GRE閱讀雙語材料
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GRE閱讀雙語材料 科學(xué)驗證睡眠和月相緊密相關(guān)
People do not sleep easy on nights when there is afull Moon.IT SOUNDS like an idea dreamed up over a few beersin the pub one evening.And that, those involved freely admit, is exactly what it was.As Christian Cajochen and his colleagues put it in their paper on the matter in Current biology,We just thought of it after a drink in a local bar one evening at full Moon.It was a way of testing the persistent but unproven idea that the full Moon affects humanbehaviour, generally for the worse.
月圓之夜，不能安眠。這聽起來就像某晚在酒吧喝了幾杯啤酒后的胡說八道。提出這個觀點的人也坦誠的這點子的確就是這么來的。他的同事和Christian Cajochen將有關(guān)睡眠與月相研究的論文放到了《當(dāng)代生物學(xué)》上，我們就是月圓的那晚在附近一個酒吧喝了幾杯才想到的。這是個未經(jīng)證實的測試持久性的方法，滿月會影響人的行為，總的來說，它將惡化你的行為。
In prescientific days this was expressed in terms like moonstruck and lunatic.And it found even more sinistermanifestation in the form of the lycanthrope, who did not sleep when the Moon was full,but turned into a wolf instead.Though few now believe in werewolves some modern thinkers still suspect the Moon's phaseaffects sleep patterns,and on that particular moonlit night Dr Cajochen and his buddies realised they already had thedata needed to find out.
現(xiàn)代科學(xué)出現(xiàn)以前，這種情況被稱作月色撩人或者癡狂。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，甚至還有更多像狼人一樣的兇神惡煞，他們在月圓之夜化成狼的樣子，而不是像往常一般睡去。盡管如今已經(jīng)很少人相信狼人的存在，但一些當(dāng)代思想家仍懷疑月相會影響睡眠模式,而且就在這個不同尋常的月夜Cajochen博士和同僚們才意識到，他們早已掌握了本想挖掘的數(shù)據(jù)。
Those data came from a study on body clocks and sleep patterns they had conducted a decadeearlier at the Centre for Chronobiology at the University of Basel,where they work.Between 2000 and 2003 they had looked at the effect of the daily body clock on the sleeppatterns of 33 volunteers.The protocol they had used was perfect.Volunteers were shut away from daylight for days at a time, so their sleep patterns could notbe affected by the illumination a full Moon brings.And it was also the ultimate in double-blind experiments.
這些數(shù)據(jù)來自10年前他們所在的瑞士巴塞爾大學(xué)時間生物學(xué)中心，一個關(guān)于生物鐘與睡眠研究。那次試驗在2000至2003年間曾觀察過33名志愿者在日常生物鐘下的睡眠模式。研究所使用的方法無懈可擊。研究期間，志愿者都與日光隔絕，所以觀察對象就不會對滿月的月光產(chǎn)生反映。這也是一個終極雙盲試驗。
Neither the participants nor the organisers could possibly have been biased by knowing theexperiment was intended to look at the effect of the full Moon, since at the time it wasconducted it wasn't.A few days' number-crunching gave Dr Cajochen and his team what they were looking for.And the answer was yes, the phase of the Moon does affect human sleep patterns, even whenthe human involved cannot possibly see the Moon.
志愿者和組織者都不可能因知道此次研究是針對滿月帶來的效應(yīng)而出現(xiàn)偏差，當(dāng)時實驗結(jié)果沒有說明兩者之間有關(guān)聯(lián)。經(jīng)過幾天的計算后，Cajochen博士小組得到了他們想要的數(shù)據(jù)。并得到了肯定的答案，月相的確影響著人們的睡眠，即使參加研究的志愿者不能看到月亮。
Electroencephalography showed that the volunteers slept, on average, 20 minutes less aroundthe time of the full Moon.It also took them five minutes longer to get to sleep, their delta activity was 30% lower thanat other times, their level of melatonin, a sleep-related hormone, was reduced, and theyreported, subjectively, that they had not slept as well as usual.Nor was any of this connected, in female volunteers, with their menstrual cycles.
