这不是黄色：英语精读讲义

Using GPS, these trails represent pizza delivery in Manhattan on a typical Friday night.

借助 GPS，这些轨迹展现了曼哈顿一个普通周五夜晚的披萨配送路线。

And is this a frog or a horse?

这是青蛙还是马？

It's episode 52 of IMG.

这里是《IMG》第 52 集。

This lemon looks yellow to me, and it probably looks yellow to you as well, 短語搭配

这个柠檬在我看来是黄色的，你大概也觉得它是黄色的，

but not in the same way.

但我们看到黄色的方式并不一样。

You see, here in this room, 表達脈絡

你看，在这个房间里，

this lemon is subtractively yellow. 用詞

这个柠檬呈现的是减色法的黄色。

It absorbs all visible wavelengths of light except for yellow light, 語法

它会吸收除黄光以外所有可见波长的光，

which it reflects onto my retina.

再把黄光反射到我的视网膜上。

But the screen that you are using to watch this video doesn't produce yellow light at all. 短語搭配

但你用来观看这段视频的屏幕根本不会产生黄光。

In fact, it can only produce red, blue, or green light. 表達脈絡

事实上，它只能产生红光、蓝光或绿光。

The really cool but kind of disturbing thing about this is that here in the room, 講解

这件事特别酷，但也有点让人不安：在这个房间里，

I am actually seeing real yellow light, 表達脈絡

我看到的其实是真正的黄光，

but you are seeing fake yellow.

而你看到的却是假的黄色。

Absolutely no yellow is coming off of your screen and falling on your retina. 短語動詞

你的屏幕绝对没有发出任何黄光照到你的视网膜上。

But it still looks yellow because it's quite easy to lie to the brain. 習語

但它看起来依然是黄色，因为欺骗大脑其实相当容易。

Our retinas contain three different types of cone cells that are receptive to color, 短語搭配

我们的视网膜里有三种能够感知颜色的视锥细胞，

and each one is best suited to detect a certain color. 短語搭配

每一种最擅长检测一种特定的颜色。

One is great for blue, the other is great for green, 表達脈絡

一种特别擅长感知蓝色，另一种特别擅长感知绿色，

and the third is great for red.

第三种则特别擅长感知红色。

Notice that there's no individual cell looking for yellow. 語法

注意，并没有哪一种单独的细胞专门检测黄色。

So, the way we actually see yellow happens like this.

所以，我们真正看到黄色的过程是这样的。

The wavelength of yellow light falls between the wavelengths of red and green.

黄光的波长介于红光和绿光的波长之间。

And so, when an object reflects yellow light onto your retina,

因此，当一个物体把黄光反射到你的视网膜上时，

both the green and the red cones are slightly activated,

感知绿色和红色的视锥细胞都会被稍微激活，

which your brain notices and says,

你的大脑注意到这一点，就会说：

"Well, that's what happens when something's yellow, so it must be yellow." 語法

“嗯，黄色的东西就是会产生这种反应，所以它肯定是黄色。”

All a computer monitor or mobile phone screen has to do to make you think you're seeing yellow 語法

电脑显示器或手机屏幕要让你以为自己看到了黄色，只需要

is send a little bit of red and a little bit of green light at you.

向你发出一点红光和一点绿光。

As long as the pixels and the little subpixels on them are small enough that you can't distinguish them individually, 語法

只要像素及其中的小型子像素足够小，让你无法逐个分辨，

your brain will just say,

你的大脑就会直接说：

"Well, I'm receiving some red and some green.

“嗯，我接收到了一些红光和绿光。

That's what yellow things do.

黄色的东西就是这样。

Hmm, it must be yellow."

唔，那肯定是黄色。”

Even though it actually is not. 表達脈絡

尽管它实际上根本不是黄色。

Lemons can also produce electricity.

柠檬还能发电。

A little bit of zinc, a little bit of copper, and boom, you're moving electrons around. 表達脈絡

一点锌，一点铜，砰——电子就流动起来了。

But not that many. 語法

但流动的电子并不多。

I mean, the current voltage are quite low.

我的意思是，电流和电压都很低。

You could run an LCD, but even a potato could do that. 語氣意圖

你可以用它驱动液晶显示屏，不过连土豆都能做到。

If you wanted to run a flashlight bulb, that would take 3,000 lemons. 語法

如果想点亮一个手电筒灯泡，就需要 3000 个柠檬。

And if you wanted to run a halogen bulb, well, that would take 37,000 lemons.

如果想点亮一个卤素灯泡，嗯，那就需要 37000 个柠檬。

But artist Caleb Charland doesn't care.

但艺术家 Caleb Charland 并不在乎。

He spent 11 hours hammering nails into 300 living apples hanging on trees. 語法

他花了 11 个小时，把钉子敲进 300 个仍长在树上的苹果里。

By connecting them to a household lamp, 語法

他把这些苹果连接到一盏家用灯上，

he was able to make it glow just dimly enough 語法

成功让灯发出恰到好处的微光，

to capture this image with a 4-hour exposure. 用詞

再用 4 小时的曝光拍下了这张照片。

Less alive and more frightening are Steve Shaheen's sculptures, 語法

相比之下，Steve Shaheen 的雕塑没那么有生命力，却更吓人：

little dudes with bulb heads desperately trying to plug themselves in. 短語動詞

一群顶着灯泡脑袋的小家伙，拼命想把自己插上电。

Merve Kahraman's Revitalizer never dies. 習語

Merve Kahraman 的作品《Revitalizer》永远不会死去。

It's a light bulb surrounded by wax.

