生命之色（2021）

so he keeps them hiddenxa0most of the time.
因此它大部分时候都在韬光养晦
A slight turn of the head, however,
然而 它只是稍微扭转一下头部
provides a tantalising glimpse of what he has to offer.
就能让我们看到它所能展示出的魅力
He's spotted a female.
它发现了一只雌鸟
She's feeding.
雌鸟在吃食
Hummingbirds live fast lives and need plenty of fuel.
蜂鸟的移♥动♥速度很快所以需要大量的能量
So if he is to attract her attention,he needs something eye-catching.
如果想要吸引雌鸟的注意，它必须做出些抓眼球的事情
Time to reveal his colours.
是时候展现自己的颜色了
Erecting the iridescent feathers on his neck,
雄鸟竖起了脖子上色彩斑斓的羽毛
he positions himself to catch the sunlight.
变换着姿势 来配合光线
Seen at just the right angle,his colours are dazzling.
从特定的角度来看 它的颜色耀眼极了
Aerobatics like these take a lot of energy,
这样的飞行会消耗很多能量
自己有多健康和强壮
所以这种表演可以告诉雌鸟
Every second she takes to decide burns up his energy reserves.
雌鸟做决定的每一秒都在消耗着雄鸟的能量
So he can only hover for so long.
它只能盘旋这么久
At last,
最终
his colours have persuaded her.
雄鸟的颜色说服了雌鸟
Displaying your colours is easy out in the open.
在开阔的地方 展示颜色很容易
Birds which live in dark forests, however,
然而 住在黑暗森林里的鸟类
have to work harder to get noticed.
必须更加努力才能被看到
The rainforests of New Guinea.
新几内亚的雨林地区
Here, the trees stand 100 feet tall
树木高达30米
with their crowns forming a near-continuous canopy.
它们的树冠几乎连成了一片冠盖
But here and there,
但是这里到处都有一小块空隙
there's a small gap through which a shaft of light
能够透过一道阳光
illuminates a patch on the forest floor.
照亮小片的森林地面
A stage for one of the most versatile dancers in the natural world.
这是自然世界中最多才多艺的舞者之一的舞台
A bird of paradise.
这是一只极乐鸟
There are over 30 different species.
地球上有三十多种不同的极乐鸟
This one, understandably,
不难理解
is called the magnificent bird of paradise.
这只鸟叫做丽色极乐鸟
A male.
雄鸟
Before starting his show,
在开始表演前
he clears his stage.
它清理了自己的舞台
The bare brown earth will make his colours stand out better.
裸♥露♥的棕色土地会让它的颜色更加醒目
He takes particular care to remove anything green.
它特别仔细地清除了所有的绿色元素
That colour will be the main feature of his display,
这种颜色是它的御用颜色
and he doesn't want any competition.
它不想有任何竞争对手
Satisfied at last.
终于心满意足了
A sapling in the centre will serve as his dancing pole.
中间的树苗将作为它的舞杆
His costume must be immaculate.
它的服装一定要很完美
Plumes like these need careful attention.
这种羽毛需要格外的注意
Time to summon the audience.
是时候呼朋引伴了
The first to appear are all young males.
最先出现的都是幼年雄鸟
They won't develop their colours until they're seven years old.
七岁之前 它们不会显色
They have come to watch and to learn.
这些鸟是来观察和学习的
At last, a female.
终于 来了一只雌鸟
She looks much like a young male to our eyes,
在我们眼中看来雌鸟和幼年雄鸟很像
but he can clearly tell the difference.
但是雄鸟能清楚地看到区别
She will judge him by his performance and the brightness of his feathers.
雌鸟会从雄鸟的表现和羽毛亮度上来评判它
She does that from directly above him.
雌鸟在正上方观察着雄鸟
He puffs up his feathers and swings round to show her his colours.
它把羽毛展开并四处转身向雌鸟展示自己的颜色
For years,
多年以来
naturalists only watched this performance from ground level.
博物学家只是从地面上观看雄鸟的表演
But the female does so from above.
但是 雌鸟是自上而下观看
And from there,
从这里看起来
his brilliant green colours stand out vividly
雄鸟的鲜明绿色在棕色土地的衬托下
against the brown of the ground.
显得非常生动
A pair of bare quivering quills sprouting from his tail
雄鸟尾部抖动着一对尾羽
add to the excitement.
让一切变得更加兴奋
This is one of the most complex of all courtship dances,
这是最为复杂的求偶舞蹈之一
and we're still unaware of the details that she may regard as critical.
我们至今无法确定雌鸟将哪些细节视为关键标准
The prize-giving, however,is unmistakable.
但是功夫不负有心人
The colour vision of birdsis mostly excellent…
鸟类的色觉大多很好
but that of many insectsis almost as good.
许多昆虫的色觉也一样优秀
Butterflies.
