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

譯者: Helen Chang 審譯者: Marssi Draw

This is a strange and wonderful brain,

這是個奇怪而美妙的腦，

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

這個腦會引發一種

對這星球上有另類智慧的想法。

on this planet.

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

這個腦在一具非常奇怪的身體裡，

one that has the equivalent of small satellite brains

具有相當於遍佈周身的小型衛星腦。

distributed throughout that body.

How different is it from the human brain?

這與人類的腦有多不同呢？

Very different, so it seems,

看起來非常不同，

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

以至於我和同事正努力

去了解這大腦的運作方式。

how that brain works.

But what I can tell you for certain

但我能肯定

is that this brain is capable of some amazing things.

這腦能做出些驚人之舉。

So, who does this brain belong to?

那麼，這是誰的腦呢？

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

好，來和我一起潛入海洋，

where life began,

生命開始之地，

and let's have a look.

讓我們來看看。

You may have seen some of this before,

你之前可能已經看過一些，

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

但我們在珊瑚礁後面，

那裡有岩石，

a lot of sand, fishes swimming around ...

很多沙子，

魚兒游來游去......

And all of a sudden this octopus appears,

突然間，這隻章魚出現了，

and now it flashes white,

現在牠一閃而過，

inks in my face and jets away.

把墨水噴在我的臉上，竄走了。

In slow motion reverse,

在慢動作反轉中，

you see the ring develop around the eye,

你會看到環在眼睛周圍形成，

and then the pattern develops in the skin.

接著圖案在皮膚上形成。

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

現在看皮膚的 3D 紋理變化，

to really create this beautiful, 3-D camouflage.

真正創造出這種美麗的 3D 迷彩。

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

皮膚有 2500 萬個

稱為「色素細胞」的顏色器官，

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

這些突起通通被稱為「乳突」，

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

全都由神經控制，可以瞬間改變。

I would argue that dynamic camouflage

我認為動態偽裝是一種「智慧」。

is a form of "intelligence."

The level of complexity of the skin with fast precision change

快速和精確變化的皮膚

is really quite astonishing.

的確複雜得令人驚訝。

So what can you do with this skin?

那麼，這種皮膚能怎麼用？

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

好吧，讓我們想想除了偽裝以外

that they can do with their skin.

牠們的皮膚能怎麼用。

Here you see the mimic octopus and a pattern.

在這裡看得到模仿的章魚和圖案，

All of a sudden, it changes dramatically --

突然間發生巨大的變化——

that's signaling, not camouflage.

那是信號，不是偽裝——

And then it goes back to the normal pattern.

然後它又回到正常模式。

Then you see the broadclub cuttlefish

接著你看到白斑烏賊

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

在接近螃蟹獵物時 顯示浮雲飄過的樣子。

And finally, you see the flamboyant cuttlefish in camouflage

最後，你看到偽裝的烏賊，

and it can shift instantly to this bright warning display.

它能立即轉成這明亮的警示。

What we have here is a sliding scale of expression,

這裡有連續的表達級別，

a continuum, if you will,

從顯眼到偽裝，連續著。

between conspicuousness and camouflage.

And this requires a lot of control.

這需要很多控制。

Well, guess what?

猜猜怎麼著？

Brains are really good for control.

腦真的很適合控制。

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

這裡顯示的章魚大腦有 35 個腦裂片，

80 million tiny cells.

8000 萬個小細胞。

And even though that's interesting,

即使那很有意思，

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

真正奇怪的是

這種動物的皮膚有更多的神經元，

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

如圖所示，尤其是黃色的神經元。

There are 300 million neurons in the skin

皮膚中有 3 億個神經元，

and only 80 million in the brain itself --

而大腦本身只有 8000 萬個，

four times as many.

（皮膚擁有的是腦的）4 倍。

Now, if you look at that,

如果你看，

there's actually one of those little satellite brains

實際上有個小的衛星腦，

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

和相當於脊髓的八條手臂。

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

這種構建體內神經系統的方式 非比尋常。

Well, what is that brain good for?

那這樣的腦有什麼好處呢？

That brain has to outwit other big, smart brains

那腦必須智勝其他

試圖吃掉牠的聰明腦，

that are trying to eat it,

and that includes porpoises and seals

包括海豚和海豹，

and barracudas and sharks

梭魚和鯊魚，

and even us humans.

甚至包括我們人類。

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

因此，腦必須做決策，

and it does a very good job of it.

