇为热量所吸引 -- 这是种沸腾的挥发性化学物质,小虫 -- 它们被困在这一容器下面。
volatile:adj.[化学]挥发性的;不稳定的;爆炸性的;反覆无常的;n.挥发物;有翅的动物; chemicals:n.化学制品;化学品;(chemical的复数) midges:n.蚊,蠓等小虫; trapped:adj.受困的;受限制的;v.使落入险境;使陷入困境;(trap的过去分词和过去式) underneath:prep.在…的下面;在…的支配下;n.下面;底部;adj.下面的;底层的;
They drink this fabulous nectar and then they're all a bit sticky . 它们痛饮甜美的花蜜 接着都变得有点黏糊糊的。
sticky:adj.粘的;粘性的;
At night they get covered in pollen, which showers down over them, and then the bristles that we saw above, they sort of wilt and allow all these midges out, covered in pollen -- fabulous thing. 在夜里它们被花粉覆盖, 由它们上面喷洒而下, 然后我们在上面看到的硬毛 变得枯萎让这些浑身花粉的小虫得以逃出 -- 真是难以置信。
wilt:vt.使枯萎;使畏缩;使衰弱;vi.枯萎;畏缩;衰弱;n.枯萎;憔悴;衰弱;
Now if you think that's fabulous, this is one of my great favorites. 如果你认为这是难以置信的,这一个是我的最爱。
This is the philodendron selloum. 这是春羽蔓绿绒。
philodendron:n.喜林芋;
For anyone here from Brazil , you'll know about this plant. 在座从巴西来的人,应该都知道这种植物。
Brazil:n.巴西(拉丁美洲国家);
This is the most amazing thing. 这是最神奇的事物。
That sort of phallic bit there is about a foot long. 它的雄蕊 有大约一英尺长。
phallic:adj.阴茎的;生殖器的;阳物崇拜的;
And it does something that no other plant that I know of does, and that is that when it flowers -- that's the spadix in the middle there -- for a period of about two days, it metabolizes in a way which is rather similar to mammals . 它有一种 据我所知没任何其他植物拥有的能力, 当它盛开时 -- 这是在中间的肉穗 -- 大约两天时间, 它产生了某种程度的代谢变化 有些类似哺乳动物。
metabolizes:vt.使新陈代谢;使变形;vi.新陈代谢; mammals:n.哺乳动物;(mammal的复数)
So instead of having starch , which is the food of plants, it takes something rather similar to brown fat and burns it at such a rate that it's burning fat, metabolizing , about the rate of a small cat. 并没拥有淀粉, 这是植物的食物, 它拥有十分类似褐色脂肪的东西 以燃烧脂肪的速度 燃烧它,进行代谢, 大约以一只小猫的速度进行。
starch:n.淀粉;刻板,生硬;vt.给…上浆; metabolizing:vt.使新陈代谢;使变形;vi.新陈代谢;
And that's twice the energy output , weight for weight, than a hummingbird -- absolutely astonishing . 按体重比,是蜂鸟的能量输出的 两倍 -- 绝对惊人。
output:n.(人、机器、机构的)产量;输出;输出功率;输出量;v.输出; absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地; astonishing:adj.令人十分惊讶的;v.使十分惊讶;使吃惊;(astonish的现在分词)
This thing does something else which is unusual. 它还做了些不寻常的事。
Not only will it raise itself to 115 Fahrenheit , 43 or 44 degrees centigrade , for two days, but it keeps constant temperature. 不仅是它将升温至155华氏度, 43或44摄氏度,两天, 而且它将保持恒温。
Fahrenheit:adj.华氏的;华氏温度计的;n.华氏温度计;华氏温标; centigrade:adj.摄氏的;[仪]摄氏温度的;百分度的;
There's a thermoregulation mechanism in there that keeps constant temperature. 其中有一个温度调节机制 用于保持恒温。
thermoregulation:n.温度调节; mechanism:n.机制;原理,途径;进程;机械装置;技巧;
Now why does it do this? I hear you ask. 为什么要这么做？我听到你们问。
Now wouldn't you know it, there's some beetles that just love to make love at that temperature. 目前你们还不知道, 有些甲壳虫就喜欢在这一温度下交配。
And they get inside, and they get it all on. 它们钻进去,沾满花粉。
(Laughter) （笑声）
And the plant showers them with pollen, and off they go and pollinate. 植物在它们身上撒满花粉, 让它们离开,去授粉。
And what a wonderful thing it is. 这是多么奇妙的事情啊。
Now most pollinators that we think about are insects, but actually in the tropics , many birds and butterflies pollinate. 现在我们认为 大多数传粉者是昆虫, 但实际上在热带地区, 许多鸟类和蝴蝶也进行传粉。
tropics:n.热带地区;
And many of the tropical flowers are red, and that's because butterflies and birds see similarly to us, we think, and can see the color red very well. 许多热带的花朵是红色的, 这是因为蝴蝶和鸟类 与我们相似,我们认为, 能非常好的看到红色。
tropical:adj.热带的;热情的;酷热的; similarly:adv.同样地;类似于;
But if you look at the spectrum , birds and us, we see red, green and blue and see that spectrum. 但如果你看看光谱, 鸟类和我们,我们看到红色,绿色和蓝色 看到这一光谱。
spectrum:n.光谱;频谱;范围;余象;
Insects see green, blue and ultraviolet , and they see various shades of ultraviolet. 昆虫看到绿色,蓝色和紫外线, 它们能看到各种明暗的紫外线。
ultraviolet:adj.紫外的;紫外线的;n.紫外线辐射,紫外光; shades:n.阴凉处; v.给…遮挡(光线); (shade的第三人称单数和复数)
So there's something that goes on off the end there. 在这后面还有些色彩。
'"And wouldn't it be great if we could some how see what that is," I hear you ask. “如果我们能看到那些颜色难道不好吗,”我听到你们问。
