(单词翻译:单击)
Camels.
骆驼。
The long-haul truckers of the Sahara.
撒哈拉沙漠里的长途卡车司机。
These pack animals are perfectly suited for extreme desert conditions.
这些动物非常适合极端的沙漠环境。
Why, these babies can go for a hundred miles without even a sip of water!
为什么，这些小家伙连一口水都不喝就能走上一百英里!
That's 'cause of this here hump.
都是因为这个驼峰。
Fill 'er up with some high-quality H2O, and you can H-2-go forever!
往驼峰里灌满高质量的水，你就可以永远动力满满了!
Nice try, but that's not exactly what's going on under the camel's hood... or rather, hump.
想的挺美，但这并不是关于驼峰的真相。
Perhaps the most distinctive physical quality of camels is their humps.
也许骆驼最独特的身体特征就是它们的驼峰。
However, despite the long-standing rumor, these humps aren't for storing water.
然而，尽管谣传已久，但这些驼峰并不是用来储存水的。
They store fat that camels can use for nourishment in case they don't have food.
它们储存的是脂肪，骆驼在没有食物的情况下可以把这些脂肪当成营养。
Storing food energy as fat is especially important for camels, who typically live in the desert, where food sources can be hard to come by.
骆驼通常生活在沙漠中，食物来源匮乏，所以将食物储存成脂肪对它们而言很重要。
The longer camels go without food, the more their humps will deflate and droop.
骆驼在没有食物的情况下行走的时间越长，它们的驼峰就会越瘪越下垂。
But once camels are able to refuel, the humps reinflate.
但一旦骆驼补充了能量，驼峰就会重新饱满起来。
Humans and other animals do this as well, but our fat is usually distributed throughout our bodies.
人类和其他动物也会这样做，但我们的脂肪通常分布在我们的身体各处。
So why do camels keep all their extra fat in one place?
那为什么骆驼把多余的脂肪都存放在一个地方呢?
By concentrating fatty tissue in humps on their backs, camels' bodies are less insulated, which helps regulate their body temperature and keeps them from sweating.
将脂肪组织集中在背上的驼峰里，骆驼的身体就不那么隔热了，这可以帮助它们调节体温，防止它们出汗。
This allows their body temperature to rise while also conserving water and preventing them from overheating during the hot desert days.
这能让它们的体温上升，同时节约水资源，防止他们在炎热的沙漠天体温过高。
Then, when the temperature drops at night, they use the extra stored heat to stay warm.
然后，当夜间温度下降时，它们就用额外储存的热量来保暖。
Of course, camels can still go quite a long time--about a week--without water.
当然，骆驼仍然可以在不喝水的情况下行走很长一段时间——大约一周。
However, their efficiency with water has more to do with several other adaptations for living in arid conditions, such as their oval-shaped blood cells, which allow camels to consume large amounts of water (up to 30 gallons in one sitting!).
然而，骆驼对水的利用效率更多地与它们适应干旱环境的其他几方面有关，比如它们的卵形血细胞，这让骆驼可以储存大量的水(一次可以吸收30加仑!)
Because these cells are more elastic, they can easily change shape to retain more water.
因为这些细胞更有弹性，它们可以轻易改变形状来保留更多水分。
This shape also allows the camel's blood to flow more easily when water is scarce.
这种细胞形状也让骆驼的血液在缺水时更容易流动。
Camels are pretty amazing creatures, what with their ability to eat cacti--spines and all.
骆驼是一种非常神奇的动物，它们能吃仙人掌，带刺吃。
They retain more water than a kiddie pool and spit like an Old West gunslinger.
它们能储存的水量比儿童泳池还多，吐出来的口水就像Old West里的枪手一样。
Still, their humps remain their most well-known feature, even if they are more like lunch boxes than water bottles.
尽管如此，它们的驼峰仍然是最为人知的特征，即使它们更像午餐盒而不是储水瓶。
