微觀慢動作下的水母刺擊 - 每天聰明一點點 120：英語精讀講義

Hey, it's me Destin and welcome back to Smarter Every Day.

嘿，我是 Destin，歡迎回到 Smarter Every Day。

If you've ever been stung by a jellyfish, 文法

如果你曾被水母螫過，

you know that it's awful. Let me show you.

你就知道那感覺有多糟。我來給你看個東西。

So, there's two ways that an animal can harm a human chemically, right? 用詞

動物可以透過兩種化學方式傷害人類，對吧？

The first one is poison.

第一種是「毒物」。

We know what that is.

我們知道那是什麼。

Like, if I were to eat this jellyfish and it was poisonous and I were to get sick, 文法

比如，如果我吃了這隻水母，它有毒讓我生病了，

it's because it is a poisonous animal, right?

那是因為它是種有毒的動物，對吧？

Now, venom is different. 用詞

而「毒液」則不同。

Venom is injected into your body.

毒液是注射進你體內的。

So, it's kind of like these hypodermic needles. 片語搭配

所以，這就有點像這些皮下注射針頭。

If you fill them up with venom and then you were to take that and inject that into your arm,

如果你在裡面裝滿毒液，然後拿著它注射進你的手臂，

that would be a venomous way of causing pain to your body, right?

那就是一種透過毒液給你身體帶來痛苦的方式，對吧？

So, wouldn't it be crazy if there was like hypodermic needles built into their tentacles and they could just stab you with them as soon as they rubbed up against you 表達脈絡

所以，如果它們的觸手裡長有這種皮下注射針頭，一擦過你就能扎進你的身體，這不是很瘋狂嗎？

because that's exactly what happens.

因為這正是實際發生的情況。

Jellyfish tentacles have organelles in them called nematocysts. 用詞

水母的觸手內有被稱為「刺絲胞」的胞器。

They're like little hypodermic needles.

它們就像微小的皮下注射針頭。

And when you're swimming and those hypodermic needles brush up against your body, 片語動詞

當你在游泳時，這些針頭擦過你的身體，

they stab into you and inject venom.

它們就會刺入你的體內並注入毒液。

It's insane.

這太瘋狂了。

People have never seen these because they're so small,

人們以前從未見過這些，因為它們太小了，

you have to have a microscope

你必須用顯微鏡，

and they're so fast that you have to use a high-speed camera. 文法

而且它們的速度極快，你必須使用高速攝影機。

So, now that we've rounded these two things up, 文法

既然我們湊齊了這兩樣東西，

where do we find our jellyfish?

我們去哪兒找水母呢？

Check it out.

來看看吧。

I'm at James Cook University in Australia in Cairns.

我現在在澳洲凱恩斯的詹姆士庫克大學 (James Cook University)。

And here's the deal. 片語搭配

情況是這樣的。

I've got the doctor here that's the world expert in animal venom.

我身邊的這位博士是世界動物毒液領域的專家。

It's pretty cool.

非常酷。

Let's go check it out.

我們去看看吧。

His name is Dr. Jamie Seymour.

他的名字是 Jamie Seymour 博士。

So, we have a high-speed camera here

我們這裡有一台高速攝影機，

and we're running HD-SDI video out

正在輸出 HD-SDI 影片，

and then Richard is recording it real-time

然後 Richard 正在即時錄製，

and then Dr. Seymour here is going to try to trigger a nematocyst, correct?

接著 Seymour 博士要試著觸發一個刺絲胞，對吧？

Correct.

沒錯。

And then once you trigger 文法

然後一旦你觸發

it, we're going to try to catch it on high-speed.

它，我們就會試著用高速鏡頭捕捉下來。

If you look at an anemone,

如果你看這隻海葵，

we've just taken this out of an anemone

我們剛剛從一隻海葵身上取下這個，

and if you poke it in the side

如果你戳一下它的側面

So, this isn't a jellyfish.

所以，這不是水母。

It's related to jellyfish.

它是水母的近親。

Close enough. 語氣意圖

差不多吧。

Okay.

好吧。

I told everybody wrong.

我跟大家說錯了。

I said we're going to look at a jellyfish stings you.

