与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（2010）

Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman S04E04

Part 1 April 19, 2021, 2:52 p.m.

我们能够理解外星人的思考方式吗？
Do aliens think in ways we could ever understand?
所有形式的智能
Do all forms of intelligence
都有着同样的模式吗？
share the same underlying pattern --
一个我们才刚开始注意的模式？
a pattern we are only now beginning to see?
通过研究地球上的非人生物
By studying the nonhumans in our midst,
科学家正在了解外星人的思维如何工作
scientists are learning how alien minds function.
他们发现
Their discovery --
情感可能比逻辑更为重要
that emotions may be more important than logic,
就像脑对于身体的重要性一般
and bodies matter as much as brains.
我们也许很快就会知道外星人如何思考
We may soon know how aliens think.
空间，时间，生命本身
Space, time, life itself.
宇宙之谜，尽在穿越虫洞
The secrets of the cosmos lie through the wormhole.
与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（S04E04）
Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman (S04E04)
外星人如何思考？
How Do Aliens Think?
我们知道构成生命的基本元素已经遍布整个宇宙
We know that the stuff of life is spread throughout the cosmos.
几率表明外星人无所不在
Odds are that aliens are everywhere.
外星人的思考方式和我们相同吗？
Will alien brains think like ours?
还是他们可能就没有脑？
Will they have brains at all?
因为没有外星人可供研究
Without an alien to study,
这个问题似乎没有答案
these seem impossible questions to answer.
但是我们在这颗星球上并不孤独
But we're not alone on this planet.
如果想知道外星人如何思考
If we want to know how aliens think,
我们可以从地球上那些与外星人思维接近的
we can start by looking closely at the alien minds
开始研究
here on earth.
我曾经看着我的狗并想
I used to look at my dog and wonder,
这里面到底在干嘛？
"What's going on in there?"
她以我思考的方式思考吗？
did she think the way I did?
至少我的狗看起来和我的世界有部分是一样的
At least my dog seemed part of the same world as me.
而其它的是一些性质完全不同的生物
Other creatures seemed utterly alien.
是否有可能
Is it possible
所有的生命都具有某些形式的智能
that all life possesses some form of intelligence,
只是有时候和我们的差别太大
but sometimes so different from our own
让我们没能发现吗？
that we fail to see it?
是否有一种外星人思维就在我们眼前？
Could a form of alien thought be right under our noses?
我们认为植物不能思考或感觉
We believe plants cannot think or feel.
但如果我们错了呢？
But what if we're wrong?
一个开始显现的新研究表明
A ground swell of new research suggests
植物拥有一种
plants possess a form of intelligence
和我们的完全不同的智能形式
entirely alien to our own.
大多数植物都可以嗅、尝、触，也许还有听
Most plants can smell, taste, touch, and perhaps hear,
并且根据这两位研究者的观点
and, according to these two researchers,
它们甚至会交谈
they may even talk.
康斯薇洛·德·莫拉埃斯拥有
Consuelo de Moraes has doctorates
化学和生物学博士学位
in chemistry and biology.
马克·梅西尔的研究背景则是
Mark mescher's background is
在动物行为和进化方面
in animal behavior and evolution.
这个二人组的实验证明
The duo's experiments have proven
植物可以表现出的行为方式
that plants behave in ways
我们通常只认为有脑的生物才可以做到
we normally only attribute to creatures with brains.
我认为植物奇特的行为方式
I think what's alien about the way
就是它们会参与到自身环境中，这对于作为动物的
plants engage their environments for us as animals
我们的直觉非常不一致
is that it's just so counterintuitive.
动物，尤其是人类
Animals, and particularly humans,
典型的以视觉为导向
we're very visually oriented.
以认知为导向
We're very cognitively oriented.
我们可以解决很多问题
We're these problem solvers
是因为某些程度的面对自身环境
that are used to sort of encountering our environments
并对其进行思考
and thinking about them
以想出许多解决办法
and coming up with ways to solve problems.
植物也可以解决问题，却以非常不同的方式
And plants are solving problems, but in a very different way
与它们的环境相互作用
of interacting with their environment.
最近，马克和康斯薇洛
Recently, Mark and Consuelo
使用了信息素检测仪器
have used pheromone detecting machines
和延时摄像机来研究一种无叶寄生藤
and time-lapse cameras to study a leafless parasitic vine
叫做五角菟丝子
called Cuscuta pentagona.
菟丝子表现出了很多的解决问题行为