腦電波圖顯示了他們的睡眠腦電圖，平均來說，將近月圓或者剛過滿月那幾天，人們睡得比平常少20分鐘。而且入睡時間也比平時多需要5分鐘，他們的是平日幅度的30%。他們體內(nèi)的一種與睡眠相關(guān)的黑色素荷爾蒙減少，而且研究對象也主觀地反映他們不像平常那樣睡得香腦波幅度。而女性志愿者的試驗數(shù)據(jù)顯示,她們的生理周期與這些睡眠時間和激素水平中的任何一個都沒有關(guān)系。
Lest any astrologer reading this result get cocky, Dr Cajochen does not believe that what hehas found is directly influenced by the Moon through, say, some tidal effect.What he thinks he has discovered is an additional hand on the body's clock-face.Besides the well-known endogenous daily cycle which the experiment originally studied, there isalso an endogenous monthly cycle entrained to the Moon by unconscious observation over along period of the light from the heavenly bodies concerned.
以免有些占星師洋洋得意，Cajochen博士認(rèn)為，他所得出的規(guī)律并不是由月亮通過某種潮汐導(dǎo)致的。他認(rèn)為這些研究結(jié)果只是往生物鐘表盤上多加了一個指針。除眾所周知的自身的日循環(huán)外，這也是研究最初的目的，身體還有一個受到月亮調(diào)控的內(nèi)在月循環(huán)，這是長期以來在對天體不經(jīng)意的觀察中得到的啟示。
Lunar cycles exist in other species so this is not, as it were, a lunatic idea.But those species that have been studied are animals like marine iguanas, for whom knowingthe tides is important.What use an ingrained lunar calendar is to a human being remains to be determined.Perhaps sleeping lightly on moonlit nights was a defence mechanism against predators.Wolves, for example.
月亮運轉(zhuǎn)周期對其他物種也影響，這并不是異想天開。被研究的動物對象包括海蜥蜴，潮汐對它來說非常重要。什么使陰歷扎根于人類社會當(dāng)中仍是一個迷。也許在月光明亮的夜晚淺睡是對狼人等肉食動物的防御機(jī)制。
GRE閱讀材料大補充 海洋生態(tài)新視角之塑料星球
關(guān)系以及所考察的基本知識點和題目類型幾乎沒有太大的變化。
SINCE 2008 geologists have been mulling over the idea of the Anthropocene, a proposed newepoch in the history of the Earth that would encompass the years in which people have hadprofound effects on the planet's workings.Most often, discussion of theAnthropocene revolves around how atmospheric chemistry has changed since the beginning ofthe industrial revolution.Sometimes the effects of new terrestrial ecosystems, in the form of fields, pastures andplantations, are also considered.To date, though, how the Anthropocene has created new ecosystems in the oceans as well ason land has not been much examined.
自2008年以來,地質(zhì)學(xué)家一直在研究人類紀(jì)這一理念，人類紀(jì)是在地球歷史上提出的新紀(jì)元，其囊括了人們深刻地影響地球的運作的年代。大多數(shù)時候,人類紀(jì)的討論大多是圍繞著從工業(yè)革命開始大氣化學(xué)有何種變化進(jìn)行的。有時新型陸地系統(tǒng)所產(chǎn)生的影響也考慮在內(nèi)。到目前為止,然而人類紀(jì)是如何創(chuàng)造新型海洋及陸地生態(tài)系統(tǒng)并未做過多的研究。
Such ecosystems are, nevertheless, emerging—as Tracy Mincer of the Woods HoleOceanographic Institution,in Massachusetts, and Linda Amaral-Zettler of the Marine Biological Laboratory, also in WoodsHole, describe in Environmental Science and Technology.The malign effect of floating plastic debris on seabirds, turtles and other sea creatures is wellknown.But, as Dr Mincer and Dr Amaral-Zettler have discovered, plastic debris also provides a newhabitat for organisms small enough to take advantage of it.
不過這樣的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)在《環(huán)境科技》雜志中有所描述，是由馬薩諸塞州伍茲霍爾海洋學(xué)研究所的特蕾西·明瑟以及伍茲霍爾海洋學(xué)研究所海洋生物研究室的琳達(dá)阿瑪拉爾-特勒聯(lián)合提出的。眾所周知，漂浮的塑料碎片對海鳥海龜以及其他海洋生物有負(fù)面影響。但是,正如明瑟及阿瑪拉爾-特勒兩位博士已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)的一樣，塑料碎片還給有機(jī)體提供了一個小型足以充分利用全新的棲息地。
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The two researchers collected pieces of plastic from various sites in the North Atlantic.They then examined each using DNA analysis, and also an electron microscope, to see whatwas living on it.Lots of things were.Altogether, they discovered about 50 species of single-celled plant, animal and bacterial life.Each bit of debris was, in effect, a tiny ecosystem.As with many ecosystems, the bottom of the food chain was occupied by things thatphotosynthesise.These included unicellular algae called diatoms and dinoflagellates, and photosynthetic bacteriaknown as cyanobacteria.
