The amazing brains and morphing skin of octopuses and other cephalopods | Roger Hanlon

翻译人员: Ziyao Wang 校对人员: Wanting Zhong

This is a strange and wonderful brain,

这是一个奇特而美妙的大脑，

one that gives rise to an idea of a kind of alternative intelligence

它让我们寻思这个星球上 是不是存在另一种

on this planet.

高智慧生物。

This is a brain that is formed in a very strange body,

这个大脑长在一个很奇特的躯体里，

one that has the equivalent of small satellite brains

这个躯体有很多类似 “卫星脑” 的器官

distributed throughout that body.

遍布全身。

How different is it from the human brain?

这和人类的大脑有什么不同呢？

Very different, so it seems,

非常不同。

so much so that my colleagues and I are struggling to understand

正因如此，我和同事们 正努力地想搞明白

这个大脑是如何运作的。

how that brain works.

But what I can tell you for certain

但有一点我可以肯定地告诉你，

is that this brain is capable of some amazing things.

这个大脑可以完成一些惊人的事情。

So, who does this brain belong to?

这个大脑属于谁呢？

Well, join me for a little bit of diving into the ocean,

好吧，让我们一同潜入深海，

where life began,

回到生命的起源地，

and let's have a look.

让我们来看看。

You may have seen some of this before,

你以前可能看过类似的录像，

but we're behind a coral reef, and there's this rock out there,

我们在一片珊瑚礁后面， 前面有一块石头，

a lot of sand, fishes swimming around ...

还有很多沙，游来游去的鱼……

And all of a sudden this octopus appears,

忽然出现了一只章鱼，

and now it flashes white,

白光一闪，

喷了我一脸墨水，然后嗖地游走了。

inks in my face and jets away.

In slow motion reverse,

慢镜头倒放，

you see the ring develop around the eye,

你能看到它眼睛周围一圈变深，

and then the pattern develops in the skin.

然后是皮肤上出现了花纹。

And now watch the 3-D texture of the skin change

现在能看到皮肤的 三维质感发生变化，

to really create this beautiful, 3-D camouflage.

创造出这幅美丽的立体伪装。

So there are 25 million color organs called "chromatophores" in the skin,

章鱼的皮肤上有大约 2500 万个 叫做 “色素细胞” 的色彩器官,

and all those bumps out there, which we call "papillae,"

还有很多叫做 “乳突” 的突起，

and they're all neurally controlled and can change instantaneously.

它们都受神经控制，可以瞬间改变。

I would argue that dynamic camouflage

我认为动态的伪装

is a form of "intelligence."

是 “智慧” 的一种形式。

The level of complexity of the skin with fast precision change

它们皮肤能快速而精确地改变，

is really quite astonishing.

其复杂程度令人十分惊讶。

So what can you do with this skin?

那么，这皮肤还能用来做什么呢？

Well, let's think a little bit about other things besides camouflage

让我们想想除了伪装以外，

that they can do with their skin.

它们还会怎么使用皮肤。

Here you see the mimic octopus and a pattern.

这里看到的拟态章鱼， 身上有一种花纹。

All of a sudden, it changes dramatically --

突然间摇身一变——

that's signaling, not camouflage.

那是在传递信号，而不是在伪装。

And then it goes back to the normal pattern.

然后它又变回了一般的花纹。

Then you see the broadclub cuttlefish

你现在看到的是白斑乌贼，

showing this passing cloud display as it approaches a crab prey.

它在接近猎物螃蟹时， 身上会出现流动云层一样的花纹。

And finally, you see the flamboyant cuttlefish in camouflage

最后是伪装中的火焰乌贼，

and it can shift instantly to this bright warning display.

它能在一瞬间切换成 这种明亮的警戒色。

What we have here is a sliding scale of expression,

这种色彩表达像是 可任意调节的滑动条，

a continuum, if you will,

或者说是

between conspicuousness and camouflage.

一个从显眼到伪装之间的色谱。

And this requires a lot of control.

这需要很好的控制。

Well, guess what?

你猜怎么着？

Brains are really good for control.

大脑是非常擅长控制的。

The brain of the octopus shown here has 35 lobes to the brain,

章鱼的大脑有 35 个脑叶，

80 million tiny cells.