我說我們要看水母是怎麼螫你的。

It's the same thing.

這其實是一樣的。

It's the same process.

過程完全一樣。

Oh, is it?

哦，是嗎？

That's like saying, okay, 表達脈絡

這就好比說，好吧，

we're going to work out how a bullet works today. 片語動詞

我們今天來研究一下子彈是如何運作的。

Here's an AK-47

這裡有一把 AK-47，

and then if I walk in with a Glock,

然後如果我拿進一把格洛克手槍，

it's the same process.

它的過程是一樣的。

You are speaking my language, 慣用語

你很懂我的點嘛，

Australian man.

澳洲老哥。

There you go.

就是這樣。

There you go.

就是這樣。

So, we're still not exactly sure what causes the nematocyst to fire. 講解

所以，我們目前仍不完全清楚是什麼導致了刺絲胞的發射。

But what we do know is if we touch two leads from a 9-V battery to the tentacle itself, 文法

但我們知道的是，如果我們將9伏特電池的兩極接觸到觸手上，

we can get some of them to randomly fire, 文法

我們就能讓其中一些隨機發射，

which allows us to record it with a Phantom high-speed camera.

這使得我們可以用 Phantom 高速攝影機記錄下來。

Trigger.

觸發。

There it goes.

發射了。

Trigger.

觸發。

Trigger.

觸發。

How long have you been trying to capture that? 文法

您嘗試捕捉這個畫面有多久了？

Well, we've been doing it for a number of years,

嗯，我們已經做好幾年了，

but we've never had the camera technology to actually do it at this level before.

但以前從未有能達到這種水準的攝影機技術。

The nematocyst, which is a cell organelle,

刺絲胞，這是一種胞器，

so it's inside a cell,

也就是在細胞裡面，

which is a ball with a wound up hypodermic needle in it. 用詞

像是一個裝有盤繞著的皮下注射針頭的球。

And we saw it basically discharge. 用詞

我們基本上看到了它的發射。

So, And the needle was not rigid necessarily.

所以，而且那根針並不一定是硬的。

That's correct.

沒錯。

Think of it like a garden hose with no pressure. 表達脈絡

把它想像成一根沒有水壓的花園水管。

And then when you apply pressure to it, 片語搭配

然後當你給它施加壓力時，

the whole thing straightens out. 片語動詞

整個管子就變直了。

Got it.

明白了。

So, what we saw there,

所以，我們在那裡看到的是，

it's the whole thing fired off.

整個東西都發射出來了。

You got some sort of idea for how quick that was.

你大概能感覺到那有多快。

Right.

對。

But the thing that blew me away was the time lag from when the thing discharged to when we saw the venom. 講解

但讓我感到震驚的是，從它發射到我們看到毒液的時間差。

Yeah, it was like a third of a second.

是的，大概是三分之一秒。

Yeah, we've never seen that before.

是的，我們以前從未見過。

I mean, we've seen venom come out the end of these things.

我是說，我們見過毒液從這些東西末端出來。

Right.

對。

We've never seen that delay,

我們從未見過那種延遲，

but we've never looked for it.

因為我們以前沒去關注過。

You're digging this, aren't you? 講解

你很喜歡這個，是不是？

Oh, this is cool.

哦，這太酷了。

This is like real science.

這就像真正的科學。

This is the sort of stuff I get up in the morning for. 慣用語

這就是我每天早起工作的動力。

Are you implying that I don't do real science? 語氣意圖

你的意思是我做的不是真正的科學？

Well, but no.

呃，倒也不是。

You do the same thing.

你做的事情也是一樣的。

There are times you get up in the morning,

有時候你早晨醒來，

I'm sure,

我敢肯定，

and you just go,

你會說，

I so want to go to work today because I'm going to find out something new. 講解

我今天太想去上班了，因為我將會發現一些新東西。

Right.

對。

Isn't that why you do it? 語氣意圖

你做這個不就是因為這個原因嗎？

Right.

對。

It is.

確實是。

I mean, seriously,

我是說，說真的，

I I would do this stuff for free. 文法

我願意免費做這些。

Yeah.

