科学家们在给牛涂上斑马条纹后，它们被咬的几率降低了50%

科学家们在给牛涂上斑马条纹后感到很惊讶——它们被咬的几率比平常少了50%

Every once in a while, researchers come up with the most outrageously ingenious ideas that prove once and for all that imagination is just as important as intelligence when it comes to science. These are the types of ideas you’d more often see in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland than in real life. Or at least that’s what you’d expect.

每隔一段时间，研究人员就会想出最惊人的创意，一劳永逸地证明，在科学领域，想象力和智力一样重要。这些是你在刘易斯·卡罗尔的《爱丽丝漫游仙境》中比在现实生活中更常看到的观点。或者至少这是你所期望的。

Scientists conducted a study showing that there’s a far better way to protect cows from pesky biting flies than using pesticides. That method involves painting the cows with zebra-like stripes, which help camouflage the animals from annoying pests. Researchers tested their theories on 6 Japanese Black cows by either painting zebra-like stripes (black-and-white, see cow ‘a’), painting only black stripes (cow ‘b’) or leaving the dark fur unpainted (cow ‘c’). By liberally applying paint, scientists have effectively created a temporary zebra-cow hybrid (a zow or a cowbra if you’ll permit me) that lives a far happier life thanks to not being bitten countless times each day. The cows are happy. The farmers are happy. And the flies are miserable. It’s _mootastic_ all ‘round.

科学家进行的一项研究表明，有一种比使用杀虫剂更好的方法来保护奶牛免受讨厌的苍蝇叮咬。这种方法包括在奶牛身上画上类似斑马的条纹，这有助于保护奶牛免遭讨厌的害虫伤害。研究人员在6头日本黑奶牛身上测试了他们的理论，他们的测试方法是:要么画斑马状的条纹(黑白相间，参见cow a)，要么只画黑色的条纹(cow b)，要么不画深色的皮毛(cow c)。通过大量的涂漆，科学家们已经创造出了一种临时的斑马和奶牛的杂交品种(如果你允许的话，我可以把它叫做zow或者cowbra)，由于没有每天被咬上无数次，它的生活要快乐得多。奶牛们很高兴。农民们很高兴。苍蝇很可怜。这是一个很有争议的问题。

Dear Pandas, after you’re done with this post, check out Bored Panda’s previous article about a baby zebra that was born with white spots instead of stripes. I’m sure you’ll love it.

亲爱的熊猫们，当你看完这篇文章后，去看看Bored Panda之前的一篇文章吧，这篇文章是关于一只出生时身上没有条纹，只有白色斑点的小斑马的。我相信你会喜欢的。

a.

b.

c.

According to the Japanese researchers who conducted the striped-cow study, their findings are important because they show that pesticides are not as effective at keeping away pests as painting stripes on cows’ fur with non-toxic materials. It’s cheaper. It’s healthier. It’s environmentally friendly. What’s not to like?

进行条纹奶牛研究的日本研究人员表示，他们的发现很重要，因为它们表明，杀虫剂在驱赶害虫方面不如用无毒材料在奶牛毛皮上画条纹那样有效。它是便宜的。它是健康的。它是环保的。有什么不喜欢的?

Scientists painted Japanese Black cows with black-and-white stripes to make them look like zebras

科学家们在日本的黑奶牛身上画上黑白条纹，使它们看起来像斑马

Scientists recorded how often the moo-moos would repel biting flies and determined that zebra-stripes “significantly” lowered the number of pest attacks. Thus, we have available an alternate way of protecting our bovine buddies from aggressive flies that doesn’t require spraying everything in sight with pesticides.

科学家们记录了mooo -moos驱赶苍蝇的频率，并得出结论，斑马条纹“显著”降低了害虫袭击的次数。因此，我们有了另一种方法来保护我们的牛伙伴免受攻击性苍蝇的侵害，而不需要在看到的任何东西上喷洒杀虫剂。

The study showed that zebra-like black-and-white stripes were significantly better at deterring flies than just black stripes or no stripes at all

研究表明，与只有黑色条纹或完全没有条纹相比，类似斑马的黑白条纹能更好地阻止苍蝇

There are several main theories about what black-and-white zebra stripes do. For example, some scientists believe that the stripes help zebras hide from flies and other pests, while others think that the stripes work as camouflage and help the animals remain unnoticed by some predators. However, a third theory is that the stripes are, in fact, a natural cooling system that helps zebras stay fresh in the searing African heat.

关于黑白斑马条纹的作用，有几种主要的理论。例如，一些科学家认为条纹有助于斑马躲避苍蝇和其他害虫，而另一些人认为条纹是一种伪装，帮助动物不被一些捕食者发现。然而，第三种理论认为，事实上，条纹是一种自然冷却系统，帮助斑马在非洲炎热的天气中保持新鲜。

So, dear Readers, what do you think of the zebra-like stripe study? Would you like to see more zebra-striped cows wandering the fields in the future? What do you think is the main purpose of a zebra’s stripes? Share your insights with everyone in the comment section below.

那么，亲爱的读者们，你们怎么看待像斑马一样的条纹研究呢?你想在将来看到更多的斑马条纹奶牛在田野里游荡吗?你认为斑马条纹的主要目的是什么?在下面的评论区与大家分享你的见解。

More info: Public Library of Science (PLOS)

Image credits: plos.org