新奇事件簿 眼睫毛防止眼睛干枯

Scientists have come up with answers to the age-old question of why eyelashes are the length they are. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology conducted a variety of tests on the lashes¹ of 22 differentmammals. One was to create a special wind tunnel and an artificial eye to provide mathematical models of how the wind blew over lashes. The conclusion of head researcher David Hu is that the function of eyelashesis to help protect the eyes from drying out and that the optimal² eyelash length for this to happen is one-third as long as the eye is wide. Professor Hu found that across a wide variety of mammals, the ratio of eyelash length and eye width was consistently one-third.

为什么眼睫毛就是那么长，对这个老生常谈的问题，科学家想出了答案。佐治亚理工学院的研究人员对22种哺乳动物的睫毛进行了多项研究。人们的目标是制作出一个特殊的通风道，和人工眼球来测算出风是如何影响睫毛的。研究主任大卫·胡的结论是眼睫毛的作用是用来保护眼睛干涩的，而理想的眼睫毛长度是眼宽的三分之一。胡教授发现在众多哺乳动物中，眼睫毛和严宽的比例都是三分之一。

Dr Hu started his investigation³ after the birth of his newborn daughter. He wondered why his baby kept on batting her eyelids⁴. He told the International Business Times that: "Eyelashes that rim⁵ the eyes in mammals have been a mystery for a long time as to what their function was. There were a lot of hypotheses, from dust catchers to triggering the blink reflex….What we did was the first aerodynamic study of eyelashes. We showed using three independent means that eyelashes reduce evaporation⁶ of the eye by 70 per cent, and they reduce [the deposits] of small airborne particles." A colleague said Hu had a talent for, "looking at what everybody has looked at, and seeing what nobody has seen."

就在胡博士的女儿出生后，他开始了他的调查。他想到为什么女儿在不停地眨眼。他告诉 国际财经时报说：“在哺乳动物中，眼睫毛的作用一直是个迷。人们对此有许多假设，例如有人说有除尘的作用、还有人认为其目的是为了引起瞬目反射。我们所做的研究是首个对于眼睫毛的空气动力学研究。我们应用了三个独立的方法，结论是眼睫毛减少了眼睛70%的水分蒸发，并减少了眼睛中的细小空气颗粒。”胡博士的一名同事称胡博士在这方面很有天赋，人们能够看到的他都能看到，但是他确实第一个进行深入研究的人。”

1 lashes   

n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• Mother always lashes out food for the children's party. 孩子们聚会时，母亲总是给他们许多吃的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Never walk behind a horse in case it lashes out. 绝对不要跟在马后面，以防它突然猛踢。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 optimal   

adj.最适宜的；最理想的；最令人满意的

参考例句：

• What is the optimal mix of private and public property rights in natural resources?私人和国家的自然资源产权的最适宜的组合是什么？
• Optimal path planning is a key link for the sailing contest.帆船最优行驶路径规划是帆船比赛取胜的关键环节。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

6 evaporation   

n.蒸发，消失

参考例句：

• Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。
• Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗，由此可以蒸发散热。