科学美国人60秒 通过咀嚼消耗的能量超乎想象(2)

Such a large difference on such a small change in mechanical properties in the chewing substrate was probably really like opened my eyes and made my jaw¹ drop a little bit no pun intended.

咀嚼胶基糖(口香糖)的机械性能变化如此微小，却造成如此大的新陈代谢率差异, 这让我大开眼界，目瞪口呆。

Then Casteren says energy expenditure² might go up even more for tougher food items, like carrots, nuts and seeds.

卡斯特伦表示，对于更硬的食物，如胡萝卜、坚果和种子，能量消耗可能会增加更多。

The results are in the journal Science Advances.

这项研究成果发表在《科学进展》期刊上。

Now, before you ditch your workout routine -- keep in mind that chewing the gums fired up metabolism³ about the same way standing⁴ at a computer would...or reading a book.

现在，在你放弃日常锻炼之前——请记住，咀嚼口香糖会促进新陈代谢，就像站在电脑前……或阅读书籍一样。

It's not going to the gym and lifting weights, right? You're not building up giant muscles with chewing.

与去健身房举重不同，你不会通过咀嚼来增肌。

But it's still a process that can consume a lot of your energy expenses during the day.

但这个咀嚼过程仍然会在白天消耗大量的能量。

And while humans may not spend a lot of time chewing, especially considering the cooked and processed foods we eat.

虽然人类可能不会花大量时间咀嚼，尤其是考虑到我们吃的是熟食和加工食品。

I mean, how long does it really take to chew a chicken nugget?

我的意思是, 咀嚼一块鸡块到底需要多长时间?

The same is not true of our primate⁵ cousins.

我们的灵长类近亲咀嚼食物并没有那么快。

Orangutans and gorillas⁶ spend up to six and a half hours a day chewing! And it's possible our human ancestors did too.

红毛猩猩和大猩猩每天要花六个半小时咀嚼!我们的人类祖先可能也是如此。

That's something that natural selection can work on, it can change tooth morphology or muscle architecture to increase the energy you're getting from your food and that may give you a competitive advantage over your neighbor who's rubbish at chewing or something like that.

这是自然选择在起作用，这会改变牙齿形态或肌肉结构，以增加从食物中获得的能量，这可能会让你比那些咀嚼劣质食物或类似东西的灵长类近亲更有竞争优势。

The researchers say the work could give scientists a new evolutionary⁷ lens through which to interpret fossil remains⁸, especially the body parts most commonly left behind--the teeth and jaws⁹.

研究人员称，这项工作可以为科学家们提供一个新的进化视角，通过该视角，可以解释化石遗骸，尤其是最常见的身体部位--牙齿和下巴。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。

1 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

2 expenditure   

n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗

参考例句：

• The entry of all expenditure is necessary.有必要把一切开支入账。
• The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether.我们一家的开销每月共计四百元。

3 metabolism   

n.新陈代谢

参考例句：

• After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食，卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
• All living matter undergoes a process of metabolism.生物都有新陈代谢。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 primate   

n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的

参考例句：

• 14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。
• The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。

6 gorillas   

n.大猩猩( gorilla的名词复数 )；暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• the similitude between humans and gorillas 人类和大猩猩的相像
• Each family of gorillas is led by a great silverbacked patriarch. 每个大星星家族都由一个魁梧的、长着银色被毛的族长带领着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。