兩位研究員從北大西洋的不同地點收集塑料碎片。他們?nèi)缓笥肈NA分析儀、電子顯微鏡檢測每一個，觀測其上生活著何種生物。有很多生物?？傊?他們發(fā)現(xiàn)約50種單細(xì)胞植物、動物和細(xì)菌的蹤跡。確切地說，每塊碎片是一個小型的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)。正如諸多生態(tài)系統(tǒng)一樣，食物鏈的底層被光合作用的生物占據(jù)著。這些包括名為硅藻和甲藻的單細(xì)胞藻類和藍(lán)藻的光合細(xì)菌。
Usually, such creatures swim freely in the ocean.They therefore have to work hard to stay near the surface, where light for photosynthesis isabundant.By hitching a ride on a piece of floating plastic, they can stay near the surface without effort.Where plants abound, herbivores will not be far behind.These, Dr Mincer and Dr Amaral-Zettler found in the form of dinoflagellates,some of which liketo snack on smaller creatures to supplement their photosynthesis.They also found predators on the herbivores, in the form of ciliates and predator bacteria,which feed on other bacteria.
通常,這些生物在海洋里自由自在地游蕩。因此他們必須努力保持在表層水域，因為那里的進(jìn)行光進(jìn)行光合所需的陽光是充裕的。通過搭乘漂浮塑料這一順風(fēng)車,他們可以毫不費力地呆在表層。植物比比皆是的地方食草動物的出現(xiàn)也不會落后。明瑟及阿瑪拉爾-特勒兩位博士以甲藻的形式發(fā)現(xiàn)了食草動物的存在,一些甲藻喜歡吃小型生物作為他們光合作用的補充。他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)食草動物的捕食者，如纖毛蟲以及以其他細(xì)菌為食的捕食細(xì)菌。
Except for top predators—the type that themselves prey on predators—the two researchersthus discovered a classic web of food chains of the sort familiar from ecology text books.And they also, and perhaps most pertinently from the human point of view, found evidence forone other part of such a food web: the decomposers.Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily.Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene.Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in thefield.
除了頂級捕食者外，兩位研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個與生態(tài)學(xué)課本上相似的經(jīng)典的食物網(wǎng)?；蛟S從人類的觀點來看最為適切的他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)了食物網(wǎng)的另一部分：分解者。塑料是能源豐富的物質(zhì),這就是為什么他們中的許多容易燃燒的原因。任何可以分解和使用那些能源的生物在人類紀(jì)將會取得先機(jī)。掌握這種技能的陸地上的細(xì)菌及真菌是這個領(lǐng)域的專家。
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Dr Mincer and Dr Amaral-Zettler found evidence of them on their marine plastic, too.They noticed many of their pieces of debris sported surface pits around two microns across.Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of thesepits did, indeed, contain bacteria,and that in several cases these bacteria were dividing and thus, by the perverse arithmetic ofbiological terminology, multiplying.Though the two researchers have not yet proved the bugs in the pits are actually eating theplastic, that hypothesis seems a good bet.And if they are, it suggests plastic pollution in the ocean may not hang around as long as hasoften been feared.
明瑟及阿瑪拉爾-特勒兩位博士在海洋塑料上也發(fā)現(xiàn)了它們的蹤跡。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)很多塑料碎片的運動表面周圍有大約兩微米的凹坑。凹坑與細(xì)菌一般大小。進(jìn)一步的研究顯示這些凹坑中的一部分確實含有細(xì)菌，在部分狀況下細(xì)菌正在分裂，因此根據(jù)生物學(xué)的反常計算其數(shù)量正在遞增。盡管兩位研究員至今未找到凹坑中的細(xì)菌是以塑料為食的證據(jù)，那個假說就好像是一場賭博。如果假說是正確的，這就意味著海洋塑料污染可能不如擔(dān)心的那么持久。
Less encouragingly, Dr Mincer and Dr Amaral-Zettler also found cholera-like bacteria in theirtiny floating ecosystems.Both fish and seabirds act as vectors for cholera,so anywhere that such creatures might pick upcholera bugs is something worth keeping an eye on.The researchers paint an intriguing picture of the adaptability of nature, and provide anotherpiece of the jigsaw that is the Anthropocene.Conservationists intent on preserving charismatic megafauna have reason to lament thespread of plastics through the ocean.But those interested in smaller critters have been given a whole, new sphere—theplastisphere—to study.
