新奇事件簿 研究称睫毛防止眼睛干燥

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 different mammals. 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 eyelashes is 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.

关于睫毛为什么是现在这种长度这个古老的问题，科学家提出了答案。佐治亚理工学院对22种不同哺乳动物的睫毛进行了一系列不同的测试。其中一项测试是创造特别的风洞和假眼，创建一个数学模型，假设风吹动睫毛的情况。首席研究人员David Hu得出结论，眼睫毛的功能是防止眼球干燥，睫毛的最佳长度是眼睛宽度的三分之一。Hu教授发现，在各种哺乳动物中，眼睫毛的长度和眼睛宽度基本上都是三分之一。

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."

Hu教授在他的女儿出生后开始进行这项研究。他想知道他的宝宝为什么一直眨眼睑。他告诉《国际商业时报》：“长期以来，眼睛边缘的眼睫毛的作用一直都是一个奥秘。有许多猜测，从防止灰尘到触发眨眼反应。我们做的是关于眼睑的首次空气动力学研究。我们展示了使用三种独立的方法，眼睑可以使眼睛内液体蒸发的速度降低70%，还可以减少空气传播的微小颗粒的累积。”一位同事表示，Hu有着这样的天赋，能够看到每个人正在看的，也能看任何人都没有看到的。

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。