它是一个被蜡包围的灯泡。

Now, the wax melts because of the lightbulb's heat

灯泡的热量会让蜡熔化，

and drips into a special container in all kinds of weird new shapes.

然后滴进一个特殊容器里，形成各种古怪的新形状。

But whenever you want, you can just flip it 語法

不过你随时都可以把它翻转过来，

so that the new cooled wax is at the top. 語法

让已经冷却的新蜡回到顶部。

But my favorite is the Fukusada Wooden Lightbulb.

但我最喜欢的是 Fukusada Wooden Lightbulb。

It looks like a solid block of wood, but it's actually hollow and chipped to a nearly paper-thin width. 講解

它看起来像一整块实心木头，其实内部是空的，而且被削得薄如纸张。

When you turn it on, you can see the light coming from inside.

打开它时，你就能看到从内部透出的光。

Combos.

组合图。

Artist Tang Yau Hoong blew my mind this week. 習語

艺术家 Tang Yau Hoong 这周让我大开眼界。

We've got clear days and smoke,

这里有晴天与烟雾，

boats and Crocs,

船与 Crocs，

whales and hearts,

鲸鱼与爱心，

Pi Bike, brains and boxing gloves,

Pi Bike、大脑与拳击手套，

day and night.

白天与黑夜。

But don't be scared.

不过别害怕。

You can always paint yourself some light or just swing on some light.

你随时都可以给自己画点光，或者干脆在光上荡秋千。

Okay, let's frame it this way. 習語

好吧，我们换个“框”法来看。

Climbing wall.

攀岩墙。

This fitness club in Japan uses frames and other pretty interior elements to create a decidedly less rugged climbing wall. 用詞

日本的这家健身俱乐部利用画框和其他漂亮的室内装饰元素，打造出一面明显没那么粗犷的攀岩墙。

But let's get simple, like minimal.

不过，让我们简单一点，走极简风。

Thanks to LEGO, here are their bricks arranged to represent famous characters. 短語搭配

多亏了 LEGO，这里可以看到用 LEGO 积木排列出的著名角色。

Enjoy.

请欣赏。

Now for some art,

接下来看看一些艺术——

illusions.

错觉艺术。

Here's a cute couple, but can you see in this very same image the baby they will soon have?

这里有一对可爱的情侣，但你能在同一张图里看出他们即将拥有的宝宝吗？

Or how about these zebras? 語氣意圖

再看看这些斑马怎么样？

There's a lion hiding amongst them.

它们中间藏着一头狮子。

Can you find it?

你能找到吗？

Billboards can be clever, but here's a great one that makes it look like someone is pushing out a section of the building. 語法

广告牌可以很有创意，而这块就很棒，看起来像有人正把建筑的一部分向外推。

But how many of you will remember seeing it? 語法

但你们当中会有多少人记得见过它呢？

If we assume that you don't remember experiencing major cultural events before you're 5 or 6 years old, 表達脈絡

假设你不记得自己五六岁以前经历过的重大文化事件，

that means that every year there are fewer and fewer people alive who remember experiencing recent historical events. 語法

那么，每一年，仍然在世且记得自己亲历过近代历史事件的人都会越来越少。

XKCD made this amazing chart to show when in the future the majority, 表達脈絡

XKCD 制作了这张精彩的图表，用来展示未来会在什么时候出现这样的多数群体：

more than half of living Americans will not remember being alive when certain things happened.

超过半数在世的美国人不记得某些事件发生时自己已经在世。

For instance, he calculated using data from the U.S. Census Bureau 講解

例如，他利用美国人口普查局的数据计算出，

that 2012, this very year, 用詞

2012 年，也就是今年，

is the first year in American history since in which

是美国历史上第一个出现以下情况的年份：

fewer than half of living Americans remember being alive in the 1970s. 語法

在世的美国人中，记得自己曾生活在 20 世纪 70 年代的不到一半。

By 2041, most of us won't remember a time when Pluto was actually called a planet. 講解

到 2041 年，我们大多数人都不会记得冥王星曾经被称为行星的时代。

By 2043, most of us alive won't remember living during George W. Bush's presidency.

到 2043 年，当时在世的大多数人都不会记得自己曾经历乔治·W·布什的总统任期。

And by 2047, more than half of living Americans

到 2047 年，在世的美国人中将有超过一半

will not have been alive to have remembered anything that you did today. 語法

在今天根本还没有出生，因此不会记得你今天做过的任何事。

Like when you made that funny face in the yearbook. 文化背景

比如你在毕业纪念册里做出的那个滑稽表情。

No, no, no, that funny face. 語氣意圖

不，不，不，是那个滑稽表情。

If you're not following @tweetsauce, you are missing out on daily Vsaucy content, 短語動詞

如果你还没关注 @tweetsauce，就会错过每天更新的 Vsauce 风格内容，

most of which never makes it to a video. 講解

其中大部分永远不会被做成视频。

So, go follow us on Twitter,

所以，去 Twitter 上关注我们吧，

and I'm going to leave you with another combo, 短語搭配

最后再留给你们一个组合图，

a tessellation while you listen to Jake Chudnow's Flan.

一幅密铺图案，同时请欣赏 Jake Chudnow 的《Flan》。

He made a music video for this song over on his channel, so check that out.

他在自己的频道里为这首歌制作了一支音乐视频，记得去看看。

And, as always, thanks for watching.

一如既往，感谢观看。