蝴蝶
They, too,have evolved an astonishing variety
它们也进化出了种类惊人的
of colours and patterns.
颜色和图案
像是屋檐上的瓦片
这对翅膀上覆盖着的小鳞屑
and it's they that produce some of the colours.
由此也产生了一些颜色
Some have pigments.
其中一些含有色素
Others reflect light to produce a shimmering iridescence
还有一些会反射阳光产生微微发光的彩虹色
with colours that change according to the angle
角度变化 视角切换
from which they're viewed.
颜色各异
But some butterflies use colours
还有些蝴蝶会用到
that are invisible to our eyes.
人类眼睛看不见的颜色
The glorious colours of an English meadow in bloom
英式草坪上繁花似锦的迷人色彩
is a delight to the eyes of many of us.
在很多人看来都别有趣味
But their purpose is not to appeal to us.
但它们的目的并不是吸引我们
It's to attract insects such as butterflies and bees.
而是用来吸引蝴蝶和蜜蜂之类的昆虫
Most of these plants depend on insects to pollinate them,
大部分的植物都是靠昆虫进行授粉
它们会展现出明亮的颜色
所以为了吸引昆虫
But to understand what an insect sees,
为了去理解昆虫看到的世界
we have to be able to see it through their eyes
我们需要从它们的眼睛和视角
and from their perspective.
来进行观察
And, happily, we've got a camera that enables us to do just that.
幸好我们有一台相机能够助我们一臂之力
This camera setup lets us look at that flower in two different ways.
这架相机可以让我们通过两种不同方式来观看那朵花
This camera is an ultraviolet camera
这是一台紫外线相机
because it has a filter there that only lets through ultraviolet light.
因为这里有一个滤镜 只穿透紫外线
But, at the same time,this filter also reflects normal light,
但是同时这个滤镜也可以反射正常光线
and that comes into this camera,and that shows what we can see.
光线进入这台相机能展现出我们肉眼所见的景象
So I can compare the two very easily.
这样一来我可以非常方便地比较二者
That's what we can see…
那是我们能看到的样子
and that's what the insect sees.
那是昆虫看到的样子
Flowers have evolved these ultraviolet markings
花朵进化出了这些紫外线的印记
for the benefit of insects such as butterflies.
用来吸引蝴蝶之类的昆虫
特别生物
这是一种长在澳大利亚东部雨林的
It's a blue moon butterfly.
幻紫斑蛱蝶
A male.
一只雄性蝴蝶
You might not think that it's the most colourful
它也许并不是你见过
you've ever seen,
色彩最斑斓的一只
but with our ultraviolet camera,
但是通过我们的紫外线相机
his wings take on a magical look.
可以看到它翅膀上的神奇模样
The brighter his patches,
它的斑块越明亮
the more attractive he is to females.
对雌蝴蝶就越有吸引力
But ultraviolet markings like these
但是幻紫斑蛱蝶的主要捕食者
can also be seen by the blue moon's main predators.
也能看到这样的紫外线印记
Birds can see them just as clearly.
鸟类也能看得很清楚
So flying around with a bright signal like that on your wings
所以 用着带有这样印记的翅膀飞来飞去
could be dangerous.
可能会很危险
For a male, however,it's worth living dangerously.
但是 对雄性蝴蝶来说危险求生亦有所值
If he can mate with one or two females in his short lifetime,
如果在短暂的一生中能和一到两只雌蝴蝶交♥配♥
his colours will have been a success.
它的颜色也算功成名就
But he has competition.
但是它还面临着竞争
He will have to defend his territory if he's to secure a mate.
想要找到配偶它必须保住自己的地盘
Butterfly wings are fragile,so physical combat is to be avoided.
蝴蝶的翅膀非常脆弱因此需要避免近身攻击
Disputes, instead,are settled with aerial displays.
争端会转而通过空中表演解决
A female has been watching from the sidelines.
一只雌蝴蝶正在场边观战
Time to show her his colours.
是时候展示自己的颜色了
In her eyes, he's simply dazzling.
在雌蝴蝶的眼里,这只雄蝴蝶简直是耀眼夺目
Ultraviolet colours are part of the spectrum
紫外线颜色只是光谱中
that insects can see and we cannot.
昆虫能看到而我们看不到的一种
Recent discoveries have revealed
近期的发现表明
that some animals can also see a characteristic of light
某些光线特性动物可以看到
that we cannot detect.
人类无法察觉的
Sunlight contains rays that vibrate in many different planes.
阳光中包含着各种平面上变幻莫测的光线
In polarised light,they vibrate in only one.
在偏振光中振动面只限于某一固定方向
Light may become polarised
光线可以发生振动
when reflected off a shiny surface such as water.
比如在水面之类的闪亮表面便会发生反射
Unlike us,some animals can see polarised light,
与我们不同有一些动物可以看见偏振光