科学美国人60秒 SSS 濒临灭绝的粉色河豚(1)

This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Jeff DelViscio.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列。我是杰夫·德尔维西奥。

Today we’re going to do something completely different:

今天我们要做一些完全不同的事情:

We’re going to offer you a break in the pandemic and politics by taking you on a three-part sound journey to the Amazon.

我们将带你进行一段由三部分组成的亚马逊健康之旅，让你在疫情和政治中稍事休息。

We will eavesdrop¹ on some incredible creatures in the world’s largest rain forest.

我们将在世界上最大的雨林中窃听一些不可思议的生物。

Think of it as a soundscape turned into a sound escape.

你可以把它想象成声音景观变成了声音出逃。

Today part one: into the river.

今天第一集:入河。

Our guide for this audio trip is Tim Weaver².

我们的音频旅行向导是蒂姆·韦弗。

Tim is a professor of emergent digital practices and a multimedia³ and sound artist at the University of Denver.

蒂姆是丹佛大学新兴数字实践教授和多媒体声音艺术家。

We’re going to be listening to some far-reaching soundscape ecologies today from research

今天我们将听到一些影响深远的音景生态研究

that I’ve been conducting off of the main stem of the Amazon on the Peruvian border with Brazil.

我一直在秘鲁与巴西边境的亚马逊河主河道上进行的。

Tim, could we start out by talking a little bit about what you do?

蒂姆，我们能先谈谈你的工作吗?

Tell us about soundscape ecology.

给我们讲讲音景生态学吧。

One way of looking at ecological⁴ stability, or what’s happening in the dynamics⁵ of ecologies,

一种看待生态稳定或生态动态变化的方式，

is by looking at the sound of spaces, or the acoustic⁶ ecology.

就是通过观察空间的声音，或者声学生态。

It’s a newer area, in terms of looking at an exchange of information in ecologies and diversity.

就生态学和多样性的信息交换而言，这是一个较新的领域。

And with recording⁷ technology, there’s amazing ways to look at this.

有了录音技术，我们就能以令人惊叹的方式来看待这个问题。

So we’re looking at everything from the resonances⁹ of forests—so how does a forest that has been cut sound?

所以我们从森林共振的角度来观察一切——那么一个被砍伐的森林是如何发声的呢?

And how does sound reflected into a native forest that still has its native, somewhat intact, primary forest—communication between species.

以及声音是如何在原始森林中被反射出来的，而原始森林仍然保留着原始的、完好无损的原始森林——物种之间的交流。

And how does sound reflected into a native forest that still has its native, somewhat intact, primary forest—communication between species.

以及声音是如何在原始森林中被反射出来的，而原始森林仍然保留着原始的、完好无损的原始森林——物种之间的交流。

So bioacoustics is a big piece of it, as well as the resonance⁸ of the forest—how things reflect.

所以生物声学是其中的一个重要部分，同样重要的还有森林的共振——事物如何反射。

“And the tools that we use are everything from recording in three-dimensional sound with new innovative¹⁰ multiple microphone devices

“我们使用的工具是各种各样的，使用新的创新的多麦克风设备录制三维声音

so we can record somewhat three-dimensionally with microphone arrays.

所以我们可以用麦克风阵列进行三维声音的记录。

To using hydrophones underwater and just standard stereo microphones that we can deploy¹¹

在水下使用我们部署的水听器和标准的立体声麦克风

and then also some that we can schedule and leave out there for up to a month

还有一些我们可以安排，放置一个月的设备

and go back and get them and bring them back in

然后回去把它们拿回来，

and then analyze¹² the soundscapes and the communication going on with artificial intelligence.

然后分析音景以及与人工智能的交流。

So we're using all those tools in our research.”

所以我们在研究中使用了所有的这些工具。”

Now let’s talk about some of that research, specifically, into the pink river dolphin.

现在让我们来谈谈其中的一些研究，特别是关于粉红海豚的研究。

The pink river dolphin is now endangered.

粉红河豚现在濒临灭绝。

I guess you had a pretty hard time finding them, right Tim?

我猜你很难找到他们，对吧，蒂姆?