8 千万个很小的细胞，

And even though that's interesting,

虽说这已经很有意思了，

what's really odd is that the skin of this animal

更神奇的是，章鱼的皮肤里 有更多的神经元，

has many more neurons, as illustrated here, especially in the yellow.

如图所示，尤其是黄色的地方 [ 周围神经系统 ]。

There are 300 million neurons in the skin

章鱼的皮肤有 30 亿个神经元，

and only 80 million in the brain itself --

而大脑里只有 8 亿个——

four times as many.

只有皮肤的四分之一。

Now, if you look at that,

现在，如果你仔细看会发现，

there's actually one of those little satellite brains

在章鱼的每条触手里 都有一个小 “卫星脑”

and the equivalent of the spinal cord for each of the eight arms.

和一条相当于脊髓的东西。

这种神经系统的构造方式 是非常与众不同的。

This is a very unusual way to construct a nervous system in a body.

Well, what is that brain good for?

这样的大脑有什么好处呢？

That brain has to outwit other big, smart brains

这种大脑必须智胜 那些想把章鱼变成盘中餐的

that are trying to eat it,

其它大而聪明的的大脑，

and that includes porpoises and seals

包括鼠海豚、海豹、

and barracudas and sharks

梭鱼和鲨鱼，

and even us humans.

甚至我们人类。

So decision-making is one of the things that this brain has to do,

所以章鱼的大脑必须能做决策，

and it does a very good job of it.

而它确实非常善于决策。

Shown here, you see this octopus perambulating along,

就像这段录像里悠闲信步的章鱼，

and then it suddenly stops and creates that perfect camouflage.

忽然停下并完美地伪装起来。

And it's really marvelous,

这真的很神奇，

because when these animals forage in the wild,

因为这些动物每天在野外觅食两次，

they have to make over a hundred camouflaging decisions

它们在每次两小时的觅食中

都要做出上百次

in a two-hour forage,

and they do that twice a day.

伪装的决定。

So, decision-making.

因此决策很重要。

They're also figuring out where to go and how to get back home.

它们还要判断该去哪里、如何回家。

So it's a decision-making thing.

这全跟决策有关。

We can test this camouflage,

我们可以测试这种伪装，

like that cuttlefish you see behind me,

就像我后面的这只乌贼，

where we pull the rug out from under it

我们把它的地毯拿走，

and give it a checkerboard,

换成一块棋盘，

and it even uses that strange visual information

它甚至能用这种奇怪的视觉信息

and does its best to match the pattern with a little ad-libbing.

尽它所能即兴创作出相似的花纹。

So other cognitive skills are important, too.

其他认知技巧也很重要。

The squids have a different kind of smarts, if you will.

鱿鱼可以说是有另一种智慧。

They have an extremely complex, interesting sex life.

它们的两性生活极为复杂有趣。

They have fighting and flirting and courting and mate-guarding

它们会打斗、调情、求爱、

保卫配偶和欺骗。

and deception.

Sound familiar?

听起来是不是很耳熟？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And it's really quite amazing

这其实很惊人，

that these animals have this kind of intuitive ability

这些动物居然有

做这些行为的直觉。

to do these behaviors.

Here you see a male and a female.

这是一只雄性和一只雌性乌贼。

The male, on the left, has been fighting off other males

左边的是雄性， 他不停地赶走其他雄性

to pair with the female,

以和那只雌性配对。

and now he's showing a dual pattern.

现在他身上出现了两种花纹。

He shows courtship and love on her side,

在雌性乌贼那一侧是示爱的花纹，

fighting on the other.

另一侧则是打斗的花纹。

Watch him when she shifts places --

雌性乌贼挪地方了， 注意观察雄性……

(Laughter)

（笑声）

and you see that he has fluidly changed the love-courtship pattern

你可以看到他流畅地把求爱的花纹

to the side of the female.

换到了雌性乌贼那一侧。

So this kind of dual signaling simultaneously

像这样在不断变化的行为环境下

with a changing behavioral context

同时发出双重信号

is really extraordinary.

是非比寻常的。

It takes a lot of brain power.