令人掃興的是，明瑟及阿瑪拉爾-特勒兩位博士在漂浮的小型生態(tài)系統(tǒng)中發(fā)現(xiàn)了類似于霍亂的細(xì)菌。魚類或者是海鳥都充當(dāng)著霍亂病菌的載體，所以任何使這些生物可能攜帶霍亂病菌的地區(qū)都值得密切關(guān)注。研究者就大自然的適應(yīng)性描繪了一幅耐人尋味的畫面，并提供了人類紀(jì)的另一塊拼圖。致力于保護(hù)引人好奇的大型動物的環(huán)保人士有理由擔(dān)心海洋塑料污染的蔓延。但是卻給了那些對小型生物感興趣的環(huán)保人士一個全新的視角——塑料星球。
不要自己嚇自己 要相信自己的身體很棒
You can. But it helps to think well of yourself in the first place.THE link between mind and body is terrain into which many medical researchers, fearing ridicule, dare not tread.But perhaps more should do so.For centuries, doctors have recognised the placebo effect, in which the illusion of treatment, such as pills without an active ingredient, produces real medical benefits.
你可以擁有很好的體魄。但首先，你要自我感覺好，這會有幫助的。許多醫(yī)學(xué)研究者都不敢探究軀體和心理的關(guān)系，因為他們害怕，踏進(jìn)這一領(lǐng)域會受人嘲笑。但也許，研究這方面的人應(yīng)該多一些才好。幾個世紀(jì)以來，醫(yī)生已逐漸認(rèn)可了安慰劑效應(yīng)。因為患者會產(chǎn)生錯覺，認(rèn)為自己在接受治療。比如，服用無活性成分的藥片也能產(chǎn)生實際療效。
More recently, respectable research has demonstrated that those who frequently experience positive emotions live longer and healthier lives.They have fewer heart attacks, for example, and fewer colds too.Why this happens, though, is only slowly becoming understood.What is needed is an experiment that points out specific and measurable ways in which such emotions alter an individual's biology.
根據(jù)最近的可靠的研究表明，平時積極樂觀的人會活得更長久、更健康。比如，他們心臟病發(fā)作的次數(shù)更少，也很少感冒。然而，人們才開始慢慢了解這種情況發(fā)生的原因。人們需要的是做一場實驗，明確這樣的情緒是通過怎樣具體的、可測量的方式來改變?nèi)说纳頎顩r。
And a study published in Psychological Science, by Barbara Fredrickson and Bethany Kok at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, does precisely that.Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok concentrated their attentions on the vagus nerve. This nerve starts in the brain and runs, via numerous branches, to several thoracic and abdominal organs including the heart.Among its jobs is to send signals telling that organ to slow down during moments of calm and safety.
北卡羅來納大學(xué)教堂山分校的芭芭拉·弗雷德里克松和貝瑟尼·可可就是按照這個思路做了一項研究，并在《心理科學(xué)》上發(fā)表了相關(guān)論文。弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士把注意力集中在迷走神經(jīng)上。這對神經(jīng)起于顱腔，通過無數(shù)分支與胸腔、腹腔的幾個臟器相連。它的其中一項工作就是為器官發(fā)送信號，讓它們在軀體平靜、安寧的狀態(tài)下放緩節(jié)奏。
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How effectively the vagus nerve is working can be tracked by monitoring someone's heart rate as he breathes in and out.Healthy vagal function is reflected in a subtle increase in heart rate while breathing in and a subtle decrease while breathing out.The difference yields an index of vagal tone, and the value of this index is known to be connected with health.Low values are, for example, linked to inflammation and heart attacks.
他們通過監(jiān)測一個人吸氣、呼氣時的心率，追蹤記錄迷走神經(jīng)如何有效地工作。如果吸氣時心率略微增加，呼氣時略微下降，則說明迷走神經(jīng)工作正常。兩次心率之差構(gòu)成迷走神經(jīng)張力指數(shù)。人們都知道該指數(shù)與健康程度有關(guān)。 例如，低指數(shù)就與炎癥、心臟病發(fā)作幾率有聯(lián)系。
What particularly interested Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok was recent work that showed something else about the vagal-tone index: people with high tone are better than those with low at stopping bad feelings getting overblown.They also show more positive emotions in general.This may provide the missing link between emotional well-being and physical health.
