美国国家公共电台 NPR--Can dogs smell time? Just ask Donut the dog

Can dogs smell time? Just ask Donut the dog

Transcript¹

The mystery dogged our family for decades. How could Donut tell time? And not just the approximate time, but the exact moment before the school bus would arrive. Every. Single. Day.

You see, Donut was my husband's dog growing up, from elementary school through high school.

"She was a stray that came to our house when I was about 4," my husband, Matt, says. She had big, brown floppy² ears and giant white and black spots on her flanks. "She was a hound mix," Matt says. "We knew she was a hound because she liked to roam," he adds. "We had to be careful not to let her get out because she would roam the neighborhood."

Donut loved to sleep. While Matt and his brother went to school, Donut spent most of her day inside, lying on the living room rug, sleeping — "and chewing on bones," Matt says. "She would also hide the bones under the sofa cushions."

But every weekday, before the bus dropped off the boys, Donut, without fail, would hop³ up from the rug, go to the back porch and sit by the window.

"She would wait for my brother and me to walk home so she could greet us at the door," Matt says. "She was always punctual. Never early and never late."

Every winter holiday, Matt's family would tell me this fascinating story. And each year, I would tell myself, "I'm going to figure out how Donut does it and write up a story for NPR." But alas⁴, each year I'd get too busy and not have time.

Not this year. This month, I made time to solve the mystery of Donut's time skills. And the wait has been worth it. Because, folks, guess what Donut likely could do? She could smell time, says psychologist Alexandra Horowitz, who studies dog cognition at Columbia University and Barnard College.

"I'm not at all surprised that Donut would be able to predict the arrival of the school bus," says Horowitz.

Dogs, like people, use many environmental cues to estimate the time during the day, she says. They listen to their body's physiological⁵ signs, such as a growing rumble⁶ in their tummies, hint of drowsiness⁷ or a growing need to ... you know, go outside. Just like humans, they have fluctuating hormones⁸ that help create a built-in clock in their bodies and minds.

They also look at the amount of light shining into a room or even the angle of the sun. "Both dogs and humans notice, 'Oh, it's getting a little bit dark in the room,' " Horowitz says.

But Donut, she says, likely has another trick up her furry⁹ leg that we humans don't use to tell time (or at least we don't realize we use): "That's olfaction," Horowitz says. "Dogs are living in basically an olfactory¹⁰ world, and I think they are able to track time with smells."

When I first heard this theory, I was a bit incredulous. How do you smell something intangible like time? But then Horowitz explained it to me, and I began to realize that maybe I smell time, too. And maybe dogs understand physics in a way that I don't.

Smelling time for Donut, Horowitz says, likely began with Matt's own unique bouquet¹¹ of scents¹³. "Humans stink¹⁴, even the very clean among us," she says. "Dogs can recognize their owners by their smell alone."

Not only do we stink, we also leave our stinky signature everywhere we go. "We're always sloughing¹⁵ skin cells and leaving behind little trails of odor," she says. "For example, you can smell if somebody has been in the elevator before [you] if they were wearing a strong cologne."

So imagine, back in the late 1980s, when Matt and his brother were in elementary school getting ready in the mornings. The two boys filled their home with all sorts of smells — the funk of their baseball uniforms and the stink of their dirty socks and the scent¹² of their shampoo.

As Matt and his brother rushed out the door to catch the bus in the morning, their living room would stink to high heaven with the signature scent of two prepubescent boys.

As Donut sauntered over to the rug for her morning nap, she would literally¹⁶ be swimming in Matt's odor molecules¹⁷. But over time, the scents in the house changed. "The odors would deteriorate¹⁸, and the smell gets less strong," Horowitz says.

Given Donut's massive nose and her brain that's incredibly tuned¹⁹ to the concentrations of odors, Horowitz says, there's no question Donut noticed the slow diminishment of Matt's scent over the course of the day.

"Absolutely," Horowitz says. "And we know that dogs are especially attuned²⁰ to the odors of their person."

In fact, Donut didn't simply notice the shift in smell, Horowitz said. She likely used it to predict the future — to predict when the school bus would arrive.

Every school day Matt and his brother would be away from their home for approximately the same amount of time. And right before the school bus arrived, their smell in the house would drop to about the same level.

Donut probably learned to associate that level of odor with the imminent²¹ return of Matt and his brother, Horowitz thinks.