Cuscuta exhibits a host of problem-solving behaviors
这些我们从未期待能在植物中发现
we don't expect to see in plants.
但是这个令人着迷的生命形式却有着阴暗面
But this fascinating life form has a dark side.
它看起来像是普通藤蔓
It may look like an ordinary vine,
但在植物界，它是恶毒的连环杀手
but in the plant world, it's a vicious serial killer.
菟丝子是完全寄生的
Cuscuta is a true parasite,
和大多数植物不同，它们没有根
so as opposed to most plants, they don't have roots.
它们不需要光合作用
They don't really do photosynthesis,
那么为了生存
so in order to survive,
它们就必须附着在宿主植物上
they must attach to a host plant.
它们某种意义上就像吸血鬼
They work like vampires, in a sense.
它们可以吸取植物体内的资源
They will take the resources out of the plant
然后基于这些从宿主植物中
and then grow based on the resources
得到的营养物质生长
from the host plant
所以它们不会产生任何东西
so they will not produce anything.
它们是真正的寄生生物
They're true parasites.
随着菟丝子藤的生长
As a cuscuta vine grows,
它可以像我们在午夜时分用手摸索
it probes its surroundings the way we do with our hands
洗手间灯的开关一样
when we search for the bathroom light
探测周围环境
in the middle of the night.
藤蔓会弯曲并生长，直到它找到了美味的东西
The vine bends and grows until it finds something tasty --
比如一株西红柿
say, a tomato plant.
接着它向下摸索
Then it probes downward
直至找到枝干的根基
until it finds the base of the stem,
在这里它插入了自己的獠牙
which it sinks its teeth into.
它会用自身将宿主缠绕起来，并吸取宿主珍贵的汁液
It wraps itself around the plant and sucks out its vital juices,
非常神奇的是，菟丝子可以闻出
and strangely enough, cuscuta can smell
它的目标是否健康
whether its potential victims are healthy or not.
我们接受动物可以依赖嗅觉找到宿主
We accept that animals can find the host based on smell.
我们总是能看到，对吧？
We see that all the time, right?
但我们就是不认为植物也拥有这种能力
It's just we don't think that plants have that ability,
而我觉得这十分迷人
and I think that's what's fascinating,
因为我们刚刚越过我们自己划分出的
because we just have this line that we have drawn
动物能做得到而植物不能的界线
that says animals can do this but plants cannot.
植物也能够通过嗅觉交流
Plants can also use smell to communicate.
有些植物使用气味防御捕食者
Some use odors to defend themselves against predators
并互相警告危险的存在
and warn each other of danger.
举个例子，毛虫正在吃这颗
For instance, caterpillars are eating the leaves
大豆植物的叶片
of this soybean plant.
大豆植物就会通过释放
The plant calls for help
能够吸引胡蜂的化学物质来获得帮助
by releasing chemicals that attract wasps.
胡蜂会把毛虫蛰死
The wasps sting the caterpillars to death.
当这一切正在发生时
While this is going on,
其他植物闻到了胁迫信♥号♥♥
other plants smell the distress signal
就会释放它们自己的化学物质抵御攻击
and release their own chemicals to ward off attack.
植物的生存周期不同于人类
Plants live on a different time scale from humans.
它们的行为表现得非常缓慢
Their actions unfold so slowly,
以至于我们意识不到一切正在发生
we think nothing is happening at all.
实际上植物可以自我防御，与其他植物交流
But plants defend themselves, communicate with other plants,
通过气味识别受伤的邻居、寻找食物
recognize injured neighbors by scent, and sniff out meals.
植物比人类出现得早
Plants predate the human race.
它们存在了很长的时间
They may well outlast it, so is it likely
那么它们这种另类的思维和行为
that their very alien form of thought and behavior
会存在于其他世界中吗？
could be found on other worlds?
不同植物种类的进化史
The history of evolution on different planets
差异都是很大的
may unfold in very different ways.
我认为我们很可能能够找到
I think we would be very likely to find something
与植物行为类似的生态系统
that was very similar ecologically to what plants do.
我认为它们也能够基本上从恒星获得能量
I think they're able to take energy from starlight,
并转化为
basically, and convert that
它们自身可以利用的化学能
into biochemical energy that they can then use.
这正是食物链的基础
That's just the base of the food chain,
就算是在其他星球上，这就是符合逻辑的
and it seems that that would be the logical place
生态系统的起始点
for an ecosystem to start, even on another planet.
问题是其他星球上的植物
The question is are plants on other worlds