Well yes we can. 是的,我们能看到。
So what is an insect seeing? 那么昆虫看到的是什么？
Last week I took these pictures of rock rose, helianthemum, in Dorset. 上周我拍了这些沙漠座莲的照片, 半日花属,在多塞特。
These are little yellow flowers like we all see, little yellow flowers all over the place. 正如我们所看到的,这是些小黄花, 到处都是这种小黄花。
And this is what it looks like with visible light. 在可见光下它看起来是这样的。
visible:adj.明显的;看得见的;现有的;可得到的;n.可见物;进出口贸易中的有形项目;
This is what it looks like if you take out the red. 如果去除红色看起来是这样。
Most bees don't perceive red. 多数蜜蜂无法感知红色。
And then I put some ultraviolet filters on my camera and took a very, very long exposure with the particular frequencies of ultraviolet light and this is what I got. 接着我在我的镜头前放上紫外线滤镜 在紫外线特定的频率下 长时间的曝光, 就得到了这张照片。
filters:n.过滤器; v.过滤; (filter的第三人称单数和复数) exposure:n.暴露;显露;揭露;面临; frequencies:n.频率;发生率;重复率;频繁;(frequency的复数)
And that's a real fantastic bull's eye. 这像是个真实的奇妙的靶心。
Now we don't know exactly what a bee sees, any more than you know what I'm seeing when I call this red. 现在我们不知道 蜜蜂到底看到的是什么, 当我称之为红色时, 你们知道我在看什么。
We can't know what's going on in, let alone an insect's, another human being's mind. 我们无法知道其中发生了什么,不管是昆虫, 还是其他人类的脑中。
let alone:更不必说;听任;不打扰;
But the contrast will look something like that. 但对比度看起来大概是这样。
contrast:n.对比;对照;反差;明显的差异;v.对比;对照;形成对比;
So standing out a lot from the background. 从背景中突显出来。
Here's another little flower -- different range of ultraviolet frequencies, different filters to match the pollinators. 这是另一种小花 -- 位于不同的紫外线频率区间, 不同的滤镜 来匹配不同的传粉者。
And that's the sort of thing that it would be seeing. 它看起来大概是这样。
Just in case you think that all yellow flowers have this property -- no flower was damaged in the process of this shot; it was just attached to the tripod , not killed -- then under ultraviolet light, look at that. 为了避免你们认为 所有黄色的花都有这一属性 -- 在拍摄的过程中没有损伤花朵; 只是把它贴在三脚架上, 没有摘下来 -- 在紫外光下, 看看这个。
Just in case:以防万一;作为准备; in the process of:在…的过程中; attached:adj.依恋;v.重视;把…固定;(attach的过去分词和过去式) tripod:n.[摄]三脚架;三脚桌;
And that could be the basis of a sunscreen, because sunscreens work by absorbing ultraviolet light. 这能作为防晒霜的基础, 因为防晒霜是通过吸收紫外光来起作用的。
sunscreens:n.(防晒油中的)遮光剂; absorbing:adj.引人入胜的;精彩的;v.吸收;吞并;同化;理解;(absorb的现在分词)
So maybe the chemical in that would be useful. 因此或许其中的化学物质有些用处。
Finally , there's one of evening primrose that Bjorn Rorslett from Norway sent me -- fantastic hidden pattern. 最后,这是一朵夜来香 是挪威的Bjorn Rorslett发给我的 -- 奇妙的隐藏模式。
Finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地; evening primrose:n.月见草(晚间开黄花,有时作药用);
And I love the idea of something hidden. 我喜欢这种隐藏的方式。
I think there's something poetic here. 我觉得这很有诗意。
poetic:adj.诗的,诗歌的;诗意的;诗人的;n.诗学,诗论;
That these pictures taken with ultraviolet filter, the main use of that filter is for astronomers to take pictures of Venus -- actually the clouds of Venus. 这些照片是用紫外线滤镜拍摄的, 这种滤镜的主要用途是 天文学家用来拍摄金星 -- 实际上是金星上的云层。
astronomers:天文学家; Venus:n.[天]金星;维纳斯(爱与美的女神);
That's the main use of that filter. 这是这种滤镜的主要用途。
Venus, of course, is the god of love and fertility , which is the flower story. 当然,金星是爱与生育之神, 这是花的物语。
fertility:n.多产;肥沃;[农经]生产力;丰饶;
And just as flowers spend a lot of effort trying to get pollinators to do their bidding, they've also somehow managed to persuade us to plant great fields full of them and give them to each other at times of birth and death, and particularly at marriage, which, when you think of it, is the moment that encapsulates the transfer of genetic material from one organism to another. 正如花朵们花了这么多精力 尝试吸引传粉者接受它们的邀请, 不知何故,它们也成功地让我们相信其中含有丰富内涵 我们在出生和逝世时 相互送出花朵, 尤其是婚礼时, 当你想到它时, 就在这一刻内 基因物质从 迁移一个有机体到另一个。
persuade:v.说服;劝说;使信服;使相信; particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地; encapsulates:vt.压缩;将…装入胶囊;将…封进内部;vi.形成胶囊; genetic:adj.基因的;遗传学的; organism:n.生物;有机体;有机组织;(尤指)微生物;
Thank you very much. 非常感谢。
(Applause) （掌声）