因为这需要大量的脑力。

Now, another way to look at this is that, hmm,

从另一个角度来说，嗯……

maybe we have 50 million years of evidence for the two-faced male.

我们可能有 5000 万年的证据 显示雄性是两面派。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

All right, let's move on.

让我们回到正题。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

An octopus on a coral reef has a tough job in front it

珊瑚礁上的一只章鱼 正面临一个难题：

to go to so many places, remember and find its den.

它要去很多地方、记住它们， 还要找到回窝的路。

And they do this extremely well.

章鱼对此极为擅长。

They have short- and long-term memory,

它们有短期和长期记忆。

they learn things in three to five trials --

它们尝试三到五次就能学会东西——

it's a good brain.

它们的大脑很聪明。

And the spatial memory is unusually good.

它们的空间记忆也异常出色。

They will even end their forage and make a beeline

它们甚至会在觅食结束后，

all the way back to their den.

一路直奔回窝。

The divers watching them are completely lost,

观察它们的潜水员完全迷了路，

but they can get back,

但它们却能回家，

so it's really quite refined memory capability.

这说明它们的记忆力很好。

Now, in terms of cognitive skills,

至于认知能力，

look at this sleeping behavior in the cuttlefish.

看看这只在睡觉的乌贼。

Especially on the right, you see the eye twitching.

它的眼睛在颤动，右眼尤其明显。

This is rapid eye movement kind of dreaming

这类似于在快速动眼睡眠时做梦，

而我们认为只有 哺乳动物和鸟类会做梦。

that we only thought mammals and birds did.

And you see the false color we put in there

放在后面的假色

to see the skin patterning flashing,

让我们看到它皮肤花纹的闪烁，

and this is what's happening a lot.

这是经常发生的。

But it's not normal awake behaviors; it's all different.

但这不是清醒时发生的， 所以很不一般。

Well, dreaming is when you have memory consolidation,

人们会在做梦时巩固记忆，

and so this is probably what's happening in the cuttlefish.

所以乌贼可能就是这样。

Now, another form of memory that's really unusual

另一种非比寻常的记忆

is episodic-like memory.

是 “情景样记忆”。

This is something that humans need four years of brain development to do

人类需要四年的大脑发育 才能记住特定的情节，

to remember what happened during a particular event,

它让我们记住某个事件： 发生了什么、

where it happened and when it happened.

在哪发生的、何时发生的。

The "when" part is particularly difficult,

发生的时间尤其难记住，

and these children can do that.

人类孩子们可以做到。

But guess what?

但你们肯定想不到，

We find recently that the wily cuttlefish also has this ability,

我们最近发现， 狡猾的乌贼也具备这种能力，

and in experiments last summer,

在去年夏天的实验里，

when you present a cuttlefish with different foods at different times,

我们在不同时间 给乌贼提供不同的食物，

they have to match that with where it was exactly

它们必须把见到食物的地点

and when was the last time they saw it.

和上一次见到食物的时间相匹配。

Then they have to guide their foraging to the rate of replenishment

然后它们要根据每种食物 在不同地点的出现频率

of each food type in a different place.

调整觅食行为。

Sound complicated?

听起来是不是很复杂？

It's so complicated, I hardly understood the experiment.

的确，我差点没搞懂那个实验。

So this is really high-level cognitive processing.

所以这是一种很高级的认知过程。

Now, speaking of brains and evolution at the moment,

说到大脑和进化，

you look on the right, there's the pathway of vertebrate brain evolution,

右边是脊椎动物的大脑进化历程，

and we all have good brains.

我们都有发达的大脑。

I think everyone will acknowledge that.

每个人应该都会同意。

But if you look on the left side,

但看看左边

some of the evolutionary pathway outlined here to the octopus,

标注出的章鱼的进化路径，

they have both converged, if you will, to complex behaviors

可以说是和脊椎动物的路径 同样朝复杂的行为

and some form of intelligence.

以及某种形式的智慧汇合。

The last common denominator in these two lines

这两条进化路径的最后一次交集

was 600 million years ago,

是在 6 亿年前，

and it was a worm with very few neurons,

这个共同祖先还是一种 只有很少神经元的蠕虫，

so very divergent paths

两者的进化路径产生了很大分歧，

but convergence of complicated behavior.