讓弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士特別感興趣的是最近的研究，因為它顯示了迷走神經(jīng)張力指數(shù)的另一個性質(zhì)：與張力指數(shù)低的人相比，指數(shù)高的人能更好地防止不良情緒失控。研究也顯示，指數(shù)高的人大體上情緒更樂觀。這也許彌補了心理健康與生理健康之間缺失的環(huán)節(jié)。
In particular, the two researchers found, during a preliminary study they carried out in 2010, that the vagal-tone values of those who experience positive emotions over a period of time go up.This left them wondering whether positive emotions and vagal tone drive one another in a virtuous spiral.They therefore conducted an experiment on 65 of the university's staff, to try to find out.
尤其值得注意的是，兩位研究人員在2010年的初步探究中發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們?nèi)绻w驗一段時間的積極情緒，迷走神經(jīng)張力指數(shù)會就增加。這為他們留下了疑念，積極情緒與迷走神經(jīng)張力是否處于一個良性循環(huán)之中，互相促進(jìn)?因此，他們對本校的65名員工展開實驗，一探究竟。
They measured all of their volunteers' vagal tones at the beginning of the experiment and at its conclusion nine weeks later.In between, the volunteers were asked to go each evening to a website especially designed for the purpose, and rate their most powerful emotional experiences that day.Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok asked their volunteers to consider nine positive emotions, such as hope, joy and love, and 11 negative ones, including anger, boredom and disgust.
他們在實驗開始時測量了所有志愿者的迷走神經(jīng)張力指數(shù)，九周后實驗結(jié)束時又再次測量。在實驗期間，他們要求志愿者每天晚上登錄一家專門為此設(shè)計的網(wǎng)站，為當(dāng)天所經(jīng)歷的各種最強(qiáng)烈情緒評定等級。弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士為志愿者提供了九種可供考慮的積極情緒選項，如期待、開心、熱愛，還有十一種消極情緒，包括憤怒、疲倦、厭惡。
They were asked to rate, on a five-point scale, whether—and how strongly—they had felt each emotion.One point meant not at all; five meant extremely.In addition, half the participants, chosen at random, were invited to a series of workshops run by a licensed therapist, to learn a meditation technique intended to engender in the meditator a feeling of goodwill towards both himself and others.
兩位博士要求他們以五分制一一打分：是否有這樣的情緒、情緒有多強(qiáng)烈。1分代表完全沒有，5分代表非常強(qiáng)烈。此外，他們還隨機(jī)邀請了一半志愿者到一個注冊治療師開的一系列工作坊中，學(xué)習(xí)冥想的技巧，旨在讓冥想者產(chǎn)生一種善待自己、善待他人的情緒。
This group was encouraged to meditate daily, and to report the time they spent doing so.Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok discovered that vagal tone increased significantly in people who meditated, and hardly at all in those who did not.Among meditators, those who started the experiment with the highest vagal-tone scores reported the biggest increases in positive emotions.
在眾多冥想者之中他們鼓勵這組人每天冥想，并向他們報告冥想用的時間。弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士發(fā)現(xiàn)，冥想的人的迷走神經(jīng)張力顯著增加，而那些不冥想的人幾乎沒有任何變化。，那些實驗一開始就擁有最高指數(shù)的人，積極情緒增加的幅度最大;
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Meditators who started with particularly low scores showed virtually no such boost.Taken as a whole, these findings suggest high vagal tone makes it easier to generate positive emotions and that this, in turn, drives vagal tone still higher.That is both literally and metaphorically a positive feedback loop.Which is good news for the emotionally positive, but bad for the emotionally negative, for it implies that those who most need a psychosomatic boost are incapable of generating one.
而一開始指數(shù)就很低的人，幾乎沒有這樣的奇效。作為一個整體來看，這些發(fā)現(xiàn)意味著，這迷走神經(jīng)張力指數(shù)越高，越容易產(chǎn)生積極情緒;反過來，積極情緒又能促進(jìn)指數(shù)的提升。無論是從直觀還是隱含的角度看，這都是一個正反饋循環(huán)。對于情緒樂觀的人來說，這是個好消息;但對于消極的人來說，情況正好相反，因為它意味著，那些最需要振作精神的人卻往往無法產(chǎn)生積極情緒。
A further experiment by Dr Kok suggests, however, that the grumpy need not give up all hope.A simpler procedure than meditation, namely reflecting at night on the day's social connections, did seem to cause some improvement to their vagal tone.This might allow even those with a negative outlook on life to bootstrap their way to a mental state from which they could then advance to the more powerful technique of meditation.
