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KristenMarhaver_2015Z-_我们是如何培育珊瑚虫来重建珊瑚礁的_
What was the most difficult job you ever did? 你曾经做过的最难的工作是什么？
Was it working in the sun? 是曾在大太阳底下工作？
Was it working to provide food for a family or a community ? 是给家庭或者整个社区提供餐饮？
community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体;
Was it working days and nights trying to protect lives and property? 是要昼夜不分地保护生命和财产？
Was it working alone or working on a project that wasn't guaranteed to succeed, but that might improve human health or save a life? 是你曾独自一人工作？ 还是你在一个前途未卜的项目中, 但却可以改善人类健康或者救死扶伤？
guaranteed:adj.必然的; v.保证; improve:v.改进;改善;
Was it working to build something, create something, make a work of art ? 这份工作是不是去建造,去创新,打造一个艺术作品？
work of art:艺术品;
Was it work for which you were never sure you were fully understood or appreciated ? 这份工作是不是让你觉得 不确定自己是否会被人们所理解和感激？
appreciated:v.欣赏;感激;理解;(appreciate的过去分词和过去式)
The people in our communities who do these jobs deserve our attention, our love and our deepest support. 那些在我们社会里,正做着上述工作的人们, 理应受到我们的关注,关爱和切实的支持。
communities:n.社区;社会;团体;共有(community的复数) deserve:vi.应受,应得;
But people aren't the only ones in our communities who do these difficult jobs. 但是人类并不是我们社会里唯一 从事困难工作的群体。
These jobs are also done by the plants, the animals and the ecosystems on our planet, including the ecosystems I study: the tropical coral reefs . 还有很多其他工作是植物,动物和 地球上生态系统在做的。 这之中的生态系统就包括了我所研究的:热带珊瑚礁。
ecosystems:n.生态系统(ecosystem的复数); tropical:adj.热带的;热情的;酷热的; coral:n.珊瑚;珊瑚虫;adj.珊瑚的;珊瑚色的; reefs:n.礁石(reef的复数形式); v.收帆;
Coral reefs are farmers. 珊瑚礁是辛勤的农民。
They provide food, income and food security for hundreds of millions of people around the world. 它们提供食物,收入和食物安全性 给全世界数亿的人们。
Coral reefs are security guards. 珊瑚礁是安全卫士。
The structures that they build protect our shorelines from storm surge and waves, and the biological systems that they house filter the water and make it safer for us to work and play. 它们打造的结构保护了我们的海岸线 不受风暴潮和海浪的侵袭, 而且这种生态系统能过滤海水, 让我们能安全地在水里工作和玩耍。
structures:n.结构; v.建造(structure的第三人称单数形式); shorelines:n.海岸线;海岸线地带; surge:n.汹涌;大浪,波涛;汹涌澎湃;巨涌;v.汹涌;起大浪,蜂拥而来; biological:adj.生物学的;生物的;与生命过程有关的;加酶的;n.[药]生物制品; filter:n.滤波器;过滤器;滤光器;滤声器;v.过滤;渗入;(用程序)筛选;缓行;
Coral reefs are chemists . 珊瑚礁是药剂师。
chemists:n.化学家(chemist的复数);药剂师;
The molecules that we're discovering on coral reefs are increasingly important in the search for new antibiotics and new cancer drugs. 珊瑚礁上发现的分子对研究新的抗生素和 癌症治疗药物非常重要。
molecules:n.[化学]分子,微粒;[化学]摩尔(molecule的复数); increasingly:adv.越来越多地;渐增地; antibiotics:n.抗菌素;抗生素(如青霉素);(antibiotic的复数) cancer:n.癌症;恶性肿瘤;
And coral reefs are artists. 珊瑚礁还是艺术家。
The structures that they build are some of the most beautiful things on planet Earth. 它们创造的这种结构 是地球上最漂亮的景致之一。
And this beauty is the foundation of the tourism industry in many countries with few or little other natural resources . 这种美丽是旅游业的基础, 特别是对于很多没有其他自然资源的国家来说。
