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Caterpillar's Innards Move Before It Does

毛毛蟲向前走路,內(nèi)臟先行一步

Imagine if before you took each step, your guts lurched up into your throat. Well, caterpillars don't have to imagine - they take such drastic steps every day.

試想一下,若你每往前邁一步,肚子里的內(nèi)臟都會(huì)涌到嗓子眼兒,會(huì)是個(gè)什么感覺?毛毛蟲可就不用費(fèi)盡腦汁來想像了——它們每天都是邁著這么激烈的步伐前進(jìn)的!

Researchers were interested in how fluids move around inside a caterpillar. So they put one on a treadmill and x-rayed it while it walked. Caterpillars move by a wave that starts at the back end of their body and sweeps through each segment until it reaches the head, pushing it forward. The scientists had assumed that the guts were squished or squeezed or wobbled about like a bowl of jello in a moving car.

研究人員很好奇毛毛蟲體內(nèi)的流質(zhì)究竟是如何運(yùn)動(dòng)的。因此,他們將一個(gè)毛毛蟲放在跑步機(jī)上,并在其運(yùn)動(dòng)時(shí)用X射線照射檢查。毛毛蟲通過制造一個(gè)波來實(shí)現(xiàn)運(yùn)動(dòng),這個(gè)波從毛毛蟲身體的最末端開始,再綿延至身體的各個(gè)體節(jié),直至頭部,從而將毛毛蟲的整個(gè)身體向前推送??茖W(xué)家們?cè)僭O(shè)毛毛蟲的內(nèi)臟會(huì)被壓扁或被擠壓或是晃動(dòng)游移,就好像在一輛移動(dòng)到汽車?yán)锓胖玫囊煌牍麅瞿菢印?/div>

They were surprised instead to find that the insects move via an integrated, two-stage system in which their guts go forward before their outer body does. So, their innards do slide into their throat, but it's a controlled glide. The finding was published online in the journal Current Biology.

而令他們驚奇的是,他們發(fā)現(xiàn),毛毛蟲并未像他們?cè)O(shè)想的那樣,這種肉蟲蟲通過一種綜合的、兩階段的系統(tǒng)運(yùn)動(dòng),在此過程中,它們的內(nèi)臟會(huì)在身體移動(dòng)之前就向前移動(dòng)。因此,它們的內(nèi)臟的確會(huì)滑向嗓子眼兒,但這種滑動(dòng)是可控制的。這一研究成果發(fā)表在《當(dāng)代生物學(xué)》的網(wǎng)絡(luò)版上。

The researchers describe the way of walking as "unlike any form of legged locomotion previously reported." The discovery is already being investigated by engineers for possible soft-bodied robots. Because no guts, no glory.

研究人員將這種步行方式描述成“不同于以往報(bào)告過的任何形式的步態(tài)運(yùn)動(dòng)”。這一研究發(fā)現(xiàn)已被工程師用于研究設(shè)計(jì)可實(shí)現(xiàn)的軟體機(jī)器人。要知道,愛拼才會(huì)贏嘛!

-Molly Webster

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