时间:2018-12-24 作者:英语课 分类:Scientific American(九)月


英语课

This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Cynthia Graber. This’ll just take a minute.


Songbirds sing to entice 1 mates, and the timing 2 of those songs is often regulated by sunlight. But that timing is getting thrown off—by streetlamps. That’s according to research published in the journal Current Biology.


Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology 3 in Germany studied five common forest-breeding songbirds. Males in four species started singing significantly earlier in the morning if they lived near streetlights than did their deep forest-dwelling kin 4. And for one species studied, males were more successful at attracting extra-pair mates. Those are females other than the male’s primary nest-mate with whom they sire offspring.


Sounds great, right? Well, the researchers say, not so fast. They note that the males may be weaker, because they get less sleep due to the lights. And so females who used to take early singing as a sign of virility 5 may be attracted to weaker males who simply can’t sleep because the lights are on. The early singing may also put the males at greater risk of predation.


The researchers say we don’t understand the long-term effects. But they add a hopeful note—companies are developing new streetlamps with reduced light pollution, which could also help songbirds get their z’s.


Thanks for the minute, for Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Cynthia Graber.



1 entice
v.诱骗,引诱,怂恿
  • Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
  • I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白,为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。
2 timing
n.时间安排,时间选择
  • The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
  • The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。
3 ornithology
n.鸟类学
  • He found his vocation in ornithology.他发现自己适于专攻鸟类学。
  • His main interests are botany and ornithology.他主要对植物学和鸟类学感兴趣。
4 kin
n.家族,亲属,血缘关系;adj.亲属关系的,同类的
  • He comes of good kin.他出身好。
  • She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。
5 virility
n.雄劲,丈夫气
  • He wanted his sons to become strong,virile,and athletic like himself.他希望他的儿子们能长得像他一样强壮、阳刚而又健美。
  • He is a tall,virile man with rugged good looks.他是个身材高大、体魄健壮、相貌粗犷英俊的男子。
学英语单词
alce
alternate operation
analog communication system
apivore
arei
badger skin
banharn
beidel
bhutanis
bioirrigated
broncho-egophony
CADD - computer-aided design and drafting
cephalaspidas
Cobh
common mode operation
connecting rod jig
conyngham
court reporters
crop fair and refit
cut sheets
cystopteriss
D'Alembert's test for convergence
deferral period
Dichloro-chloroaniline-triazine
dumbification
earth metals
egyptian capitals
electric double refraction
electrical(electric)
electrohydraulic steering gear
ethnically
feasible basis
fixed destination ticket
gaftney
ghurry
groundwater dynamics
haunched arch
have a slate off
have many irons on the fire
heat pump plant
Hennickendorf
idolizers
incisal embrasure
indentured worker
key property
Leonidas I
lesser sciatic foramen
lobular pneumonic
lossit
mactator
Nanny Goating
nearly best linear estimator
nephometer
net profit theory
neutron powermeter
normal tooth profile
noseband
o-aminoazobenzene
odontus
organization for product design
payments balance
pear cider
pesture
petticoat insulator
phallocratic
Phosphoglucomutase(glucose-cofactor)
polymorphic transformation
post production
preputial diverticulum
principle of charge compensation
pseudotumor of kidney
ranicipitid
rankism
referee for inquiry
repulsion state
rhenium(iv) oxydifluoride
rhinoptia
roller oscillating tooth
rontgen radiation
room of mother and infant
saccharimete
Serg., serg.
shoot bull
side wall stock divider
soil seepage
sort results
sorting key
special-branch
square bands machine
steam coals
steiber
stir-frying with adjuvants
streak plate
Strong, Anna Louise
suicidism
surf skis
swift electron
thawing equipment
vankirk
wax-pod
wisconsin glacial period
yam yams