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你身上有多少进化垃圾?

来源:可可英语 编辑:hepburn   可可英语APP下载 |  可可官方微信:ikekenet

Look down at your body.

低头看看你的身体。

Some of that stuff doesn't do anything, and I'm about to call it out.

有个东西纯粹就是多余的,我这就要暴它的名字了。

Get ready.

大家准备好了。

Hey, guys.

嘿,小伙伴们。

Trace here chatting from DNews in DC.

我是正在DC的DNews栏目跟大家聊天的Trace。

Your body is filled with genetic and biological garbage.

我们身上有很多遗传学及生物学垃圾。

Not just the junk DNA we've talked about in the past but actual structures that your body took the time to put together and they don't do anything.

除了我们之前已经谈到过的垃圾DNA,我们身上还有很多要花一段时间才会长出来,长出来了却并没有什么用的结构。

A couple of new studies just completed by researchers at Boston University and the University of Liverpool focused on our feet.

波士顿大学和利物浦大学的一群研究人员刚刚完成了几项有关我们人类的脚的研究。

Take off your shoe and try and bend your foot in the middle.

脱掉鞋,试着弯曲你脚中间的部分。

The average human foot should only bend in one place, at the ball.

普通人的脚只有一地方能弯,那就是我们的拇指球。

But 1 out of every 13, at least, can bend a second joint in their foot just like chimps.

但每13人中间就有1个人,至少,能像黑猩猩一样弯曲他们的脚的第二个关节。

Everyone's got that joint.

这个关节其实每个人都有。

But a lot of us, we can't bend it, because our bodies added a tough ligament once we started walking upright.

但我们很多人的这个关节都是无法弯曲的,因为我们人类开始直立行走以后,我们的身体就多了一条坚硬的韧带。

Those with softer ligaments, they can bend their foot like me.

那些韧带比较软的人就能弯曲他们的脚,就比如我。

Not Anthony, though, and he's jealous.

不过我说的不是Anthony,他已经柠檬了。

And that's not all.

这还没完。

That's just one of the things that you can do at parties.

这只是大家可以在派对上拿出来炫耀的技能之一。

Genetic stuff we once needed that is now irrelevant or non-functional is called vestigial, a vestige of our evolutionary past.

我们人类曾经需要,但现在已经无关紧要或不起作用的基因物质都被称之为“痕迹结构”,它们就是我们进化历史的痕迹。

Leftovers like the second foot joint are all over in our DNA.

我们的DNA中到处都是二趾关节这样的(进化)残余。

2

The appendix was useful at one point, for example, but now it's just kind of chilling.

比如,阑尾曾经也是很有用的,如今却成了令人望而生畏的存在。

Some primates have appendices and use them to digest tough cellulose, but we really don't eat that anymore.

部分灵长类动物的阑尾是用来消化坚硬的纤维素的,但我们人类已经不吃这种东西了。

So now we don't need it.

所以现在我们也不需要阑尾了。

Over the generations of humans, it's become slowly less pronounced.

几代人下来,我们的阑尾已经变得不那么明显了。

But it's still present like an evolutionary intestinal time bomb.

但它仍然像肠道内的一个进化定时炸弹一样存在于我们的身体内。

Another is this vestigial tail.

另一个就是残存的尾巴了。

It's just one of those weird things that our DNA gives embryos as a genetic leftover.

我们的DNA赋予了胚胎很多奇奇怪怪的基因残留,尾巴只不过是其中之一。

But usually, they're given the command to die by the genes while you're still in the womb.

但是,通常情况下,当你还在(你妈妈)子宫里的时候,基因就会命令它们死亡。

But rarely we make it through birth with this vestigial extension.

也有少数情况,这种残留会一直撑到我们出生。

If you're still in doubt about evolution,

如果你还对进化持怀疑态度,

then combine the tail with a condition called lanugo, or a fine growth of hair that can develop on a fetus.

那你不妨将尾巴这件事和所谓的“胎毛”,也就是胎儿身上长出的浓密毛发对照起来看。

And it sometimes is present at birth.

有时,胎儿出生的时候都还有胎毛。

So we have tails and we're covered in fur at birth, and somehow we didn't evolve from animals?

也就是说,我们有尾巴,出生的时候还带着毛发,可不知怎的,就是觉得我们不是从动物进化而来的?

Get out of town.

那您就出门左转吧。

We have a whole other host of vestigial items-- goosebumps, tonsils, wisdom teeth, and other things left over from when we had fur.

除了上面这些,我们身上还有一大堆进化残余——鸡皮疙瘩、扁桃体、智齿以及其他一些从我们还有皮毛那会儿留下来的东西。

We had more primitive immune systems, and we used cellulose-based diets.

我们人类以前的免疫系统比较原始,我们的饮食则以纤维素为主。

My favorite, though-- our third eyelid.

不过,我最喜欢的(进化残余)还是……我们的第三眼睑。

We have a vestigial third eyelid just like reptiles, guys.

我们也有爬行动物那种第三眼睑啊,朋友们。

It was designed to keep the eyeball moist and to protect it.

这一设计是为了保持眼球湿润从而保护我们的眼球。

And now we put that baby in a corner, genetically speaking.

现在我们已经把这个小家伙放到一边了,从基因的角度来看的话。

What is an evolutionary trait that you wish we hadn't dropped?

有什么进化特征是你希望我们没有漏掉的吗?

There are a bunch of lists online if none of these tickle your fancy.

如果今天我列举的这些你都不感兴趣的话,网上还有一大堆可供你了解。

Or just, you know, let us know in the comments.

或者,你懂的,你也可以在评论里告诉我们。

Thanks for watching DNews, everyone, and keep your DNA clean, OK.

感谢大家收看本期的DNews,管好你的DNA好吗?

重点单词   查看全部解释    
combine [kəm'bain]

想一想再看

v. 结合,联合,使结合
n. 集团,联合企业

联想记忆
evolutionary [.i:və'lu:ʃnəri]

想一想再看

adj. 进化的,发展的,演变的

 
moist [mɔist]

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adj. 潮湿的,湿润的
(果物)多汁的

 
evolution [.i:və'lu:ʃən]

想一想再看

n. 进化,发展,演变

联想记忆
trait [treit]

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n. 特点,特征,特性,一笔,少量

 
vestigial [ve'stidʒiəl]

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adj. 退化的;残余的;[生]发育不全的

联想记忆
genetic [dʒi'netik]

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adj. 基因的,遗传的,起源的

联想记忆
upright ['ʌp'rait]

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adj. 正直的,诚实的,合乎正道的

 
joint [dʒɔint]

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adj. 联合的,共同的,合资的,连带的
n.

联想记忆
immune [i'mju:n]

想一想再看

adj. 免除的,免疫的

 

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