foundation:n.基础;地基;基金会;根据;创立; resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数);
So for all of these reasons, all of these ecosystem services, economists estimate the value of the world's coral reefs in the hundreds of billions of dollars per year. 那么针对这么多有利的原因和生态系统的服务, 经济学家估算了这种珊瑚礁的价值, 可以达到几千亿,每年。
estimate:v.估计;估算;估价;n.估价;(对大小、数量、成本等的)估计;估计的成本;
And yet despite all that hard work being done for us and all that wealth that we gain, we have done almost everything we possibly could to destroy that. 尽管珊瑚礁为我们做了所有这些艰辛的工作, 尽管我们获得了所有的财富, 我们却已经几乎不遗余力地破坏了它们。
despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱; wealth:n.财富;大量;富有;
We have taken the fish out of the oceans and we have added in fertilizer , sewage , diseases , oil, pollution, sediments . 我们从海洋里获取鱼类, 与此同时,我们加入了肥料和废水, 以及疾病,石油,污染物,还有沉积物。
fertilizer:n.[肥料]肥料;受精媒介物;促进发展者; sewage:n.污水;下水道;污物; diseases:n.[医]病(disease的复数);[医]疾病;[植保]病害;疾病种类; sediments:n.[地质]沉积物,[化学]沉淀物(sediment的复数); v.沉积(sediment的第三人称单数);
We have trampled the reefs physically with our boats, our fins, our bulldozers , and we have changed the chemistry of the entire sea, warmed the waters and made storms worse. 我们的船舶,船舵和推土机已经践踏了珊瑚礁, 我们已经改变了整个海洋的化学结构, 导致海水温度升高,风暴变得更加猛烈。
trampled:v.踩伤;践踏;摧残(人权、心灵等);(trample的过去分词和过去式) bulldozers:n.[机]推土机(bulldozer的复数形式);
And these would all be bad on their own, but these threats magnify each other and compound one another and make each other worse. 这其中的每一项本身就是有害的, 而它们还会相互作用,彼此强化, 让各个因素的负面效果愈演愈烈。
magnify:vt.放大;赞美;夸大;vi.放大;有放大能力; compound:v.合成; adj.混合; n.大院;
I'll give you an example. 我给你们举个例子。
Where I live and work, in Cura?ao, a tropical storm went by a few years ago. Cura?ao是我生活工作的地方,这里几年前被一个热带风暴侵袭过。
And on the eastern end of the island, where the reefs are intact and thriving , you could barely tell a tropical storm had passed. 在岛的最东端, 珊瑚们保存完好,生长得很繁茂, 你很难相信一个热带风暴潮刚刚经过这里。
eastern:adj.东方的;向东的;东部的;东方国家的;n.东方人;东正教信徒; intact:adj.完整的;原封不动的;未受损伤的; thriving:v.兴旺发达;繁荣;旺盛;茁壮成长;(thrive的现在分词) barely:adv.仅仅,勉强;几乎不;公开地;贫乏地;
But in town, where corals had died from overfishing , from pollution, the tropical storm picked up the dead corals and used them as bludgeons to kill the corals that were left. 但是在城镇中心,那里的珊瑚早已死于过度捕鱼和污染, 热带风暴潮夹带起死去的珊瑚, 用它们撞击并消灭了其他活着的珊瑚。
corals:n.[无脊椎]珊瑚(coral的复数); overfishing:n.渔捞过度;vt.过度捕捞(overfish的现在分词); bludgeons:vt.恫吓;用棍棒打;猛烈攻击;n.棍棒;攻击;vi.恫吓;用棍棒打;猛烈攻击;
This is a coral that I studied during my PhD -- 这是一种我在读博士期间研究过的珊瑚,
I got to know it quite well. 我很了解它。
And after this storm took off half of its tissue , it became infested with algae , the algae overgrew the tissue and that coral died. 在风暴潮过后,它只剩了半边组织, 它开始被海藻侵蚀, 海藻在珊瑚身上过度生长,然后珊瑚就死了。
tissue:n.纸巾,手巾纸;(人、动植物细胞的)组织; infested:v.大量滋生;大批出没于;(infest的过去分词和过去式) algae:n.[植]藻类;[植]海藻;
This magnification of threats, this compounding of factors is what Jeremy Jackson describes as the " slippery slope to slime ." 这样的巨大威胁,这种混合因素, 正是 Jeremy Jackson描述的那样 滑向烂泥深渊的斜坡。
