科学美国人60秒 蚂蚁使用天体线索反向行走

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Next time you need directions, maybe ask an ant. Because these clever little critters are such masters of navigation that some can find their way home… whether they’re walking forward, backward, or sideways. That’s according to a study in the journal Current Biology.

下次你需要辨别方向，也许可以问问小蚂蚁。因为这些聪明的小东西真是擅长导航，无论是向前向后或者走小路，有些蚂蚁总能找到回家的路呢。该研究结果发表在《当代生物学》杂志。

Ants often travel long distances—well, for them—when they’re searching for food to bring back to their nests. And their built-in GPS appears to function just fine even when they wind up having to travel in reverse because they’re dragging a huge morsel¹. But how do these backward bugs² know where they’re going?

蚂蚁通常会出行很远的距离——好吧，对它们来讲算是很远了——当它们外出寻找食物回家的时候。 它们身体里内置的定位系统即使在它们因为拉着一个巨大的食物碎屑而不得不结束旅行掉头回家的时候也能正常发挥功能。但是这些向后掉头的小东西是如何知道它们要去的方向呢?

To find out, researchers went to Spain to mess with some desert ants. They found an active nest and surrounded it with barriers that forced the foraging³ ants to follow a particular path back home. Once the ants were familiar with the maze⁴, the researchers would scoop⁵ them up…hand them a cookie crumb⁶…and then put them back in a different location…one that required taking a 90 degree turn to get to the nest.

为了找寻答案，研究人员们去西班牙骚扰了一下某些沙漠地带的蚂蚁。结果他们发现，一个有活力的巢穴以及围绕着巢穴的一些屏障会迫使这些觅食的蚂蚁循着一条特殊的路径返家。一旦这些蚂蚁 熟悉了这种迷宫式的路线， 研究人员们就会把它们拿起来，拿给它们一块饼干碎屑 ，然后把它们再放到另一个不同的位置，这里需要调转90度角的方向才能返回巢穴。

What the researchers saw was that the ants that were carting a small, easy-to-carry crumb would dash forward with confidence and were able to hook a right and head on home. Presumably because they could see where they were going and recognized the route.

研究人员们发现，这些蚂蚁会抓着小块的容易携带的食物碎屑向前猛冲，并能找到正确的汇价方向。或许因为它们能识别它们要去的地方的位置和路线。

But some of their nest-mates were given a cookie crumb so large that they had to travel aft-first, pulling their prize behind them. These ants would set off in the correct general direction. But those that stuck with going in reverse would miss the turnoff to the nest.

可是有些同伴负责运送大一些的食物碎屑，它们就不得不跟着前面的走，后面拽着食物。这些蚂蚁可以行驶在正确的方向上，可是那些跟在它们后面的向原来行驶方向走的蚂蚁们就不能掉头回家。

Some of the rearward ants, however, stopped to get their bearings. They would drop the cookie and turn around to take a look at the landscape. This quick peek⁷ allowed the six-legged savants to reset⁸ their inner maps. So that after turning back around to grab their cookies they headed in the right direction, even going back-end first.

某些在后面的蚂蚁，会停下去搜索方向。它们 会扔下食物，向四周察看一下。这种快速察看可以使这些六条腿的小工们重新设置它们已知的地图。然后它们转回去拿起食物再朝着正确的回家路线行进，甚至能追上前面的同伴。

The ants-in-reverse appear to use celestial⁹ cues…like the position of the sun…to keep them on the straight and narrow. When the researchers used a mirror to make it look like the sun was on the other side of the sky, the beleaguered¹⁰ backward ants would turn tail for the opposite direction.

这些反转的蚂蚁貌似参考了天空上的物质 定位，比如太阳的位置，使它们保持走一条细直线。但研究人员用一面镜子模拟太阳放在天上的另外一个位置时，这些向后走的受到方向困扰的蚂蚁，会调头朝向相反的方向走了。

So ants integrate a lot of information…about local landmarks¹¹, the position of the sun, and where their bodies are situated¹² in space…to successfully bring home the bacon… all while going backwards¹³.

所以蚂蚁是整合了许多信息的，比如位置地标，太阳的方位，还有它们自己的身体在天地间的位置，然后才能成功把肉带回家，全部调头回家。

Lead author Antoine Wystrach, a CNRS researcher at the University of Toulouse 3, adds:

该文章的第一作者Antoine Wystrach，是在图卢兹第三大学的一位法国科研中心的研究人员，他补充道：

“This behavior is interesting in itself, as it implies a synergy between at least three types of memory: the long-term memories of the route sceneries, the memory of the new direction to follow, and the memory of the cookie left behind.”

这个行为本身很有趣，因为它暗示了在至少有三种类型的记忆之间的协同现象，路线周边的长期记忆，跟随的向新方向走的记忆，还有后面带着食物的记忆 。

1 morsel   

n.一口，一点点

参考例句：

• He refused to touch a morsel of the food they had brought.他们拿来的东西他一口也不吃。
• The patient has not had a morsel of food since the morning.从早上起病人一直没有进食。

2 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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

4 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

5 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

6 crumb   

n.饼屑，面包屑，小量

参考例句：

• It was the only crumb of comfort he could salvage from the ordeal.这是他从这场磨难里能找到的唯一的少许安慰。
• Ruth nearly choked on the last crumb of her pastry.鲁斯几乎被糕点的最后一块碎屑所噎住。

7 peek   

vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥

参考例句：

• Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
• Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。

8 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。

9 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

10 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

12 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

13 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。