时差N小时 鳗鱼是如何发电的(上)（在线收听）

There's a reason you won't find electric eels at your local petting zoo:

你在当地的宠物动物园找不到电鳗是有原因的：

these fierce creatures can release over 800 volts of electricity!

这些凶猛的生物可以释放超过800伏特的电流！

That's gotta hurt. But how are these powerful shocks made?

人被电到肯定会受伤。但这些强大的冲击是如何产生的呢？

Electricity is a big part of an eel's make up—literally.

电是鳗鱼的主要组成部分——真的。

An eel's vital organs are all tightly packed in at the front of its body.

鳗鱼的重要器官都紧紧地挤在身体的前部。

The rest of the eel—about eighty percent of its total length!

剩下的部分——大约是它整个身长的80%！

—is dedicated to three electricity-producing organs.

那里有三个发电的器官。

The two biggest of these organs generate high-voltage shocks,

其中两个最大的器官会产生高压冲击，

which the eel uses to hunt or scare away predators.

鳗鱼用它来捕食或吓跑捕食者。

The third organ, at the back of the eel, creates small electric pulses,

第三个器官在电鳗的后部，产生小的电脉冲，

letting the eel communicate and navigate its murky home.

帮助鳗鱼在黑暗的家里交流和游走。

All three organs rely on modified muscle cells called electrocytes.

这三种器官都依赖于被称为电细胞的改良肌肉细胞。

These cells are basically miniature batteries: they store and produce electricity.

这些细胞基本上是微型电池：它们储存并产生电能。

The cells work in sync. When one cell discharges a current, all the others do too.

这些细胞是同步工作的。当一个细胞放电时，所有其他细胞也放电。