科学美国人60秒 AI面部识别技术如何帮助保护美洲狮(1)

This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I'm Ashleigh Papp.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是阿什利·帕普。

Mountain lions are now posing for their close ups.

山狮正在为它们的特写摆姿势。

Researchers based in the greater Yellowstone National Park area have figured out a new way to identify these cats by using facial recognition.

黄石国家公园的研究人员发现了一种通过面部识别来识别这些猫的新方法。

And this method is proving to be a better way to monitor these highly elusive¹ creatures.

这种方法被证明是监测这些极其难以发现的生物的更好方法。

Mountain lions are just really, really hard to directly observe.

山狮真的很难直接观察到。

They're just so cryptic² and secretive.

它们只不过是太神秘莫测了。

And so we've had to find these non-invasive methods, they're often called to, to get information about a mountain lion population.

我们必须找到这些非侵入性的方法，他们经常被要求去获取关于山狮种群的信息。

That’s Peter Alexander, a research biologist based in Kelly, Wyoming, who led the research project.

这是彼得·亚历山大，怀俄明州凯利的一位研究生物学家，领导了这项研究项目。

One tool that researchers like Alexander are using is a camera trap.

像亚历山大这样的研究人员正在使用的一种工具是抓拍相机。

The traps, which are about the size of a shoe box or even a coffee cup, are attached to something that's along the animal's regular path, like a tree that the puma³ has territorially⁴ scraped.

这些抓拍相机大约有一个鞋盒甚至一个咖啡杯大小，被安装在动物经常走过路劲上，比如美洲狮领土内路过的一棵树。

When motion is detected, the trap gets triggered, resulting in a snapshot of the mountain lion as it strolls by.

当检测到移动时，这个抓拍相机就会被触发，从而得到美洲狮漫步经过时的快照。

The cameras even have an infrared⁵ flash so that nighttime photos are captured without disturbing the animal.

这种相机甚至有红外闪光灯，以便无需打扰动物就可以拍摄夜间照片。

Researchers around the world use this type of tool to estimate population numbers and overall abundance of species.

世界各地的研究人员使用这种工具来估计物种的数量和总体丰富度。

They comb through the images, sometimes using machine learning algorithms, and analyze⁶ them to identify individuals.

他们仔细搜查图像，有时使用机器学习算法，分析算法来识别个体。

But according to Alexander, there's a problem with this method when it comes to ID'ing mountain lions:

但根据亚历山大的说法，这种方法在识别美洲狮时存在一个问题:

Tigers that's kind of the classic example of using cameras for individual identity.

老虎是使用摄像头来识别个体身份的典型例子。

Because those stripes, they're like a fingerprint⁷.

因为那些条纹，就像指纹一样。

And so a cougar⁸, they do not have any of those really conspicuous⁹ stripes on their sides.

因此，作为一只美洲狮，它们的身体两侧没有任何真正明显的条纹。

That’s because nearly all pumas¹⁰ around the world, with exceptions of distinguishing things like scars, have light, sandy colored fur down their sides.

这是因为世界上几乎所有的美洲狮，除了像疤痕这样的区别特征外，它们的身体两侧都只有浅沙色的皮毛。

The scientific name for a mountain lion, Puma concolor, literally¹¹ translates to "one color".

山狮的学名美洲狮，字面意思是“一种颜色”。

This lack of unique coloration on the sides of their bodies means that researchers like Alexander can't usually tell if one puma crosses a camera trap five times, or if five individual animals pass by.

它们身体两侧缺乏独特的颜色，这意味着像亚历山大这样的研究人员通常无法区分是一只美洲狮经过抓拍相机五次，还是五只不同的美洲狮经过了抓拍相机。

However, it’s a different story when it comes to their facial markings — they're kind of a show stopper.

然而，当谈到他们的面部标记时，情况就不同了--它们让人印象深刻。

1 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

2 cryptic   

adj.秘密的，神秘的，含义模糊的

参考例句：

• She made a cryptic comment about how the film mirrored her life.她隐晦地表示说这部电影是她人生的写照。
• The new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms.新的保险单在编写时没有隐秘条款或秘密条款。

3 puma   

美洲豹

参考例句：

• The police and the volunteers combed the forest for the lost puma from the zoo.警察和志愿者们在森林里到处寻找动物园迷失的美洲狮。
• A businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree.一位商人去钓鱼，看见那只美洲狮在树上。

4 territorially   

参考例句：

• Today, prescriptive jurisdiction (capacity to make law) can be based on nationality and exercised extra-territorially. 今日，指示性管辖权﹝制订法律的能力﹞能够基于国籍和于领土以外执行。 来自互联网
• As the seemingly endless ages passed, the night elves' civilization expanded both territorially and culturally. 很久很久之后，暗夜精灵的文明无论在疆域还是文化方面都有了巨大的进步。 来自互联网

5 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

6 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

7 fingerprint   

n.指纹；vt.取...的指纹

参考例句：

• The fingerprint expert was asked to testify at the trial.指纹专家应邀出庭作证。
• The court heard evidence from a fingerprint expert.法院听取了指纹专家的证词。

8 cougar   

n.美洲狮；美洲豹

参考例句：

• I saw a cougar slinking toward its prey.我看到一只美洲狮正在潜随猎物。
• I have never seen a cougar.我从未见过美洲豹。

9 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

10 pumas   

n.美洲狮( puma的名词复数 )；彪马；于1948年成立于德国荷索金劳勒(Herzogenaurach)的国际运动品牌；创始人：鲁道夫及达斯勒。

参考例句：

• Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America. 美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。 来自新概念英语第三册
• But forget that for the pumas and lynx at the Queens Zoo. 而皇后动物园的美洲狮和猞猁却完全不吃这一套。 来自互联网

11 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。