The world’s most dangerous fart - Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti

翻译人员: Frank Xu 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

For most humans, farts are a welcome relief,

对大多数人来说，放屁 是一种受欢迎的解脱、

an embarrassing incident, or an opportunity for a gas-based gag.

一个尴尬的插曲、或是 一个有关毒气的恶作剧机会。

But for many other creatures, farts are no laughing matter.

然而对于许多其他生物来说， 放屁可不是闹着玩的事。

Deep in the bowels of the animal kingdom, farts can serve as tools of intimidation,

深在动物王国的肠胃中， 放屁可以作为恐吓的工具、

acts of self-defense, and even weapons of malodorous murder.

自卫的行动， 甚至是恶臭的凶杀武器。

The smelliest parts in the animal kingdom aren’t lethal,

动物王国中最臭的部分 虽不是致命的，

but they might ruin your trip to the beach.

但也可能毁了你的海滩之旅。

Seals and sea lions are well-known for having truly foul farts due to their diet.

海豹和海狮因其饮食 导致放臭屁闻名。

Fish and shellfish are incredibly high in sulfur.

鱼类和贝类拥有极丰富的硫含量。

And during digestion, mammalian gut bacteria breaks down sulfur

在消化过程当中， 哺乳动物的肠道细菌将硫

and amino acids containing sulfur to produce hydrogen disulphide,

以及含硫氨基酸分解 来制造出二硫化氢气体，

a gas with a smell resembling rotten eggs.

那是一种闻起来像是烂鸡蛋的气体。

Seals and sea lions can’t help their funky flatulence,

海豹和海狮无法控制自己的肠胃气体，

But some animals deploy their farts strategically.

但有些动物则可以 将它们的屁作为战术使用。

Both the Eastern hognose snake and the Sonoran coral snake

东部猪鼻蛇和索诺兰珊瑚蛇

use a tactic called cloacal popping.

都使用一种被称作 “泄殖腔弹出” 的战术。

This involves sucking air into their cloaca—

这战术包括将空气吸入泄殖腔中 ——

a hole used for urinating, defecating and reproduction—

泄殖腔是一种用于 小便、排便和繁殖的孔 ——

and then shooting it back out with a loud pop.

而后将空气伴随着 “砰” 的响声 从泄殖腔弹射出。

These pops are no more dangerous than a sea lion’s stench,

这些砰砰炮弹 不如海狮的臭气来得危险，

but they are effective at scaring off would-be predators.

但是它们能有效的驱散潜在的掠食者。

Meanwhile, the flatulence of beaded lacewing larvae are silent and deadly.

与此同时，珠翅幼虫的 肠胃气体既无声又致命。

Their farts contain a class of chemical known as allomone

它们屁里有一种被称为 异原信息素的化学物质，

that has evolved specifically to paralyze termites.

专门进化出来用以麻痹白蚁。

In fact, this allomone is so powerful,

事实上这种异原信息素强大到

a single fart can immobilize multiple termites for up to three hours,

仅仅一个屁便能让多个白蚁 失去行动长达三小时，

or even kill them outright.

或者甚至直接将它们杀死。

Either way, these toxic farts give beaded lacewing larvae plenty of time

不论如何，这些有毒的屁 给了珠翅幼虫大量的时间

to devour prey up to three times their size.

来吞食比它们体积大三倍的猎物。

For some other animals, however, holding farts in can be deadly.

但是，对于其它一些动物来说， 憋着屁可能是致命的。

The Bolson pupfish is a small freshwater fish found in northern Mexico.

波森幼鱼是一种生活在 北墨西哥的小型淡水鱼。

These fish feed on algae and other small organisms in the sediment.

这些鱼类以藻类和其它 在沉积物中的小生物为食。

But during the hottest days of the summer,

但是在夏天最热的时候，

this algae produces a lot of gas.

藻会产生出来大量的气体。

If a pupfish doesn’t fart this gas out, it becomes buoyant—

如果一条幼鱼不将 这种气体通过屁排放出来 ——

making it easy prey for passing birds.

它会浮起来而容易成为过往鸟类的猎物。

And it isn't just predators they have to worry about.

而它们不仅得为这些猎食者担心。

Excessive gas buildup can actually burst their digestive systems.

过多的气体累积实际上 也会造成它们消化系统爆裂。

Researchers have found groups of several hundred dead pupfish

研究人员发现了几百条死去的幼鱼

that failed to fart for their lives.

因为不放屁而丧了命。

Fortunately for humanity,

对人类来说幸运的是，

animal farts can’t directly harm a human— outside making us lose our lunch.

动物放屁并不会直接 伤害人——除了让我们吐出午餐以外。

But in the right circumstances,

但在适当的情况下，

some animal flatulence can create surprisingly dangerous conditions.

一些动物的肠胃气体 会制造出异常危险的状况。

In the fall of 2015, a tripped smoke alarm

在 2015 年秋季， 一架飞机因为烟雾报警器响起

forced a plane to make an emergency landing.

不得不被迫紧急降落。

Upon further inspection, officials found that there was no fire—

经进一步的调查官员们并没有发现火灾 ——

just the burps and farts of over 2,000 goats being transported in the cargo bay.

他们只找到了货舱里 超过两千只山羊所放的屁和打的嗝。

The change in air pressure had caused them to pass gas en masse.

气压的变化导致它们集体排出气体。

Thankfully, this story of farting goats had relatively low costs.

谢天谢地的是， 这个山羊放屁的事件代价相对不高。

But the most dangerous flatulence in the world may actually come from

但是世上最危险的 肠胃气体可能实际来自

a similarly unassuming mammal: the humble cow.

一种似乎也看起来 人畜无害的哺乳动物：谦逊的牛。

There are nearly one billion cows in the world,

世界上有将近十亿头牛，

most of them raised specifically for milk and meat.

他们中的大部分被专门养来生产肉和牛奶。

Like goats, cows are ruminants,

像山羊一样，牛是反刍动物，

which means their stomachs have four chambers,

这意味着它们有四个胃，

allowing them to chew, digest and regurgitate their food multiple times.

让它们能够咀嚼、消化 并对食物进行多次反刍。

This process helps them extract extra nutrients from their food,

这个过程帮助它们 从食物里获得额外的营养，

but it also produces a lot of gas.

但它也同时产生很多气体。

This is particularly troubling because one of the gases cows emit

这很麻烦是因为牛排出的气体之一

is methane,

是甲烷，

a major greenhouse gas that contributes heavily to global warming.

一种导致温室效应的主要气体。

One kilogram of methane traps dozens of times more heat in the atmosphere

一千克甲烷能在大气中困住

than one kilogram of carbon dioxide.

超过一千克二氧化碳几倍的热量。

And with each cow releasing up to 100 kilograms of methane every year,

而因为每头牛每年 放出多达 100 千克的甲烷，

these animals have become one of the biggest contributors

这些动物已经成为了

toward climate change.

导致温室效应的最大原因之一。

So while other animals may have louder, fouler, or even more toxic farts,

所以在其它动物放出 更响、更臭、甚至更毒的屁时，

cow flatulence may be the most dangerous gas ever to pass.

牛的肠胃胀气可能是 有史以来最危险的气体。