英语听力：自然百科 Bees Key to Better Missiles 蜜蜂：新武器的启示

 Honey bees are fairly placid¹ insects when left alone. But if antagonized, they will react violently. Researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia are working to better understand honey bees’ vision, navigation, and, in particular, aggressive behavior. They hope this can be replicated² in new defense³ technologies. 

Normally bees are rather peaceful creatures, when they are off foraging⁴ for food for the hive, for example. But if they detect an alarm pheromone from another bee, the group acts as one.

 

"(Do you) simply blindly aim towards a target and fly as fast as possible towards it? Or do you do something a little more intelligent like computer, an interception⁵ course? "

 

Their flight dynamic changes, and they resemble mini missiles or aircrafts. The team is filming bees flying towards fast moving objects, then watching the footage in slow motion and plotting the insects’ flight paths on computer diagrams.

 

"So we want to do it with aggressive bees, so that the trajectory⁶ that we have is direct as we can see. Just how it is that they’re visualizing⁷ the target possibly, and how they’re following it to attack it. "

 

The scientists will then look inside the bees’ brains to try to find the neurons that control this behavior.

 

"It seems to be a system that's beautifully honed by evolution to sense these moving targets, and then go for them."

 

The research has previously⁸ been funded by NASA, and now has funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, and its practical potential is diverse. It could be used for aerial surveillance, weather monitoring and minerals exploration. The research could also lead to planetary explorer robots that are able to behave autonomously⁹ in the same way as insects.

1 placid   

adj.安静的，平和的

参考例句：

• He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
• You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。

2 replicated   

复制( replicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• Later outplant the seedlings in a replicated permanent test plantation. 以后苗木出圃栽植成重复的永久性试验林。
• The phage has replicated and the donor cells have lysed. 噬菌体已复制和给体细胞已发生裂解。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 foraging   

v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的现在分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西）

参考例句：

• They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps. 他们靠在垃圾场捡垃圾维持着朝不保夕的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The campers went foraging for wood to make a fire. 露营者去搜寻柴木点火。 来自辞典例句

5 interception   

n.拦截；截击；截取；截住，截断；窃听

参考例句：

• Aerial photography can provide valuable information on precipitation, evapotraspiration, interception, and runoff. 航空摄影可提供有关降水量、蒸发蒸腾量、入渗和径流量的有价值的资料。
• Light interception and distribution in hedgerow orchards with different alleyway widths is indicated in Fig. 56. 图56显示篱壁果园不同行间宽度的光能截取和分配的情况。

6 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

7 visualizing   

肉眼观察

参考例句：

• Nevertheless, the Bohr model is still useful for visualizing the structure of an atom. 然而，玻尔模型仍有利于使原子结构形象化。
• Try to strengthen this energy field by visualizing the ball growing stronger. 通过想象能量球变得更强壮设法加强这能量场。

8 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

9 autonomously   

adv. 自律地，自治地

参考例句：

• To learn autonomously in the network environment is totally new to students. 基于网络环境下的自主学习对学生来说，是一种全新的学习方式。
• The QC-RS can operate autonomously or by remote control. QC-RS能实现自动操作或通过遥控来操作。