却又朝复杂的行为汇合。

Here is the fundamental question:

关键的问题在于：

Is the brain structure of an octopus

与脊椎动物相比，

章鱼的大脑结构

basically different down to the tiniest level

是不是从最微小的层面 都有本质的不同？

from the vertebrate line?

Now, we don't know the answer,

我们现在还不知道答案。

but if it turns out to be yes,

但如果答案是肯定的话，

then we have a different evolutionary pathway

地球上就有了一条 能创造高智商动物的

to create intelligence on planet Earth,

不同的进化路径。

and one might think that the artificial intelligence community

人工智能的研究人员

might be interested in those mechanisms.

可能会对这种机制很感兴趣。

Well, let's talk genetics just for a moment.

那么让我们稍微谈谈遗传学。

We have genomes, we have DNA,

我们有基因组，还有 DNA。

DNA is transcripted into RNA,

遗传信息从 DNA 转录到 RNA，

RNA translates that into a protein, and that's how we come to be.

RNA 把信息转译成蛋白质， 我们就是这样诞生的。

Well, the cephalopods do it differently.

头足纲动物跟我们不同。

They have big genomes, they have DNA,

它们有很大的基因组， 它们也有 DNA，

they transcript it into RNA,

DNA 转录成 RNA 后，

but now something dramatically different happens.

截然不同的事情发生了。

They edit that RNA at an astronomical weird rate,

它们以天文数字般的诡异速度 编辑那些 RNA，

a hundredfold more than we as humans or other animals do.

比人类和其它动物快上百倍，

And it produces scores of proteins.

并产生几十种蛋白质。

And guess where most of them are for?

猜猜这些蛋白质大多去了哪里？

The nervous system.

神经系统发育。

So perhaps this is an unorthodox way

因此，这可能是一种另类的

for an animal to evolve behavioral plasticity.

让动物进化出行为可塑性的办法。

This is a lot of conjecture, but it's food for thought.

这其中有很多猜测，但也耐人寻味。

Now, I'd like to share with you for a moment

现在，我想跟你们分享一下我的经历，

my experience, and using my smarts and that of my colleagues,

我和同事们是如何用智慧

to try and get this kind of information.

去获得这种信息的。

We're diving, we can't stay underwater forever

我们潜入深海， 但我们不能永远呆在水底，

because we can't breathe it,

因为我们需要呼吸，

so we have to be efficient in what we do.

因此我们效率要高。

The total sensory immersion into that world

当我们把感官 完全沉浸于那个世界时，

is what helps us understand what these animals are really doing,

我们才会明白 那些动物究竟在做什么。

and I have to tell you that it's really an amazing experience

我必须要说，潜到海底，

与一只章鱼和一位潜水员 来一场对话，

to be down there and having this communication

with an octopus and a diver

是很奇妙的体验，

when you really begin to understand that this is a thinking, cogitating,

你会真正开始明白， 章鱼是一种会深思熟虑的、

curious animal.

好奇的动物。

And this is the kind of thing that really inspires me endlessly.

正是这种体验让我 得到了无尽的启发。

Let's go back to that smart skin for a few moments.

让我们继续聊聊它的 “智能皮肤”。

Here's a squid and a camouflage pattern.

这是一条鱿鱼和它的伪装花纹。

We zoom down and we see there's beautiful pigments and reflectors.

我们拉近镜头，可以看到 漂亮的色素和反光结构。

There are the chromatophores opening and closing very quickly.

那是快速开合的色素细胞。

And then, in the next layer of skin,

下一个皮层

it's quite interesting.

更加有趣。

The chromatophores are closed,

色素细胞都是闭合的，

and you see this magical iridescence just come out of the skin.

但你会看到皮肤发出 魔幻的彩虹色光彩。

This is also neurally controlled,

这也是神经控制的。

so it's the combination of the two,

因此这两者的结合，

as seen here in the high-resolution skin of the cuttlefish,

就像这张高清的 乌贼皮肤照片所显示的，

where you get this beautiful pigmentary structural coloration

才形成了这美丽的、 色素与结构的色彩，

and even the faint blushing that is so beautiful.