然而可可博士的進(jìn)一步研究表明，脾氣不好的人也尚存希望。有一種比冥想簡單的方法，即每天晚上對白天的社交活動進(jìn)行反思，似乎能在一定程度上提高迷走神經(jīng)張力指數(shù)。就算是對生活不抱希望的人，也可能通過這種方式自我解脫，達(dá)到另一種精神狀態(tài)，然后他們可以進(jìn)一步使用效果更好的冥想技巧。
Whether, besides improving general health, the mechanism Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok have discovered helps explain the placebo effect remains to be investigated.But it might, because part of that effect seems to be the good feeling engendered by the fact of being treated.More generally, doctors in the ancient world had a saying: a healthy mind in a healthy body.This sort of work suggests that though this proverb is true, a better one might be, a healthy mind for a healthy body.
除了提高綜合健康水平，弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士發(fā)現(xiàn)的機(jī)制是否有助于解釋安慰劑效應(yīng)，還有待進(jìn)一步研究。但這的確有可能，因為安慰劑效應(yīng)就包括實驗中因治療產(chǎn)生的良好情緒。更為普遍的是，古代的醫(yī)生就有個說法：身體好，精氣兒足。而這個實驗則啟發(fā)人們，盡管諺語說得有理，但精氣兒足，身體好可能才更準(zhǔn)確。
你知道嗎?鳥類擁有磁性感知能力
候，要多看各類教課書籍和充分的課外讀物。長此以往，才能在保證閱讀速度的同時降低扣分率。
Birds can navigate by the Earth's magnetic field.How they do it is still a mystery.Where would people be without magnetic compasses?The short answer is: lost.By giving human beings a sixth sense—an ability to detect the hitherto invisible magneticfield of the Earth—the compass proved one of the most important inventions ever.
鳥類能夠利用地球磁場導(dǎo)航。機(jī)理尚不明確人類沒有指南針會怎樣?很簡單：迷失方向。指南針給了人類第6感，使人能辨別地球無形的磁場，成為最重要的發(fā)明之一。
It let sailors navigate without sight of the night sky.And that led to the voyages of discovery, trade and conquest which created the politicalgeography of the modern world.Imagine, then, what animals which had their own, built-in compasses could achieve.They might spend their summers doingthe English Season in Glyndebourne or Henley, and then overwinter in the warmth of Mombasa. They might strike out, like intrepid pioneers, from Angola to Anchorage.They might even, if truly gripped by wanderlust and a hatred of the darkness, live in near-perpetual daylight by migrating from Pole to Pole.And that is just what some birds do.
海員不用觀察夜空便可以辨識方向。人們用它進(jìn)行海上探索，海上交易，攻城掠地，進(jìn)而開創(chuàng)了現(xiàn)代世界的政治版圖。有些動物有自己內(nèi)嵌的指南系統(tǒng)?？梢韵胂蟮贸鲞@些動物的能力。它們可以在戈林德伯恩或亨利鎮(zhèn)消暑，享受自己的英格蘭夏日。然后在溫暖的蒙巴薩島過冬。它們可以像無畏的開拓者一樣，從安哥拉獨闖安克雷奇。假如它們?yōu)槁眯兴鶢拷O，為黑暗而煩惱，它們會穿梭于兩極之間，過著永遠(yuǎn)有光亮的生活。以上這些只是鳥類能力的一部分。
Swallows travel between Europe and Africa. Northern wheatears fly from Africa to Alaska, andback.Arctic terns each year make the journey from one end of the planet to the other.And they can do it, at least in part, because they do have a magnetic sense denied tohumans.
家燕在歐洲和非洲之間遷徙。石棲鳥在非洲和阿拉斯加之間遷徙。每年，北極燕鷗都會從地球的一端飛到另一端。它們能這么做的原因之一便是鳥類可以感知磁性，而人類不行。
The most familiar avian navigation trick is that pulled off by homing pigeons.As a consequence pigeons have often found themselves at the sharp end of investigationsabout how bird navigation in general, and magnetic sense in particular, actually work.That pigeons have such a sense was shown more than 40 years ago, by William Keeton ofCornell University, in upstate New York, who attached magnets to pigeons to see if they couldstill home.They could not, though birds fitted with non-magnetic dummies managed perfectly well.
