英文科普类文章

随着科学技术的飞速发展，科普也日益受到社会各界的广泛关注。下面是小编带来的英文科普类文章，欢迎阅读!

英文科普类文章1

植物也讲"裙带关系"

We humans are known to help out members of our own families. When it comes to business we call it nepotism. Now plants have demonstrated the same predilection, in a study published in the American Journal of Botany.

我们人类都知道一家人要互帮互助、和衷共济，在生意场上这就叫做裙带关系。现在，植物们也被证明有同样的倾向，这项研究发表在《美国植物学期刊》上。

Previous research showed that plants—in that study they used a plant called the Great Lakes sea rocket—can recognize the root systems of siblings from the same momma plant and will give them a more fair share of nutrients in the soil.

之前的一项研究已经证明，植物能够识别出与自身存在亲缘关系的植物根系，并会慷慨地与其分享土壤中的营养物质。科学家们在此项研究中参照的植物名为海芥。

This new study is the first to look above ground. Researchers at McMaster University in Canada potted North American impatiens. When the plants shared a pot with seeds from the same parent plant, they shared access to light by growing taller with more branches and fewer leaves. But when those same impatiens were planted with other impatiens—but not their siblings—they put more energy into growing more and larger leaves that could crowd out the non-relatives.

而这项新研究把视线转移到了地上，来自加拿大麦克马斯特大学的研究人员在实验室中盆栽了一种名叫北美凤仙花的植物作为研究对象。当这种植物和来自同一个母本种子形成的植株栽种在一个花盆时，它们会长得更高，枝干也会更多，不过叶子却很少，这样就能和自己的亲戚共享阳光了;而当这种植物和与自己没有亲缘关系的凤仙花共用一个花盆时，它们就会使劲长出更大的叶子，好与这个非亲非故的邻居竞争。

Researchers say the roots alert plants to the relationship of nearby plants, because when impatiens were planted near siblings but in separate pots, they didn't recognize their kin. Just goes to show that even in the plant world, family comes first.

研究者们称，是它们的根系识别出了周围的植物是否和自己存在亲缘关系，因为把两株存在“亲戚关系”的凤仙花分别栽种在不同的花盆里再并排放置，它们并没有认出彼此。这一切正好说明，即使在植物的世界中，家庭也是第一位的。

英文科普类文章2

网恋难以成功的秘密

A team of psychologists reviewed online dating sites and their conclusions are not promising.

一个心理学研究小组揭示了婚恋网站和它的前景不容乐观。

Online dating might give you something, but it’s probably not a soulmate.

网上相亲也许是一个途径，但可能并不能达到彼此心灵的契合。

Most sites rely on what’s called an “exclusive process”—they use an algorithm to find romantic matches based variables, from interests to fetishes. But now a team of psychologists from five universities has performed a systematic review. And they say that most claims for the power of the “exclusive process” don’t pan out. Their report is in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest.

很多网站依靠"专门方法”--使用运算法则通过对不同人爱好和喜欢事物的分类来进行一次浪漫的网上配对。但目前，来自五个不同大学的心理学家一同做了一个系统性的回顾。他们认为这种“专门方法”根本不起作用。相关报告发表在公众爱好杂志(The Public Interest)心理科学版面上。

The existing “matching algorithms” miss key variables for long-term love. They necessarily make matches before the parties meet. But studies show that the strongest predictors of solid relationships are a couple’s live interaction style and ability to handle stress.Data about characteristics like personality and attitudes cannot accurately predict how that real life interaction will function.

现有的“运算法则配对“对于双方长期的爱慕发展缺少了一个关键的不确定因素。在双方见面前这样配对是有必要的。但研究表明要保持稳固的双方关系，需要他们彼此之间沟通和能够处理问题的态度。数据则不能准确地测出人们在实际生活中的性格和处事方式。

The scientists also note that online profile photos are poor proxies for the chemistry sparked by meeting in the flesh. Which leads to a lot of disappointing coffee dates. And many potentially successful matches never happen.

科学家也指出网上的资料照片是实际见面之前一个糟糕的代替品。它会让人们觉得约会很令人失望。这让原本有发展的两个人也失去了结缘的机会。

Of course the researchers admit online dating helps singles meet more people more quickly. And so might still lead to that magic match. But that’s statistics, not psychology.

当然，研究人员承认网上相亲能够帮助更多的单身男女寻找到更多的伴侣候选人，也可能会让他们走向那神奇的配对成功体验。但这仅是数据统计，并非是寻找到伴侣的成功数。

英文科普类文章3

胆小的蜻蜓幼虫

Safe dragonfly larvae that could sense the presence of their predators had a higher mortality rate than unstressed larvae. Christopher Intagliata reports

Christopher Intagliata报道称，蜻蜓幼虫可以感知捕食者的存在，虽然这使它们更加安全，但却使它们的死亡率高于一般未感受到压力的幼虫。

A hungry fish can kill prey with a quick bite. That is, of course, if its prey hasn't already died of fright. Take tasty dragonflies. The mere presence of predators—even caged ones—is enough to scare dragonflies to death, according to a study in the journal Ecology. [Shannon J. McCauley, Locke Rowe, and Marie-Josée Fortin, "The deadly effects of ‘nonlethal’ predators"]

一条饥饿的鱼能够一口咬死其猎物。当然，前提是经过一番殊死搏斗之后猎物依然健在。以有趣的蜻蜓为例，根据《生物学》杂志的一篇研究报告，捕食者的出现能够将蜻蜓吓死，哪怕这些捕食者被关在笼子里面。 [Shannon J. McCauley, Locke Rowe, Marie-Josée Fortin, 《非致命捕食者的“致命”效果》]

Researchers collected wild dragonfly larvae, and placed them in tanks with fish or insect predators. The larvae could see and smell their hunters—but were kept safe by underwater cages. After two months, the researchers took a head count—and found that dragonfly larvae sharing quarters with their killers were two to four times as likely to die off, compared to counterparts living in predator-free waters. And they had slimmer chances of surviving metamorphosis, too.

研究者将野生蜻蜓幼虫放进装有鱼类或昆虫类捕食者的容器中，具体的安放位置是在水下的笼子里，这里有绝对的安全保障，但同时幼虫们也能够看见并嗅到它们的天敌。两个月之后，研究者发现，与捕食者同住的蜻蜓幼虫死亡率是正常蜻蜓幼虫的2-4倍。而且它们蜕变的存活率也更低。

The authors suggest a couple reasons why. First, prey tend to make fewer forays for snacks when predators are lurking around, so they may not be as nutritionally fit. And previous studies have shown that the presence of predators ups stress levels in prey, weakening their immune systems and making them more vulnerable to disease—and death.

文章的作者提出了几点原因。首先，当有捕食者在场时，处于劣势的被捕食者会减少觅食行为，所以它们的营养状况不佳。加上之前的研究表明，捕食者的出现使被捕食者的压力水平升高，降低了它们的免疫系统机能，使它们更易生病乃至于死亡。

As if being eaten wasn't enough to worry about, looks can kill too. —Christopher Intagliata

正所谓：死不足惧，怕死堪忧。看来生物界的规律是相通的。