(单词翻译:单击)
There are many dung beetles competing for a limited amount of food at a dung pile, so whenan individual is finished rolling a ball of dung it is in its best interest to make a quick escape.And the fastest way to travel is in a straight path. Scientists noticed that when the moon wasvisible, these dung beetles did just that; they traveled in straight paths. But when it was acloudy night, the beetles' paths became shaky and erratic.
屎壳郎之间食物的竞争很激烈,往往是很多只屎壳郎齐齐盯上一堆粪 。因此,当一只屎壳郎滚好了一个粪球后最好就是尽快离开 。当然,最快的就是走直线了 。科学家们发现,在月明星稀的夜里,屎壳郎就是这样做的,它们都走直线 。但是,如果是在乌云密布的夜里,无法看到月亮,这个时候的屎壳郎所走的路线就会歪歪扭扭 。
To be sure the beetles were indeed using the moon's polarization and not the moon itself, theresearchers used a filter that changed the pattern of the polarized moonlight by 90 degrees.The beetles responded by changing their course by 90 degrees.
为了确定屎壳郎是凭借着月光的偏振作用而不是月光来看路,研究者们使用了一个滤光器,这个滤光器将月光的偏振改变了90度,这个时候他们发现,屎壳郎的路线也随之改变了90度 。
Scientists suspect that the dung beetle isn't the only animal to navigate by the moon'spolarization and that more such creatures will soon be discovered.
科学家们还推测,屎壳郎并不是唯一一种凭借月光偏振作用为自己“导航”的动物,相信很快也会发现其它的此类生物 。