magnification:n.放大;放大率;放大的复制品; compounding:v.组合;混合(compound的ing形式); factors:n.因素(factor的复数); v.做代理商; describes:v.描述;形容;把…称为;画出…图形;(describe的第三人称单数) slippery slope:n.灾难性的急剧下滑; slime:n.黏液;烂泥;vt.涂泥;vi.变粘滑;
It's hardly even a metaphor because many of our reefs now are literally bacteria and algae and slime. 这可能都不是只是个隐喻了,因为很多礁石都是由 细菌,海草和烂泥组成的了。
metaphor:n.暗喻,隐喻;比喻说法; literally:adv.按字面:字面上:确实地: bacteria:n.[微]细菌;
Now, this is the part of the talk where you may expect me to launch into my plea for us to all save the coral reefs. 现在你们可能觉得 我马上就要开始提出关于 保护珊瑚礁的倡议了。
launch into:进入,投入; plea:n.请求;恳求;答辩;借口;
But I have a confession to make: that phrase drives me nuts. 但是我必须要承认: 保护珊瑚礁这词让我很受不了。
confession:n.忏悔,告解;供认;
Whether I see it in a tweet, in a news headline or the glossy pages of a conservation brochure , that phrase bothers me, because we as conservationists have been sounding the alarms about the death of coral reefs for decades. 无论我在微博,报纸头条, 或是设计精美的环保宣传册上看到, 那些辞藻都让我觉得很反感, 因为我们这些自然环境保护者几十年来一直在散播 关于珊瑚礁死亡的警告。
glossy:adj.光滑的;有光泽的; brochure:n.手册,小册子; bothers:n.麻烦; v.给(某人)造成麻烦(或痛苦); (bother的第三人称单数和复数) conservationists:n.自然资源保护论者;
And yet, almost everyone I meet, no matter how educated, is not sure what a coral is or where they come from. 但是现在,几乎我遇到的所有人,无论他们受教育程度如何, 居然都不知道什么是珊瑚,或不知道它们从哪里来。
How would we get someone to care about the world's coral reefs when it's an abstract thing they can barely understand? 那么我们要如何让人们来关心世界上的珊瑚礁呢？ 对大众来说它们只是抽象的词汇,又怎么会被人们所了解呢？
abstract:n.摘要; adj.抽象的; vt.摘要; vi.做摘要;
If they don't understand what a coral is or where it comes from, or how funny or interesting or beautiful it is, why would we expect them to care about saving them? 如果大众不知道珊瑚是什么,从何而来, 或者它们多么有意思,亦或不知道它们有多美丽, 那为什么我们要期待大众去保护它们呢？
So let's change that. 那么,我们要改变一下现状了。
What is a coral and where does it come from? 什么是珊瑚,它们从哪来？
Corals are born in a number of different ways, but most often by mass spawning : all of the individuals of a single species on one night a year, releasing all the eggs they've made that year into the water column , packaged into bundles with sperm cells. 珊瑚可以通过很多种方式诞生, 但通常是通过大量产卵:所有这些同一类的珊瑚虫个体 在每年的一个晚上, 释放它们当年产的所有卵 到水柱中去, 并和精子细胞打包在一起。
mass:n.块,团; adj.群众的,民众的; v.聚集起来,聚集; spawning:v.播种,产卵;大量生成(spawn的现在分词);n.产卵;增殖; individuals:n.[经]个人;[生物]个体(individual的复数); species:n.[生物]物种;种类; releasing:n.释放;松释动作;脱扣释放;v.释放;排放;(release的现在分词); column:n.栏目,纵队; bundles:[解剖]束; sperm:n.精子;精液;鲸蜡油;
And those bundles go to the surface of the ocean and break apart. 那些卵包到了海面,散开。
And hopefully -- hopefully -- at the surface of the ocean, they meet the eggs and sperm from other corals. 之后在海面上,咱们只能是希望, 它们可能遇到了其他珊瑚虫的卵子和精子。
And that is why you need lots of corals on a coral reef -- so that all of their eggs can meet their match at the surface. 而这就是为什么一个珊瑚礁上需要大量的珊瑚虫—— 这样它们所有的卵才能在海面上找到精子。
