VOA慢速英語(yǔ)：蜘蛛網(wǎng)和吉它弦的共同之處

Spider webs have something in common with guitar strings.
蜘蛛網(wǎng)和吉它弦有一些共同之處。
The long, thin strings on a guitar can vibrate. They move back and forth, or from side to side.
吉它上又長(zhǎng)又細(xì)的弦可以來(lái)回振動(dòng)。
So do webs made by spiders. The lines of silk they produce can carry vibrations. This movement gives the small creature information about what landed on the web.
蜘蛛織的網(wǎng)也是如此，它們吐出的蜘蛛絲可以傳播振動(dòng)。振動(dòng)能給這種小生物提供信息，讓它們知道蛛網(wǎng)上落了什么東西。
Spiders have eight legs and usually eight eyes. The animals build webs with their own soft, naturally-made silk. And much like playing the strings of a guitar, a spider can send out vibrations across its web over many different frequencies.
蜘蛛有8條腿，通常也有8只眼睛。這種動(dòng)物用它們自己吐出的軟軟的絲來(lái)織網(wǎng)。就像是彈奏吉它弦一樣，蜘蛛可以在它的網(wǎng)上發(fā)出多種不同頻率的振動(dòng)。
Scientists at the University of Oxford have shown how spiders control the tension of their webs. They do this to make use of the power of their senses.
牛津大學(xué)的科學(xué)家已經(jīng)展示了蜘蛛如何控制蛛網(wǎng)的張力，它們運(yùn)用自身感官的能力來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn)這點(diǎn)。
Spiders catch their food, usually insects, in their web. They make small movements, which spread across their web. The vibrations can tell the spider what is there — maybe a possible mate, or something tasty to eat.
蜘蛛在它們的蛛網(wǎng)上捕食，一般捕到的都是昆蟲。它們制造出傳遍整張蛛網(wǎng)的小振動(dòng)，這種振動(dòng)會(huì)告訴蜘蛛有什么東西在蛛網(wǎng)上，可能是潛在伴侶，或是一些美味。
Beth Mortimer works in the Zoology Department at the university. She says the vibrations gives the spider details about what is caught in the web. They can tell the spider where that next meal is, and what it might be. But she says, vibrations are not just used to identify what is for dinner.
貝絲·莫蒂默(Beth Mortimer)就職于該大學(xué)的動(dòng)物學(xué)系。她說(shuō)，振動(dòng)會(huì)給蜘蛛提供蛛網(wǎng)上抓到了什么的詳細(xì)信息，它們能告訴蜘蛛下一頓美食在哪，可能是什么東西。但是她表示，振動(dòng)不僅被用于確定下頓美食是什么。
"But vibrations are also important in courtship, so lots of males will actually generate a very specific kind of a musical pattern which the females can use to determine not only that they're a male, but they're the right species, and whether she might want to mate with them as well."
莫蒂默說(shuō)，“振動(dòng)在求愛中也很重要。所以很多公蜘蛛會(huì)制造一種特殊的音樂節(jié)奏，母蜘蛛不僅可以憑此確定它們的性別，還能確定它們的物種，以及它是否愿意同它交配。”
Mortimer adds that a spider make its own vibrations to find out the condition of the web.
莫蒂默補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，蜘蛛通過自身的振動(dòng)確定蛛網(wǎng)狀況。
How do the researchers know that? They used special equipment to send out laser pulses into the web of a garden cross spider. Then they used a laser to measure the very small vibrations, which spread through the web. They sent their own vibration to learn more.
研究人員如何知道這些的呢?他們利用特殊設(shè)備向一只十字園蛛的蛛網(wǎng)上發(fā)出激光脈沖，然后他們利用激光測(cè)量這種傳遍蛛網(wǎng)的微小振動(dòng)。他們發(fā)出自己的振動(dòng)來(lái)了解更多。
"We were able to input our own vibration into the web, move this vibration around to different locations to work out how the spider is able to locate where vibration sources are coming from and how the vibrations change as they move through the web structure."
莫蒂默說(shuō)，“我們能夠?qū)⒆约旱恼駝?dòng)傳到蛛網(wǎng)上，將這種振動(dòng)移動(dòng)到不同位置，來(lái)找出蜘蛛如何能夠定位振動(dòng)源來(lái)自何處，以及振動(dòng)在穿過蛛網(wǎng)結(jié)構(gòu)時(shí)如何變化。”
Using computer models, the scientist could show how a spider can change the size of a wave vibration. The spider does this by changing the tension — or tightness — of the silk lines.
通過計(jì)算機(jī)模型，科學(xué)家能夠展示蜘蛛如何改變波動(dòng)的大小。蜘蛛是通過改變絲線的張力或緊密度來(lái)做到這點(diǎn)。
Mortimer says by controlling the tightness of the material, it lets the spider "effectively tune their web's properties." The spiders then can control how information is getting to them where they hang out in the middle of the web.
莫蒂默表示，通過控制材料的緊密度可以讓蜘蛛有效地調(diào)整蛛網(wǎng)的屬性。然后當(dāng)蜘蛛在蛛網(wǎng)中心呆著，它們可以控制信息要如何傳回給它們。
The research shows that spiders have a special ability to shape the physical properties of their self-made materials and creations. The scientists think that spider silk may have changed over time for this purpose.
研究表明，蜘蛛具有一種特殊能力，可以塑造其自制的蛛絲和蛛網(wǎng)的物理特性。科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，為此目的，蛛絲可能會(huì)隨著時(shí)間推移而變化。
And, Mortimer explains, in a way, spiders can move their silk threads, much like a musician plays the strings of a guitar.
莫蒂默也解釋說(shuō)，在某種程度上，蜘蛛可以移動(dòng)它們的絲線，就像是音樂家撥動(dòng)吉它的弦一樣。
"They are constantly able to monitor the tensioning on their webs by, they can kind of feel around with their legs, so they have a behavior where they kind of bounce on their webs slightly and sometimes they pluck the silk fibers as well. So they're able to send out a vibratory signal into the web and they can monitor what comes back."
莫蒂默說(shuō)，“它們可以不間斷地監(jiān)控蛛網(wǎng)上的張力，這種張力可以被蜘蛛腿感受到。所以它們會(huì)在蛛網(wǎng)上輕微晃動(dòng)，有時(shí)候它們也會(huì)撥動(dòng)蛛絲。這樣它們就能向蛛網(wǎng)發(fā)出振動(dòng)并監(jiān)測(cè)有何回應(yīng)。”
Engineers might be able to learn a thing or two from spiders. This information could help engineers better understand how structures react to energy, and how vibrations affect a building.
工程師們也許能夠從蜘蛛身上學(xué)到一兩件事。這些信息可以幫助工程師更好地了解結(jié)構(gòu)如何對(duì)力量做出反應(yīng)，以及振動(dòng)如何影響建筑物。
I'm Anne Ball.
我是安妮·波爾。