TED演讲:树木之间如何交流(5)

 After the hour was up, I rolled down my window, and I checked for mama grizzly¹. 一小时的时间到了之后，我摇下了车窗，看看灰熊妈妈还在不在。

Oh good, she's over there eating her huckleberries.  哦太棒了，她在挺远的地方吃她的蓝莓呢。

So I got out of the truck and I got to work.  所以我下了卡车继续我的工作。

I went to my first bag with the birch. I pulled the bag off.  我走到第一个罩上袋子的那棵桦树旁边，把袋子扯了下来。

I ran my Geiger counter over its leaves. Kkhh! Perfect. 我在那棵树的叶子旁边用盖革计数器检测一下。咔！完美。

The birch had taken up the radioactive² gas. Then the moment of truth. 那棵桦树已经完全吸收了放射性的二氧化碳。然后就是见证真相的时刻了。

I went over to the fir tree. I pulled off its bag. 我走向一棵花旗松，扯下树上那个袋子。

I ran the Geiger counter up its needles, and I heard the most beautiful sound. Kkhh! 在它的针叶旁边用盖革计数器进行检测，然后我又听到了那最悦耳的声音。咔！

It was the sound of birch talking to fir, and birch was saying, "Hey, can I help you?" 这就是纸皮桦对花旗松说话的声音，纸皮桦说：“嘿，我能帮你点什么？”

And fir was saying, "Yeah, can you send me some of your carbon?  然后花旗松回应它：“啊对了，你能给我点你的碳吗？

Because somebody threw a shade cloth over me."  因为刚才有人用遮光布把我罩住了。”

I went up to cedar³, and I ran the Geiger counter over its leaves, and as I suspected, silence. 接着我又走到西部红杉旁边，我用盖革计数器在它的叶子旁边检测了一下，结果正如我猜测的一样，一片寂静。

Cedar was in its own world.  西部红杉还真的是与世隔绝的。

It was not connected into the web interlinking birch and fir.  它并没有连接到纸皮桦与花旗松互连的网络中。

I was so excited, I ran from plot to plot and I checked all 80 replicates⁴. 我特别激动，我在那80棵样本之间跑来跑去，对所有的树都进行了检测。

The evidence was clear.  最后的结果显而易见。

The C-13 and C-14 was showing me that paper birch and Douglas fir were in a lively two-way conversation. 碳13和碳14的流向告诉我，纸皮桦和花旗松之间的交流是双向的。

It turns out at that time of the year, in the summer, 结果还表明在每年的这个时间，在夏天的时候，

that birch was sending more carbon to fir than fir was sending back to birch, especially when the fir was shaded. 纸皮桦给花旗松送的碳比花旗松反送给它的要多，特别是当花旗松见不到阳光的时候。

1 grizzly   

adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊

参考例句：

• This grizzly liked people.这只灰熊却喜欢人。
• Grizzly bears are not generally social creatures.一般说来，灰熊不是社交型动物。

2 radioactive   

adj.放射性的

参考例句：

• People should keep away from the radioactive waste.人们应远离放射性废物。
• The radioactive material is stored in a special radiation-proof container.放射性材料储存在防辐射的特殊容器里。

3 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

4 replicates   

复制( replicate的第三人称单数 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• The bluetongue virus replicates in the insect. 蓝舌病病毒在这种昆虫体内繁殖。
• The chameleon's skin replicates the pattern of its surroundings. 变色龙的皮肤可随环境的模式而改变颜色。