When they're fertilized , they do what any other animal egg does: divides in half again and again and again. 当这些卵受精后,它们就像其他动物的卵一样: 一遍又一遍地分裂。
fertilized:v.使受精;使受粉;使受胎;使受孕;施肥于;(fertilize的过去分词和过去式) again and again:adv.再三地,反复地;
Taking these photos under the microscope every year is one of my favorite and most magical moments of the year. 在显微镜下拍到这些照片, 成为了我每年最喜欢的,最神奇的时刻之一。
microscope:n.显微镜;
At the end of all this cell division , they turn into a swimming larva -- a little tiny blob of fat the size of a poppy seed, but with all of the sensory systems that we have. 在所有这些细胞分裂结束后,它们变成了游动的幼虫—— 小小的一团,肥的像个罂粟种子, 但已经具备我们人类所有的感觉系统了。
division:n.师;分配;分开;分歧; larva:n.[水产]幼体,[昆]幼虫; blob:n.一滴;一抹;v.弄脏;把…做错;得零分; poppy:n.罂粟花;罂粟属植物;深红色;adj.罂粟科的; sensory:adj.感觉的;知觉的;传递感觉的;
They can sense color and light, textures , chemicals , pH. 它们可以感知颜色和光,材质,化学物质和酸碱值。
textures:n.纹理;材质(texture的复数);v.使具有某种结构(texture的三单形式); chemicals:n.化学制品;化学品;(chemical的复数)
They can even feel pressure waves; they can hear sound. 它们甚至可以感觉到压力波;可以听到声音。
And they use those talents to search the bottom of the reef for a place to attach and live the rest of their lives. 而且它们可以用这些天份, 去寻找珊瑚礁的底端附着上去, 并在珊瑚礁上度过它们的余生。
attach:v.贴上;重视;把…固定,把…附(在…上);参加;与…有联系;
So imagine finding a place where you would live the rest of your life when you were just two days old. 那么想像下找到一个地方去度过你们的余生, 而当时你只诞生了两天。
They attach in the place they find most suitable , they build a skeleton underneath themselves, they build a mouth and tentacles , and then they begin the difficult work of building the world's coral reefs. 它们附着在它们觉得最适合的地方, 在自己身体下面创造支架, 一起建造一张嘴和很多触手, 然后就开始了艰难的工作,去建造全世界的珊瑚礁。
suitable:adj.合适的;适宜的;适当的;适用的; skeleton:n.骨架,骨骼;纲要;骨瘦如柴的人;adj.骨骼的;骨瘦如柴的;概略的; underneath:prep.在…的下面;在…的支配下;n.下面;底部;adj.下面的;底层的; tentacles:n.[动]触手;[动]触须(tentacle的复数);
One coral polyp will divide itself again and again and again, leaving a limestone skeleton underneath itself and growing up toward the sun. 一只珊瑚虫将自己分裂一次又一次, 在其腹下产生一个石灰岩的骨架, 然后朝着太阳的方向的生长。
polyp:n.息肉;珊瑚虫;水螅虫; limestone:n.[岩]石灰岩;
Given hundreds of years and many species, what you get is a massive limestone structure that can be seen from space in many cases, covered by a thin skin of these hardworking animals. 数百年之后,万物纵生, 一个巨大的石灰结构形成了, 在太空上都能从很多地方看到, 表面还覆盖着薄薄的一层这些辛勤工作的珊瑚虫。
massive:adj.大量的;巨大的,厚重的;魁伟的;
Now, there are only a few hundred species of corals on the planet, maybe 1,000. 现在,仅有几百种珊瑚存于世间,也可能1000种。
But these systems house millions and millions of other species, and that diversity is what stabilizes the systems, and it's where we're finding our new medicines. 但是这种珊瑚的石灰结构却是亿万其他生物的栖息地, 而其多样性造就了这个生态系统的稳定性, 也让我们找到了新型的药物。
diversity:n.差异(性):多样性:多样化: stabilizes:vt.使稳固,使安定;vi.稳定,安定;
It's how we find new sources of food. 我们在其中还找到了新的食物来源。
I'm lucky enough to work on the island of Cura?ao, where we still have reefs that look like this. 我很幸运能在 Cura?ao岛上工作, 在那里我们仍能找到像这样的珊瑚礁。