So instead of simply seeing time pass on a clock or feeling it pass in her body, Donut literally smelled time pass. "We have to imagine that things we render as visual experiences, dogs might render in olfaction," Horowitz explains. "So they might experience spaces, recognize things and have memories in smell."

On top of that, she says, odors have "time baked into them" in a way that visual cues don't. "Odors that are lying on the ground or on the sidewalk outside tell us — or dogs — about the past. For example, they say who's been there," Horowitz says. "And if there's a breeze coming up the street, that might bear the odor of someone who's coming around the corner. So it's telling us something about our near future."

Horowitz is quick to point out that this time-sniffing²³ is only a hypothesis. Nobody has ever tested it scientifically (although the BBC tested in a more casual way with one family and their pet; the hypothesis stood up to their very unscientific experiment).

Dogs aren't the only ones that likely track time with odors, says neuroscientist Gregory Berns at Emory University. Many animals use scents to track time. Even humans.

"So, for example, you know, we routinely use smell when we check food. When I open up the milk carton, I give it the sniff²² test to make sure that it hasn't gone bad before I use it," Berns says. "Every animal probably does that to determine whether something's OK to eat. It's biologically adaptive."

Hmm, somehow that human way of "sniffing time" doesn't seem quite as sophisticated as Donut calculating the arrival of the school bus, with minute precision.

That precision also enables dogs to follow scents through space when tracking down missing people, says cognitive²⁴ scientist Lucia Lazarowski.

"Tracking and trailing dogs are probably using the intensity²⁵ of odors, based on how old the odor is, to determine the direction of a track or a trail," she says. "So newer, more recent odors are going to be more intense and stronger than odors that have dissipated and are weaker over time."

So even when dogs are keeping track of physical space, they're also tracking time (or vice²⁶ versa). And in a way, for dogs, time is inextricably woven into space. Which, if you think about, is reminiscent of the way physicists²⁷ describe and think about time and space: that is, two inseparable ideas combined in one four-dimensional continuum.

Dogs are way smarter than we give them credit for. Who knew that while Matt was in school studying long division, Donut was showing off his mastery of astrophysics.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 floppy   

adj.松软的，衰弱的

参考例句：

• She was wearing a big floppy hat.她戴了顶松软的大帽子。
• Can you copy those files onto this floppy disk?你能把那些文件复制到这张软盘上吗？

3 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

4 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

5 physiological   

adj.生理学的，生理学上的

参考例句：

• He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。

6 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

7 drowsiness   

n.睡意；嗜睡

参考例句：

• A feeling of drowsiness crept over him. 一种昏昏欲睡的感觉逐渐袭扰着他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This decision reached, he finally felt a placid drowsiness steal over him. 想到这，来了一点平安的睡意。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

8 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

9 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。

10 olfactory   

adj.嗅觉的

参考例句：

• He is to develop a sensor to substitute for the olfactory abilities of dogs.克罗克将研制一种传感器用以代替狗的嗅觉功能。
• Based on these findings, Keller suspects that each person has an olfactory blind spot.根据这些发现，凯勒推断，每个人都有一个嗅觉盲区。

11 bouquet   

n.花束，酒香

参考例句：

• This wine has a rich bouquet.这种葡萄酒有浓郁的香气。
• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。

12 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

13 scents   

n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉

参考例句：

• The air was fragrant with scents from the sea and the hills. 空气中荡漾着山和海的芬芳气息。
• The winds came down with scents of the grass and wild flowers. 微风送来阵阵青草和野花的香气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 stink   

vi.发出恶臭；糟透，招人厌恶；n.恶臭

参考例句：

• The stink of the rotten fish turned my stomach.腐烂的鱼臭味使我恶心。
• The room has awful stink.那个房间散发着难闻的臭气。

15 sloughing   

v.使蜕下或脱落( slough的现在分词 )；舍弃；除掉；摒弃

参考例句：

• a snake sloughing its skin 正在蜕皮的蛇
• Only minor sloughing occurred during the earthquake. 在地震时只有小的脱落现象。 来自辞典例句

16 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。

17 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

18 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

19 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 attuned   

v.使协调( attune的过去式和过去分词 )；调音

参考例句：

• She wasn't yet attuned to her baby's needs. 她还没有熟悉她宝宝的需要。
• Women attuned to sensitive men found Vincent Lord attractive. 偏爱敏感男子的女人，觉得文森特·洛德具有魅力。 来自辞典例句

21 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

22 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

23 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

24 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

25 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

26 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。

27 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。