是的。

It's the joy of actually coming in and going,

這是一種走進來然後由衷感慨的快樂：

I just saw something that nobody else in the world has ever seen before. 文法

我剛剛看到了一件世界上其他任何人都沒見過的事情。

Kind of selfish. 語氣意圖

有點自私。

But then you can teach people about it.

但然後你就可以把它教給別人。

That's right.

沒錯。

Yeah.

是的。

And that's I mean,

我的意思是，

ah,

啊，

Look,

你看，

I've got goosebumps all over me just from that sort of thing. 片語搭配

我一想到這種事就會起一身雞皮疙瘩。

It's just it's great.

這真是太棒了。

It's exactly why I do this sort of stuff.

這正是為什麼我做這行的原因。

All right.

好的。

Well, thank you very much.

那非常感謝您。

That's Dr. Seymour,

這位是 Seymour 博士，

venomologist.

毒液學家。

Toxinologist.

毒素學家。

Toxinologist.

毒素學家。

I'm never going to get it right.

我總是說不對。

So, from now on when you think about jellyfish,

所以，從現在起當你想到水母時，

I hope you don't think about just slimy tentacles dragging poison on your skin. 表達脈絡

別再只想到黏糊糊的觸手把毒液蹭在你的皮膚上。

It's actually an organelle called a nematocyst containing venom that takes it and actually shoves it into your body and then injects the venom.

實際上，它是一個包含毒液的叫做刺絲胞的胞器，把它強行刺入你的體內，然後注入毒液。

I'm just kidding.

我開玩笑的。

I didn't actually squirt that in me.

我並沒有真的把那個噴進我身體裡。

But, that's pretty intense.

不過，那確實很猛。

I hope I didn't ruin the beach for you. 語氣意圖

希望我沒有毀了你們去海灘的興致。

The people at James Cook University asked me if I would inform you that they are looking for undergrad and grad students. 講解

詹姆士庫克大學的人問我能否通知你們，他們正在招收大學生和研究生。

They need people to help them figure out how to solve the box jellyfish venom mystery. 片語動詞

他們需要人幫忙解開箱型水母的毒液之謎。

It's a cardiotoxin. 用詞

那是一種心臟毒素。

It kills the heart,

它會致心臟於死地，

but they don't really know how or why.

但他們並不真正知道是為什麼或者怎麼做到的。

So, if you're interested in studying,

所以，如果你對研究感興趣，

go to James Cook University.

去詹姆士庫克大學吧。

I think their motto is like the Explorers of the Tropics,

我覺得他們的座右銘好像是「熱帶探險家」，

which is pretty cool.

聽起來非常酷。

Anyway,

總之，

I'm Destin.

我是 Destin。

Go check them out.

去看看他們吧。

Have a good one. 語氣意圖

祝你愉快。

The big box jellyfish things have got 800,000 of those things per square centimeter. 用詞

巨大的箱型水母每平方公分有80萬個那種東西。

Really?

真的嗎？

That's how small they are. 文法

它們就是這麼小。

Not only do you get to learn about the animals, 文法

你不僅能學到關於動物的知識，

but we physically put you in the lab and give you venom and go,

我們還會親手把你放進實驗室，給你毒液然後說，

"Here, here's some rattlesnake venom or some box jellyfish venom or some other venom.

"來，這是一些響尾蛇毒液或箱型水母毒液或者其他的毒液。

And you get to use it on heart cells or blood and things of that nature and actually physically see the venom doing its thing there and then." 講解

然後你可以把它們用在心肌細胞或血液之類的東西上，親眼看到毒液在那裡發揮作用。"

Really?

真的嗎？

Not many other courses allow you to do that for a whole variety of reasons.

出於各種原因，沒幾個其他的課程會讓你這麼做。

So, is this unique to James Cook University?

所以，這是詹姆士庫克大學獨有的嗎？

Absolutely.

絕對是的。

Yeah.

是的。

Did you and you started it?

是你，是你發起的嗎？

Yeah.

是的。

That's pretty cool.

這挺酷的。

It is.

確實。

Little proud of that, 語氣意圖

有點小驕傲，

huh?

是吧？

Just a lot.

相當驕傲。