But, indeed, much of the Caribbean and much of our world is much more like this. 但是,事实上在加勒比海和世界上大多数地方, 却是这般光景。
Caribbean:adj.加勒比海的;加勒比人的;加勒比语的;n.加勒比海;
Scientists have studied in increasing detail the loss of the world's coral reefs, and they have documented with increasing certainty the causes. 科学家们更深入地研究了这种退化的本质原因, 为何我们的珊瑚礁会慢慢消失, 他们已经记录了不断被确定的原因。
certainty:n.必然;确实;确实的事情;
But in my research, I'm not interested in looking backward . 但是在我的研究中,我对过去不感兴趣。
backward:adj.向后的;反向的;发展迟缓的;adv.向后地;相反地;
My colleagues and I in Cura?ao are interested in looking forward at what might be. 我和我同事在Cura?ao岛上对将来 可能会发生什么很感兴趣。
colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数);
And we have the tiniest reason to be optimistic . 我们只能用最微不足道的原因去保持乐观。
optimistic:adj.乐观的;乐观主义的;
Because even in some of these reefs that we probably could have written off long ago, we sometimes see baby corals arrive and survive anyway. 因为即使在某些我们早就 不抱希望的珊瑚礁中, 我们有时仍会看到珊瑚虫的幼虫到达这里,并挣扎生存下来。
And we're starting to think that baby corals may have the ability to adjust to some of the conditions that the adults couldn't. 随后,我们开始思考,这些小珊瑚虫们 可能有某种能力去适应一些成年珊瑚虫可能适应不了的地方。
adjust:v.调整;调节;适应;习惯;
They may be able to adjust ever so slightly more readily to this human planet. 它们可能可以调整自身 去不断适应这个被人类占领的星球。
slightly:adv.些微地,轻微地;纤细地; readily:adv.容易地;乐意地;无困难地;
So in the research I do with my colleagues in Cura?ao, we try to figure out what a baby coral needs in that critical early stage, what it's looking for and how we can try to help it through that process . 所以在Cura?ao的研究中,我和同事们 努力去找出小珊瑚虫生长需要的因素, 特别是在关键的早期生长过程中, 这些小珊瑚虫到底在找些什么, 以及我们怎么才能帮助它们渡过这些难关。
critical:adj.鉴定的;[核]临界的;批评的,爱挑剔的;危险的;决定性的;评论的; process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
I'm going to show you three examples of the work we've done to try to answer those questions. 我将向你们展示我们工作中的三个例子, 并以此来解答我刚提出的那些困惑。
A few years ago we took a 3D printer and we made coral choice surveys -- different colors and different textures, and we simply asked the coral where they preferred to settle . 在几年以前,我们用3D打印设备,进行了珊瑚选择鉴定研究, 给出不同颜色和材质的环境, 我们简单地观察珊瑚虫,想知道哪些环境是它们最喜欢的。
surveys:n.调查(survey的复数); preferred:v.较喜欢;喜欢…多于…;(prefer的过去式和过去分词) settle:v.定居;结算;停留;确定;n.高背长椅(老式木家具,有扶手,座下多带柜);
And we found that corals, even without the biology involved , still prefer white and pink, the colors of a healthy reef. 之后我们发现珊瑚虫甚至在没有任何生物手段干预的情况下, 仍然选择了白色和粉红,代表着健康礁石。
biology:n.(一个地区全部的)生物;生物学; involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词)
And they prefer crevices and grooves and holes, where they will be safe from being trampled or eaten by a predator . 它们喜欢裂缝,凹槽,还有洞, 在那些地方它们可以免受外界侵扰, 也不会被捕食者吃掉。
crevices:n.裂缝;裂隙; grooves:n.细槽,[建]凹槽(groove的复数); predator:n.[动]捕食者;[动]食肉动物;掠夺者;
