2023年经济学人 海洋普查的意义

 

The second reason is technological¹.

第二个原因是技术上的。

Marine² biologists find about 2,000 new species a year, a rate hardly changed since Darwin’s day.

海洋生物学家每年可以发现大约2000个新物种，这一速度自达尔文时代以来几乎没有变化。

Ocean Census³ is betting it can go faster.

海洋普查是在赌自己可以做的更好。

“Cyber taxonomy”, for instance, involves feeding DNA⁴ sequences from animals into computers, which can quickly decide whether it is a new species.

例如，“网络分类学”涉及了将动物的DNA序列输入计算机，由此迅速确定它是否是一个新物种。

The ability to describe new creatures, as well as simply cataloguing them, has also improved.

描述新生物的能力以及对它们进行简单分类的能力也提高了。

Fancy cameras on remote-operated vehicles, for instance, allow scientists to make laser scans of deep-sea creatures such as jellyfish without removing them from their habitat.

例如，科学家可以远程操作车辆上的高级摄像机，对水母等深海生物进行激光扫描，而无需将它们从栖息地移走。

Just as the immense pressures of the deep sea are fatal for humans, taking such a jellyfish to the surface for examination reduces it to gooey slime.

就像深海的巨大压力对人类来说是致命的一样，把这里的水母带到水面进行检查会让它死亡并变成粘稠的黏液。

Ocean Census is not the first attempt to conduct a systematic⁵ survey of life in the oceans.

海洋普查并不是对海洋生物进行系统调查的第一次尝试。

The Census of Marine Life was a ten-year effort, begun in 2000, to seek out new species.

海洋生物普查是一项为期十年的尝试，始于2000年，旨在寻找新物种。

The Global Ocean Sampling Expedition, which ran from 2004 to 2006, aimed to catalogue microbial life in the sea by sampling waters from across the world.

2004年至2006年的“全球海洋采样考察”旨在通过对世界各地的海水进行采样，将海洋中的微生物生命分类。

(It was funded by Craig Venter, a biologist-cum-entrepreneur, and carried out on his personal yacht.)(这项研究由生物学家兼企业家克雷格·文特尔资助，并在他的私人游艇上进行。)Exactly what the new effort might turn up, of course, is impossible to predict.

当然，新的尝试究竟会带来什么结果是无法预测的。

But history suggests it will be fruitful.

但历史表明，这会是成果丰硕的。

Half a century ago scientists discovered hot vents⁶ on the sea bed that were home to organisms living happily in conditions that, until then, had been thought inimical to life.

半个世纪前，科学家们在海床上发现了热喷口，这是生活在该环境下有机生物的家园，在此之前，人们一直认为这种环境对生命有害。

These days, such vents are one plausible⁷ candidate for the origin of all life on Earth.

如今，这样的喷口似乎是地球上所有生命起源的一个可能候选。

There are more practical benefits, too.

该尝试还有更多实际的好处。

Many drugs, for example, come originally from biological compounds.

例如，许多药物最初都来自生物化合物。

An ocean full of uncatalogued life will almost certainly prove a rich seam from which to mine more.

一个充满了未分类生物的海洋几乎就是一个丰富的矿藏，可以从中开采更多的药物。

One type of marine snail⁸, Conus magus, was recently discovered to produce a painkilling⁹ compound 1,000 times more potent¹⁰ than morphine.

最近有研究发现，一种名为僧袍芋螺的海蜗牛能产生比吗啡强1000倍的止痛化合物。

To help make use of its data, Ocean Census plans to make it freely available to scientists and the public, who will be able to scour¹¹ it for anything useful or surprising.

为便于利用这些数据，海洋普查计划向科学家和公众免费提供数据，他们将能够从中寻找有用或令人惊讶的东西。

The point of exploration, after all, is that you never know what you might find.

毕竟，探索的意义在于，你永远不知道你会发现什么。

1 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

2 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

4 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

5 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

6 vents   

（气体、液体等进出的）孔、口( vent的名词复数 )； （鸟、鱼、爬行动物或小哺乳动物的）肛门； 大衣等的)衩口； 开衩

参考例句：

• He always vents his anger on the dog. 他总是拿狗出气。
• The Dandelion Patch is the least developed of the four active vents. “蒲公英区”在这四个活裂口中是发育最差的一个。

7 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

8 snail   

n.蜗牛

参考例句：

• Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
• Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

9 painkilling   

[医]止痛的

参考例句：

• Painkilling drugs were not enough to relieve her suffering. 止痛药不能缓解她的痛苦。 来自互联网
• The effect of the painkilling drug didn't wear off for several hours. 止痛药的药效好几个锺头之仍未消失。 来自互联网

10 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

11 scour   

v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷

参考例句：

• Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
• We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。