连微微的泛红也如此美丽。

Well, how can we make use of some of this information?

那么我们怎样利用这些信息呢？

I talked about those skin bumps, the papillae.

我之前讲到过皮肤上的突起。

Here's the giant Australian cuttlefish.

这是一只澳大利亚大乌贼。

It's got smooth skin and a conspicuous pattern.

它有光滑的皮肤和引人注目的花纹。

I took five pictures in a row one second apart,

我连续拍了五张照片， 每两张间隔一秒，

and just watch this animal morph -- one, two, three, four, five --

看看它的变形—— 一，二，三，四，五——

and now I'm a seaweed.

变成了一根海草。

And then we can come right back out of it

我们回放，

to see the smooth skin and the conspicuousness.

又可以看到光滑的皮肤 和显眼的乌贼。

So this is really marvelous, morphing skin.

这种可变形的皮肤令人称奇。

You can see it in more detail here.

这里可以看到更多细节。

Periscope up,

潜望镜往上，

and you've got those beautiful papillae.

能看到那些漂亮的突起。

And then we look in a little more detail,

更仔细地看，

you can see the individual papillae come up,

能看到单个突起，

and there are little ridges on there,

上面还有一些小山脊，

so it's a papilla on papilla and so forth.

也就是突起上 还有突起，如此这般。

Every individual species out there has more than a dozen shapes and sizes

每个物种都有

十几种形状和大小的突起，

of those bumps

to create fine-tuned, neurally controlled camouflage.

来产生精准的、由神经控制的伪装。

So now, my colleagues at Cornell, engineers,

我在康奈尔大学的工程师同事们

watched our work and said, "We think we can make some of those."

看了我们的研究后说： “我觉得我们可以做一些出来”。

Because in industry and society,

因为在工业领域和社会上，

this kind of soft materials under control of shape

这种柔软且可以控制形状的材料

are really very rare.

非常罕见。

And they went ahead, worked with us

于是他们跟我们合作，

and made the first samples of artificial papillae, soft materials,

第一次做出了人工突起的样本， 是一种柔软的材料，

shown here.

就像这样。

And you see them blown up into different shapes,

能看到它们鼓起成不同形状，

And then you can press your finger on them

用手指按一按，

to see that they're a little bit malleable as they are.

会发现它们有一些可塑性。

And so this is an example of how that might work.

这就是应用乌贼特性的一个例子。

Well, I want to segue from this into the color of fabrics,

我现在想把话题转到织物的颜色上，

and I imagine that could have a lot of applications as well.

我想在那方面也能有很多应用。

Just look at this kaleidoscope of color

看看这些万花筒般的色彩吧，

of dynamically controlled pigments and reflectors

这些都是我们 在头足纲动物身上看到的

that we see in the cephalopods.

动态控制的色素细胞和反射结构。

We know enough about the mechanics of how they work

我们对它的运作原理了解已经很深，

that we can begin to translate this

我们可以开始将它

not only into fabrics

应用在织物上，

but perhaps even into changeable cosmetics.

或许甚至还能造出千变万化的化妆品。

And moreover, there's been the recent discovery

另外，最近在章鱼皮肤中

of light-sensing molecules in the skin of octopus

发现的感光分子

which may pave the way to, eventually, smart materials

或许会为能自动感应 并响应的智能材料

that sense and respond on their own.

打下基础。

Well, this form of biotechnology, or biomimicry, if you will,

这种形式的生物科技， 或者说仿生学，

could change the way we look at the world even above water.

甚至在水面之上也能改变 我们看待世界的方式。

Take, for example, artificial intelligence

比如，人工智能

that might be inspired by the body-distributed brain

也许能从章鱼的行为

and behavior of the octopus

和分布全身的大脑，

or the smart skin of a cuttlefish

以及乌贼的智能皮肤获得启发，

translated into cutting-edge fashion.

并将其转化为前沿技术。

Well, how do we get there?

那么，这该如何实现呢？

Maybe all we have to do

也许我们要做的不过是

is to begin to be a little bit smarter

能开始更聪明地去看待

头足纲动物的智慧。

about how smart the cephalopods are.

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）