So we can use this knowledge, we can go back and say we need to restore those factors -- that pink, that white, those crevices, those hard surfaces -- in our conservation projects. 所以我们可以用这些知识, 回到实验室,提出我们需要重构这些因素—— 粉红的,白色的,有裂缝的,坚硬的表面—— 列入到我们的保护项目之中。
restore:v.恢复;修复;恢复(某种情况或感受);使复原;
We can also use that knowledge if we're going to put something underwater , like a sea wall or a pier . 我们也能把这些知识, 运用到建造海底墙体和码头上,把合适的材料放在水下。
underwater:adj.在水中的;水面下的;adv.在水下;n.水下; pier:n.码头,直码头;桥墩;窗间壁;
We can choose to use the materials and colors and textures that might bias the system back toward those corals. 我们可以选择用这些材料、颜色、纹路, 让整个生态系统有利于珊瑚虫的生存。
bias:adv.使有偏见;n.偏见;偏心;偏爱;v.使有偏见;使偏向;adj.斜的;[电]偏动的;
Now in addition to the surfaces, we also study the chemical and microbial signals that attract corals to reefs. 除了研究合适的表面, 我们也研究了可以吸引珊瑚虫 附着在礁石上的化学和微生物因素。
in addition to:除…之外; microbial:adj.微生物的;由细菌引起的;
Starting about six years ago, I began culturing bacteria from surfaces where corals had settled . 大约六年前,我就开始培养珊瑚礁表面 有珊瑚栖息的区域的细菌。
settled:adj.稳定的; v.结束; (settle的过去分词和过去式)
And I tried those one by one by one, looking for the bacteria that would convince corals to settle and attach. 我一个一个地试, 想要找到那些能诱导珊瑚虫聚集吸附的细菌种类。
one by one:一个接一个; convince:v.使确信;使相信;说服,劝说;
And we now have many bacterial strains in our freezer that will reliably cause corals to go through that settlement and attachment process. 现在我们有很多细菌株在冷冻柜里, 这些细菌是珊瑚虫信赖的, 愿意去附着和生长的菌类。
bacterial:adj.[微]细菌的; strains:n.[微]菌株(strain复数); v.[力]拉紧; freezer:n.冰箱;冷冻库;制冷工; reliably:adv.可靠地;确实地; settlement:n.协议:处理:结算:定居点; attachment:n.附件;依恋;连接物;扣押财产;
So as we speak, my colleagues in Cura?ao are testing those bacteria to see if they'll help us raise more coral settlers in the lab, and to see if those coral settlers will survive better when we put them back underwater. 就在演讲的这段时间里, 我的同事们正在Cura?ao测试那些细菌, 去研究它们是否能帮助我们在实验室建造珊瑚的栖息地, 以及这些有珊瑚附着的结构能够 在海水中更好地生存。
settlers:n.移民;殖民者;(settler的复数)
Now in addition to these tools, we also try to uncover the mysteries of species that are under-studied. 除了这些工具,我们也在努力解开不为我们 所熟知的物种的秘密。
uncover:v.揭开盖子;发现;揭露;揭发;
This is one of my favorite corals, and always has been: dendrogyra cylindrus, the pillar coral. 这是其中我最喜欢的珊瑚中的一种,一直都是: 系统柱状的,柱状珊瑚。
pillar:n.支柱; v.用柱子装饰[支持];
I love it because it makes this ridiculous shape, because its tentacles are fat and look fuzzy and because it's rare. 我喜欢它,因为它有着无与伦比的形状, 因为它的触须胖嘟嘟,看起来毛茸茸, 还因为它很稀有。
ridiculous:adj.可笑的;荒谬的; fuzzy:adj.模糊的;失真的;有绒毛的;
Finding one of these on a reef is a treat . 能找到这样一种珊瑚绝对是一种慰藉。
treat:v.治疗;处理;招待;款待;n.款待;乐事;乐趣;
In fact, it's so rare, that last year it was listed as a threatened species on the endangered species list. 实际上,它是真的太稀有了, 以至于它去年被认为是濒危物种, 出现在了濒危物种列表上。
endangered:v.使遭危险;危及;危害;(endanger的过去分词和过去式)
And this was in part because in over 30 years of research surveys, scientists had never found a baby pillar coral. 这不难理解,因为在过去30年的研究中, 科学家从未发现过一只幼年柱形珊瑚虫。
We weren't even sure if they could still reproduce , or if they were still reproducing . 我们之前都无法确信它是否还可以继续繁衍, 或者当时是否还在繁殖。
