VOA标准英语2014--研究蚂蚁或能帮助解决大问题

 

Study of Ants Could Yield Answers to Big Questions 研究蚂蚁或能帮助解决大问题

Scientists have always been fascinated with the high level of organization in ant societies -- from building life-saving rafts during floods to the way colonies choose their next queen.  New technology has helped advance researchers' understanding, but there is still a lot to be discovered.

Fire ants living in Brazilian forests are perfectly² adapted to an environment prone³ to flooding.  To save themselves from drowning, they lock their legs together, creating floating rafts, up to 20 centimeters wide.

According to mechanical engineer David Hu, ants know how to interlock tightly.

“If you can imagine you have a hundred ants, which means 600 legs. Ninety-nine percent of those legs will be connected to a neighbor so they're very, very good at maintaining that network,” he said

To discover the secret of their engineering, Hu and his colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology froze ant rafts and then analyzed⁴ them with a CT scanner.

They found out that larger ants serve as hubs to which smaller ants hold, forming pockets of air that keep them afloat.

Scientists say small robots or advanced materials that can configure themselves could be programmed in a similar way, working toward a shared goal.

At North Carolina State University, researchers study how Indian jumping ants choose the leader of the colony when they lose their queen.

Researcher Clint Penick says ordinary worker ants, which are all females, start tournament-style battles.  After color-coding the ants for easier observation, Penick's team noticed that some workers became physically⁵ more dominant⁶,  and that triggered the release of certain hormones⁷.

“Within a matter of days what we see is changes in dopamine in the brain that we think are linked to the reproduction that starts in these workers,” he said.

Soon, the winning ant starts developing ovaries for the production of eggs while its brain decreases in size, devoting all its energy to reproduction.  It begins standing¹ taller and its life span becomes three times longer.

Scientists say this behavior and the release of neural⁸ hormones are prompted by genetic⁹ instructions.  They say these new findings may help researchers better understand the correlation¹⁰ between hormones and genes¹¹ in humans.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

4 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

7 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

8 neural   

adj.神经的，神经系统的

参考例句：

• The neural network can preferably solve the non- linear problem.利用神经网络建模可以较好地解决非线性问题。
• The information transmission in neural system depends on neurotransmitters.信息传递的神经途径有赖于神经递质。

9 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

10 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

11 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