60秒科学:提高视力 请多吃鸡的眼睛

吃鸡肉时，你知道鸡身上的哪个部分是最好的吗？科学家的回答是：眼睛。科学发现，鸡的视网膜锥(体) 数量比人类多，因此可以感知更多的色彩。

Super Chicken Vision

Bring home a bucket of fried chicken and you may find that people have strong feelings about which part of the bird is best. Well, scientists at Washington University in St. Louis [led by Joseph Corbo] say the answer is: the eyes. At least when you compare them to our own ocular implements¹. Because chickens can see more colors than we do, findings that appear in the journal Public Library of Science ONE.

The ability to see colors comes from specialized² light-sensing cells found in the retina. These cells, called cones⁴, come in different flavors, each of which can detect different wavelengths⁵ of light. Humans have three kinds of cones that allow us to see red, green and blue. But birds have an extra cone³ for seeing violet and ultraviolet light.

What’s more, these chicken cones are distributed evenly throughout the retina, enhancing the birds’ ability to see colors all around their visual field.

Woodpeckers, sparrows and pigeons have a similar setup in the retina department, which presumably gives them an advantage when it comes to finding mates or spotting brightly colored berries. It may also explain why the chicken crossed the road. If you could see what he does, maybe you’d head over there, too.
 

1 implements   

n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• Primitive man hunted wild animals with crude stone implements. 原始社会的人用粗糙的石器猎取野兽。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They ordered quantities of farm implements. 他们订购了大量农具。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

3 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。

4 cones   

n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒

参考例句：

• In the pines squirrels commonly chew off and drop entire cones. 松树上的松鼠通常咬掉和弄落整个球果。 来自辞典例句
• Many children would rather eat ice cream from cones than from dishes. 许多小孩喜欢吃蛋卷冰淇淋胜过盘装冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句

5 wavelengths   

n.波长( wavelength的名词复数 )；具有相同的/不同的思路；合拍；不合拍

参考例句：

• I find him difficult to talk to—we're on completely different wavelengths. 我没法和他谈话，因为我们俩完全不对路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sunlight consists of different wavelengths of radiation. 阳光由几种不同波长的射线组成。 来自辞典例句