reproduce:v.繁殖;复制;再现;生育; reproducing:v.复制;繁殖(reproduce的ing形式);重述;
So four years ago, we started following these at night and watching to see if we could figure out when they spawn in Cura?ao. 所以四年前,我们开始在夜间观察, 看它们什么时候会在Cura?ao产卵。
We got some good tips from our colleagues in Florida, who had seen one in 2007, one in 2008, and eventually we figured out when they spawn in Cura?ao and we caught it. 我们从佛罗里达的同事那里得到了一些好的建议, 他们在2007年和2008年分别看到了一只柱状珊瑚, 终于我们发现了它们在Cura?ao产卵的时间, 我们捕捉到了这个时刻。
tips:n.尖端; v.(使)倾斜,翻覆; (tip的第三人称单数和复数) eventually:adv.最后,终于;
Here's a female on the left with some eggs in her tissue, about to release them into the seawater . 左边是一只母珊瑚虫和一些卵, 正要把这些卵释放到海水中。
female:adj.女性的;雌性的;柔弱的,柔和的;n.女人;[动]雌性动物; release:v.释放;发射;让与;允许发表;n.释放;发布;让与; seawater:n.海水;
And here's a male on the right, releasing sperm. 而右边是一只公的珊瑚虫在释放精子。
We collected this, we got it back to the lab, we got it to fertilize and we got baby pillar corals swimming in our lab. 我们收集了这些卵子和精子,带回实验室进行培育, 于是就有了柱状珊瑚虫在我们实验室里里游来游去。
Thanks to the work of our scientific aunts and uncles, and thanks to the 10 years of practice we've had in Cura?ao at raising other coral species, we got some of those larvae to go through the rest of the process and settle and attach, and turn into metamorphosed corals. 感谢我们的科学界的前辈们, 也要感谢我们在Cura?ao岛上 十年培育其他珊瑚虫种类的经验, 我们有了一些珊瑚幼虫可以完成余下的步骤, 让它们在礁石上附着和生存下来, 并形成变质珊瑚礁。
scientific:adj.科学的,系统的; larvae:n.幼虫;幼体(larva的复数形式); metamorphosed:vt.变质;变形;使变成;
So this is the first pillar coral baby that anyone ever saw. 这是所有人见过的第一只年幼的柱状珊瑚虫。
(Applause) （掌声）
And I have to say -- if you think baby pandas are cute, this is cuter. 我不得不说——如果你们认为熊猫宝宝很可爱, 那这些小珊瑚虫更可爱。
(Laughter) （笑声）
So we're starting to figure out the secrets to this process, the secrets of coral reproduction and how we might help them. 我们正在研究珊瑚繁殖过程的秘密, 我们要找出如何帮助它们繁殖。
reproduction:n.繁殖,生殖;复制;复制品;
And this is true all around the world; scientists are figuring out new ways to handle their embryos , to get them to settle, maybe even figuring out the methods to preserve them at low temperatures, so that we can preserve their genetic diversity and work with them more often. 全世界都面临着同样的情况; 科学家们正在找出新的方法去处理珊瑚虫的胚胎, 让它们栖息生长, 甚至在想办法让它们能够在低温下生长, 这样我们就可以保护它们的基因多样性, 并且有更多机会对它们进行研究。
handle:n.[建]把手;柄;手感;口实;v.处理;操作;运用;买卖;触摸; embryos:n.胚;胚胎;人类胚胎;(embryo的复数) preserve:vt.保存;保护;维持;腌;禁猎;n.保护区;禁猎地;加工成的食品; genetic:adj.基因的;遗传学的;
But this is still so low-tech . 但是这个过程的技术含量太低了。
low-tech:adj.低技术的;
We are limited by the space on our bench, the number of hands in the lab and the number of coffees we can drink in any given hour. 我们实验室的空间有限,人手也不够, 连休息时间提供的咖啡都少得可怜。
limited:adj.有限的; n.高级快车; v.限制; (limit的过去分词和过去式)
Now, compare that to our other crises and our other areas of concern as a society. 现在,与我们人类遇到的其他危机, 以及其他社会问题比较一下。