“So this is about 140 kilometers upriver, on the main stem of the Amazon in a side tributary¹³.

“这是亚马逊河上游大约140公里处的一条支流上。

This event is recorded the same time of year that Jeff and I are having a conversation in October/November.

此事件记录在杰夫和我在 10 月/11 月进行对话的同一时间。

And the Amazon river is rising, then, from the runoff from the Andes.

亚马逊河从安第斯山脉的径流往上流。

There’s a lull¹⁴ in it, so it’s coming up.

到了一个平缓区，所以它出现了。

So what that means is: there’s migratory¹⁵ catfish¹⁶ coming all the way from the mouth of the Amazon

所以这意味着：有从亚马逊河口一路游过来的洄游鲶鱼

—all the way up to this interface¹⁷ with the Andes and where the upper Amazon drops

-一直到安第斯山脉和亚马逊河上游下流的交汇处

—and then they’re laying their eggs there.

-然后它们就在那里产卵。

It is one of the largest migrations¹⁸ of fish in the world.

这是世界上最大的鱼类迁徙之一。

And with that, pink river dolphins want to go in the re,

有了这些，粉红河豚想要游入那里，

and it’s a great time to go in pods and maybe with their young and slurp¹⁹ up these catfish eggs or other types of fish.

这是一个很好的时机，可以和它们的后代一起去吃这些鲶鱼卵或其他种类的鱼。

1 eavesdrop   

v.偷听，倾听

参考例句：

• He ensconced himself in the closet in order to eavesdrop.他藏在壁橱里，以便偷听。
• It is not polite to eavesdrop on the conversation of other people.偷听他人说话是很不礼貌的。

2 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

3 multimedia   

adj.多种手段的，多媒体的；n.多媒体

参考例句：

• Multimedia is the combination of computer and video technology.多媒体是计算机和视频技术的结合。
• Adam raised the issue of multimedia applications and much useful discussion ensued.亚当提出了多媒体应用的问题，从而引发了许多有益的讨论。

4 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

5 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

6 acoustic   

adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的

参考例句：

• The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
• Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。

7 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

8 resonance   

n.洪亮；共鸣；共振

参考例句：

• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments.一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。
• The areas under the two resonance envelopes are unequal.两个共振峰下面的面积是不相等的。

9 resonances   

n.共鸣( resonance的名词复数 )；（声音） 洪亮；（文章、乐曲等） 激发联想的力量；（情感）同感

参考例句：

• This system can set up acoustical resonances. 这种系统能产生共鸣。 来自辞典例句
• New supershortlived particles are called resonances. 新超短寿命粒子叫做共振态粒子。 来自辞典例句

10 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

11 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

12 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

13 tributary   

n.支流；纳贡国；adj.附庸的；辅助的；支流的

参考例句：

• There was a tributary road near the end of the village.村的尽头有条岔道。
• As the largest tributary of Jinsha river,Yalong river is abundant in hydropower resources.雅砻江是金沙江的最大支流，水力资源十分丰富。

14 lull   

v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇

参考例句：

• The drug put Simpson in a lull for thirty minutes.药物使辛普森安静了30分钟。
• Ground fighting flared up again after a two-week lull.经过两个星期的平静之后，地面战又突然爆发了。

15 migratory   

n.候鸟，迁移

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• This does not negate the idea of migratory aptitude.这并没有否定迁移能力这一概念。

16 catfish   

n.鲶鱼

参考例句：

• Huge catfish are skinned and dressed by hand.用手剥去巨鲇的皮并剖洗干净。
• We gigged for catfish off the pier.我们在码头以鱼叉叉鲶鱼。

17 interface   

n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系

参考例句：

• My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
• This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。

18 migrations   

n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It foundered during the turmoils accompanying the Great Migrations. 它在随着民族大迁徙而出现的混乱中崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Birds also have built-in timepieces which send them off on fall and spring migrations. 鸟类也有天生的时间感应器指导它们秋春迁移。 来自互联网

19 slurp   

n.啜食；vt.饮食出声

参考例句：

• You may not slurp your soup.喝汤不可发出声音。
• Do you always slurp when a milkshake?你总是这样啧啧喝牛奶吗？