人類最為熟知的鳥類導(dǎo)航技巧就是通過研究信鴿而得到的。鴿子便處在了人類研究的尖端。人們用它研究鳥類整體的導(dǎo)航機(jī)能，用它特別研究磁性感應(yīng)機(jī)制。鴿子顯示出此種能力是在40年前。當(dāng)時，紐約州北部康乃爾大學(xué)的William Keeton把磁體系在鴿子身上，觀察它們是否能夠回家。結(jié)果是它們不能，但是那些帶有仿磁體的鴿子卻回家。
Since then, experiments on other species have shown magnetic sensitivity is common amongbirds. What these experiments have not shown, however, is how the birds manage it.See it? Hear it? Smell it?There are two theories.One is that the magnetic sensors are grains of magnetite, a form of iron oxide which, as itsname suggests, is easily magnetised.The other is that the Earth's magnetic field affects a particular chemical reaction in the retinain a way that reaches into the arcane depths of quantum mechanics.
此后的實驗表明，磁性感知能力是鳥類共有的，但并沒有解釋是如何操作的。視覺?聽覺?嗅覺?理論上的說法有兩種。一種是鴿子具有磁感應(yīng)器，這是一種以氧化鐵形式存在的磁鐵礦粒子。顧名思義，這種物質(zhì)極易磁化。另一種說法認(rèn)為，地球磁場能對視網(wǎng)膜里特定的化學(xué)反映產(chǎn)生影響，在某種程序上可以達(dá)到神秘量子力學(xué)的深度。
The magnetite hypothesis concentrates on birds' beaks.Magnetite grains are common in living things, and are known to be involved in magneticsensing in bacteria. In birds they are particularly abundant in the beak.So last year David Keays of the Institute of Molecular Pathology, in Vienna, dissected the beaksof nearly 200 unfortunate pigeons, to find out more.What he discovered was not encouraging.There were, indeed, lots of magnetite grains.But he had expected they would congregate in some sort of specialised sensory cell akin to thetaste buds of the tongue or the hair cells of the ear.Instead, he found that the beak's magnetite is mostly in macrophages.
These are cells whose job is to wander around amoeba-like, chewing up bacteria and debrisfrom other body cells as they go.
磁鐵礦假說的焦點是鳥類的喙。磁鐵礦粒子是生物共有的，廣泛存在于鳥的喙中。去年，維也納分子病理學(xué)研究所的David Keays對將近200只鴿子進(jìn)行了解剖，以期得到更多發(fā)現(xiàn)。但是，他發(fā)現(xiàn)的并不令人鼓舞。大量鐵磁礦粒子確實存在。他原以為鐵磁礦粒子會聚集成為專門的感覺細(xì)胞，類似于舌頭上的味蕾和內(nèi)耳毛細(xì)胞。但是，他發(fā)現(xiàn)，喙部的鐵磁礦主要以巨噬細(xì)胞的形式存在，這些細(xì)胞的職能是以游離細(xì)胞的形式對細(xì)胞殘片及病原體進(jìn)行噬菌。
Not, then, likely candidates as magnetic sensors.Other experiments, though, do suggest the beak is involved.The nerve that connects it to the brain is known as the trigeminal.When Dominik Heyers and Henrik Mouritsen of Oldenburg University, in Germany, cut thetrigeminals of reed warblers the birds' ability to detect which way was north remained intact.They did, however, lose their sense of magnetic dip.Dip indicates latitude, another important part of navigation.To confuse matters further, some people accept Dr Keays's interpretation of what is going onin the beak,but think that the relevant magnetite grains are elsewhere—in the hair cells of the ear, whichare also rich in iron oxide.If they are right, then from the birds' point of view they are probably hearing the magneticsignal.The main alternative to the nasal-magnetite hypothesis, though, is not that birds hearmagnetic fields, but that they see them.
因此，巨噬細(xì)胞不可能具有磁感應(yīng)功能。其它的實驗也包含了對喙的研究。聯(lián)結(jié)喙與腦的神經(jīng)叫三叉神經(jīng)。德國奧爾登堡大學(xué)的Dominik Heyers和Henrik Mouritsena切斷了葦鶯的三叉神經(jīng)，保留了它們辨別北方的能力。然而，這些鳥卻失掉了磁傾角的感應(yīng)力。磁傾角可以指示緯度，是導(dǎo)航的重要組成部分。Keays對鳥喙解釋使情況更加復(fù)雜。但有些人還是接受了他的說法。但是這些人認(rèn)為鳥身體的其它部位也存在磁鐵礦粒子—內(nèi)耳毛細(xì)胞。氧化鐵也富含這種粒子。假如這些人的假定正確，從鳥的角度來看，它們可能聽得到磁信號。鼻腔內(nèi)存在磁鐵礦的假說 并不是鳥類可以聽到磁場，而是能看到磁場。
One line of evidence for this is that part of a bird's brain, called cluster N, which gets its inputdirectly from the eyes, seems to be involved in magnetic sensing.Experiments Dr Mouritsen's team conducted on robins showed that destroying cluster Ndestroys a bird's north-detecting sense, and other experiments, on meadow pipits, show thatcells in cluster N are far more active when the birds are using their magnetic sense than whenthey are not.