compare:v.比较;对比;n.比较; crises:n.危机,紧要关头;危险期(crisis的复数形式); concern:v.涉及,关系到;使担心;n.关系;关心;关心的事;
We have advanced medical technology , we have defense technology , we have scientific technology , we even have advanced technology for art. 我们有先进的医疗技术,防御技术, 我们也有科学手段, 甚至还有先进的艺术科技。
advanced:adj.先进的; v.前进; (advance的过去式和过去分词形式) technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;
But our technology for conservation is behind. 但是我们的环保技术却远远落后了。
Think back to the most difficult job you ever did. 想想你们做过的最艰难的工作。
Many of you would say it was being a parent. 你们很多人肯定会说是为人父母。
My mother described being a parent as something that makes your life far more amazing and far more difficult than you could've ever possibly imagined. 我的妈妈描述了为人父母, 会让自己的生命更加精彩,也更加艰辛, 相比任何所能想象的工作。
described:v.描述;形容;把…称为;做…运动;(describe的过去分词和过去式)
I've been trying to help corals become parents for over 10 years now. 我已经从事让珊瑚虫们做父母这项工作超过十年了。
And watching the wonder of life has certainly filled me with amazement to the core of my soul. 见证这些生命的奇迹, 让我的内心十分充实,在灵魂深处也惊叹不已。
amazement:n.惊异;惊愕; to the core:到心;彻底;彻底地;透顶的;
But I've also seen how difficult it is for them to become parents. 但是我看到了珊瑚虫们想成为父母有多么困难。
The pillar corals spawned again two weeks ago, and we collected their eggs and brought them back to the lab. 那些柱状珊瑚虫两周前在此产卵, 我们取了它们的卵,并带回了实验室。
spawned:v.产卵;引发;引起;导致;造成;(spawn的过去分词和过去式)
And here you see one embryo dividing, alongside 14 eggs that didn't fertilize and will blow up. 这里你们可以看到一个胚胎在分裂,马上就会炸裂开, 而旁边其他的14个卵 还没有任何分裂迹象。
They'll be infected with bacteria, they will explode and those bacteria will threaten the life of this one embryo that has a chance. 这些珊瑚虫卵会被细菌感染,爆裂开来, 而这些细菌也会侵害那只 能够分裂的胚胎。
infected:adj.带菌的; v.传染; (infect的过去分词和过去式) explode:v.爆炸;爆裂;勃然(大怒);突然发生(危险);
We don't know if it was our handling methods that went wrong and we don't know if it was just this coral on this reef, always suffering from low fertility . 我们不知道是我们的处理过程有问题, 还是只有这种珊瑚虫 在礁石上繁育率一直很低。
fertility:n.多产;肥沃;[农经]生产力;丰饶;
Whatever the cause, we have much more work to do before we can use baby corals to grow or fix or, yes, maybe save coral reefs. 无论这种低产率的原因是什么, 在我们能用这些珊瑚虫去培育、修复、或者保护珊瑚礁之前, 我们还有更多的工作要做。
So never mind that they're worth hundreds of billions of dollars. 不要在意它们是否价值连城。
never mind:没关系;
Coral reefs are hardworking animals and plants and microbes and fungi . 珊瑚礁由是辛勤工作的动植物和细菌组成的。
microbes:n.细菌,[微]微生物;微生物类(microbe的复数形式); fungi:n.真菌;菌类;蘑菇(fungus的复数);
They're providing us with art and food and medicine. 它们给予了我们艺术,食物和药物。
And we almost took out an entire generation of corals. 我们几乎毁掉了整整一代的珊瑚。
But a few made it anyway, despite our best efforts, and now it's time for us to thank them for the work they did and give them every chance they have to raise the coral reefs of the future, their coral babies. 但是仍有一些幸存了下来尽管我们一直在不遗余力地破坏着, 所以现在我们应该去感谢这些物种, 并且给予它们所有能在未来长成珊瑚礁的机会, 保护珊瑚幼虫。
Thank you so much. 非常谢谢你们。
(Applause) （掌声）