时差N小时 蜣螂的秘密(上)

A number of animals, including honeybees and butterflies, use sunlight's polarization in their navigations,

很多的动物都根据阳光的自然偏振作用来为自己寻找方向，这些动物甚至包括蜂鸟和蝴蝶。

but the dung beetle¹ is the first animal ever discovered to use moonlight's polarization to guide its travels.

然而，大千世界无奇不有，科学家们发现屎壳郎很不一样—它们依靠月光的偏振来完成它们的旅行。

Polarization happens when some of the light from the sun interacts with particles in the atmosphere, causing the light to vibrate along a single plane.

这种偏振现象是由于阳光与大气中的粒子相互作用，使光在一个单一的平面上振动而产生的。

Polarized light is invisible to the human eye.

在这里必须提及的是——人眼是感受不到光的偏振的。

It's been known for some time that the eyes of some insects are sensitive to polarized sunlight,

人们很早就发现了一点：动物的眼睛很是敏感，它们能够感受到光的偏振。

but what is remarkable² about the dung beetle is that moonlight is one millionth the strength of sunlight and requires a good deal more of a pair of eyes.

这就不足为奇了，屎壳郎最值得让我们去注意的是—月光的强度仅仅是阳光强度的百万分之一，必须要多很多对眼睛才能够感受得到。

1 beetle   

n.甲虫，近视眼的人

参考例句：

• A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。
• He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。

2 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。