關(guān)于此的證明是，鳥大腦中有一部分叫cluster N，可以直接得到眼部輸送的信息，好像跟磁場感應(yīng)有聯(lián)系。博士Mouritsen研究團(tuán)隊對知更鳥進(jìn)行了實驗，得出推斷。實驗顯示破壞知更鳥的cluster N，也就破壞了它們識別北方的能力。研究團(tuán)隊又對草地鷚進(jìn)行了實驗。實驗顯示，鳥類使用磁感應(yīng)能力的時候，cluster N細(xì)胞異?；钴S。
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The problem with this idea is that birds' eyes do not have magnetite in them.If they do house magnetism detectors, those detectors must be something else.That something, according to a hypothesis advanced by Klaus Schulten, who works at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a type of retinal protein called a cryptochrome.When hit by light, a cryptochrome produces pairs of molecules called free radicals that areelectrically neutral but have unpaired electrons in them.Electrons are tiny magnets, so they tend to attract each other and pair up in a way thatneutralises their joint magnetic fields.
此種假說的問題在于鳥類的眼部沒有磁鐵礦。假如它們真的起到了磁探測器的作用，那么肯定另有他物。在伊利諾斯大學(xué)香檳分校工作。據(jù)Schulten，這種他物是一種名為cryptochrome的尿視黃醇蛋白。當(dāng)受到光照時，就產(chǎn)生名為自由基的分子對。這種自由基呈電中性，其中含有未配對電子。電子就是微小的磁性體。因此，當(dāng)它們的聯(lián)合磁場中合之時，電子就會相互吸引，就會形成組對。
Unpaired electrons, however, remain magnetic, and thus sensitive to the Earth's field.Moreover, because the unpaired electrons in the free radicals were originally paired in themolecule that split to form the radicals, quantum mechanics dictates that these electronsremain entangled.This means that however far apart they move, what happens to one affects the other'sbehaviour.
但是，那些不成對電子仍具磁性，對地球磁場很敏感。因為自由基中的那些不成對電子最初存在于分裂成為自由基分子之中，量子力學(xué)規(guī)定這些電子依然是絞纏的。也就是說，無論雙方離得有多遠(yuǎn)，一方的行為會影響另一方。
Calculations suggest the different ways the two radicals feel the Earth's field as they separateis enough to change the way they will react with other chemicals—including ones that triggernerve impulses, and that, via entanglement, they can transmit this information to each other,and thus affect each other's reactions.
此種假設(shè)表明，當(dāng)兩種自由基分離時，它們感知地球磁場的相反作用足夠能夠改變它們與其它化學(xué)物質(zhì)相互反應(yīng)的方式――包括那些能產(chǎn)生神經(jīng)脈沖的化學(xué)物質(zhì)。同時，通過絞纏，它們彼此能互相信息，從而產(chǎn)生相互影響。
This, the calculations indicate, would be enough for a bird's brain to interpret the magneticfield.It would probably see a pattern of spots before its eyes, which would remain stationary as itscanned its head from side to side.And some birds do, indeed, scan their heads this way when assessing the direction ofmagnetic north.It is possible, of course, that both hypotheses are right, and that birds have two magneticsenses, with one perhaps concentrated on north detection and the other on detecting dip.But there is something particularly poetic about the idea that even part of this mysterioussixth sense depends on a still-more-mysterious quantum effect—one that Einstein himselfdescribed as spooky action at a distance.
此種假設(shè)表明，這足可以讓鳥腦識別磁場。鳥眼可能會看到眼前有某種樣式的斑點圖案，當(dāng)鳥類對其識別之時，眼睛是固定的。其實，當(dāng)鳥類辨別地磁北極之時，確實能夠用此法掃描頭部。當(dāng)然，兩種假說都有正確的可能。鳥類也有可能有兩套磁感應(yīng)能力，一種集中在北方，另一種集中于磁傾角。這種神秘的第六感覺依賴于更加神秘的量子力學(xué)效應(yīng)。對此還有一種詩意般的解釋，即愛因斯坦自己說的鬼魅般的超距作用。
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