科学家揭开变色龙眼球独立运动的奥秘

 

科学家揭开变色龙眼球独立运动的奥秘

Many fish and birds have eyes on opposite sides of the head, and they seemingly have at any given moment two different pictures of the world around them. But chameleons’eyes are slightly bulging² so they can focus both eyes on one object or track two different objects with each eye.

许多鱼类和鸟类的眼睛都位于头部的两侧,而且似乎在任何时刻周遭的世界呈现给它们的是两种截然不同的景象。但变色龙的眼睛则是略微膨胀,这样它们可以将两只眼睛的焦点集中在一个物体上或通过每只眼睛追踪两个不同的物体。

The puzzling question was: does one eye know what the other is doing?

而令科学家们感到困惑的问题是:一只眼睛知道另一个所做的事情吗?

Scientists at Haifa University, in Israel, tried to find the answer with the help of a computer screen.

以色列海法大学的科学家们正希望凭借电脑的帮助揭开其中的奥秘。

"We found out that each eye has a different role. We have the tracking eye, that will continue tracking the target, and the converging³ eye that will converge⁴ to the tracking eye, and eventually she will choose that target. We found out that each eye has a different subtle pattern of eye movements according to her role.”

“我们发现,每只眼睛都有着不同的功用。我们发现它们有能够持续追踪目标的追踪眼,以及能够汇聚追踪眼的汇聚眼,最终变色龙会选择这一目标。我们发现依据本身所处环境的不同变色龙的每只眼睛都有不同微妙的眼球运动模式。”

When the picture of an insect projected on the screen was split in two, which then started to move in opposite directions, the chameleon¹ was able to follow both. But when the animal finally decided⁵ on one of the targets, its other eye suddenly swiveled back to focus on the same spot. In a split second, it lashed⁶ out its long tongue at the target. This proved that the second eye knew what the first eye was seeing.

当昆虫投射在屏幕上时画面被一分为二,然后眼球开始朝着相反的方向运动,这样变色龙就能够二者兼顾。但是当它最终决定捕猎的目标,它的另一只眼睛会突然扭回集中在同一点上。在一瞬间,它的长舌伸出直达目标。这证明,第二眼知道第一眼正在看的景象。

"We assume that the brain controls each eye independently with independent units of eye movements, but there is a higher level of control that can co-ordinate these two. So each eye knows exactly what the other eye sees and vice⁷ versa.”

“我们假设大脑能对每只眼睛眼球运动的独立单元独立控制,但还有一种更高层次的控制可以进行二者的协调。所以每只眼睛知道另一只眼睛看到什么,而且反之亦然。”

Scientists say new findings may shed new light on research on other, similar animals. It also could find application in the control of mechanical devices,whose video cameras have to focus simultaneously⁸ on several things such as robots or self-driving cars

科学家表示这一新发现可能为其他类似的动物的研究指明方向。或许还能因此诞生一款控制机械设备的应用程序,其中的摄像机会同时关注如机器人或自动驾驶汽车等的几件事物。

1 chameleon   

n.变色龙，蜥蜴；善变之人

参考例句：

• The chameleon changes colour to match its surroundings.变色龙变换颜色以适应环境。
• The chameleon can take on the colour of its background.变色龙可呈现出与其背景相同的颜色。

2 bulging   

膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱

参考例句：

• Her pockets were bulging with presents. 她的口袋里装满了礼物。
• Conscious of the bulging red folder, Nim told her,"Ask if it's important." 尼姆想到那个鼓鼓囊囊的红色文件夹便告诉她：“问问是不是重要的事。”

3 converging   

adj.收敛[缩]的，会聚的，趋同的v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的现在分词 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集

参考例句：

• Plants had gradually evolved along diverging and converging pathways. 植物是沿着趋异和趋同两种途径逐渐演化的。 来自辞典例句
• This very slowly converging series was known to Leibniz in 1674. 这个收敛很慢的级数是莱布尼茨在1674年得到的。 来自辞典例句

4 converge   

vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近

参考例句：

• The results converge towards this truth.其结果趋近于这个真理。
• Parallel lines converge at infinity.平行线永不相交。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。