且要做得很好。

Shown here, you see this octopus perambulating along,

這裡顯示這隻巡視的章魚，

and then it suddenly stops and creates that perfect camouflage.

牠突然停步，造出完美的偽裝。

And it's really marvelous,

這真是太棒了，

because when these animals forage in the wild,

因為當這些動物在野外覓食時，

they have to make over a hundred camouflaging decisions

牠們必須在兩小時的覓食過程中

做出一百多個偽裝決策，

in a two-hour forage,

and they do that twice a day.

每天兩回。

So, decision-making.

決策。

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

牠們還得弄清楚 要去哪裡和如何回家。

So it's a decision-making thing.

這是決策之事。

We can test this camouflage,

我們可以測試這種偽裝，

like that cuttlefish you see behind me,

就像在我身後看到的烏賊，

where we pull the rug out from under it

我們從牠身下抽走地毯，

and give it a checkerboard,

讓牠在棋盤上，

and it even uses that strange visual information

牠甚至用那些奇怪的視覺訊息，

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

當場盡力匹配棋盤的模樣。

So other cognitive skills are important, too.

其他的認知技能也很重要。

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

魷魚有不同的智慧。

They have an extremely complex, interesting sex life.

牠們有非常複雜，有趣的性生活。

They have fighting and flirting and courting and mate-guarding

牠們會戰鬥、調情、 求愛、護衛伴侶，

and deception.

和欺騙。

Sound familiar?

聽起來有點熟悉吧？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And it's really quite amazing

非常神奇的是

that these animals have this kind of intuitive ability

這些動物能夠直覺地

to do these behaviors.

做這些行為。

Here you see a male and a female.

在這裡你看到一雄一雌。

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

左邊的雄性一直在對抗其他雄性

to pair with the female,

以與雌性配對，

and now he's showing a dual pattern.

現在牠呈現出雙重模式：

He shows courtship and love on her side,

牠在雌魷魚這邊求愛和展現愛意，

fighting on the other.

在另一邊戰鬥。

Watch him when she shifts places --

看牠在雌性換邊的時候——

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

你會看到牠已經流暢地

轉變成求愛模式來面對雌魷魚。

to the side of the female.

So this kind of dual signaling simultaneously

因此，這種並行的雙重信號

with a changing behavioral context

伴隨著不斷變化的行為背景，

is really extraordinary.

真的非比尋常。

It takes a lot of brain power.

需要大量的腦力。

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

另一種看待這種情況的方式是，

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

也許我們有了五千萬年的 男性雙面人的證據。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

All right, let's move on.

好，讓我們繼續吧。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

珊瑚礁上的一隻章魚 面對一項艱難的工作，

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

得要記住牠去過的很多地方， 還要找到牠的巢穴。

And they do this extremely well.

牠們做得非常好。

They have short- and long-term memory,

牠們有短期和長期記憶，

they learn things in three to five trials --

牠們試個三到五次就能學會——

it's a good brain.

腦很好。

And the spatial memory is unusually good.

空間記憶也極好。

They will even end their forage and make a beeline

牠們在覓食結束後

甚至會直奔巢穴。

all the way back to their den.

The divers watching them are completely lost,

看著牠們的潛水員完全迷路了，

but they can get back,

但牠們回得來，

so it's really quite refined memory capability.

所以牠們有非常細緻的記憶能力。

Now, in terms of cognitive skills,

在認知技能方面，

look at this sleeping behavior in the cuttlefish.

看看烏賊的這種睡眠行為。

Especially on the right, you see the eye twitching.

特別是在右邊， 你會看到牠眼睛抽搐。

This is rapid eye movement kind of dreaming

這是做夢般的快速眼球運動，

that we only thought mammals and birds did.

以前我們以為哺乳動物和鳥類才有。

And you see the false color we put in there

看我們放在那裡的假色，

to see the skin patterning flashing,

看到皮膚圖案閃爍，

and this is what's happening a lot.

這常常發生。

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

但這不是一般清醒時的行為， 完全不是。

Well, dreaming is when you have memory consolidation,

人類在鞏固記憶時做夢，

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

烏賊可能就是這樣。

Now, another form of memory that's really unusual

另一種非比尋常的記憶形式

is episodic-like memory.

是情節之類的記憶。

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

人類需要四年的大腦發育

to remember what happened during a particular event,

才記得住特定事件、

where it happened and when it happened.

發生的時間和地點。

The "when" part is particularly difficult,

特別難以記住「何時」這部分，

and these children can do that.

這些孩子能記住。

But guess what?

但猜猜怎麼了？

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

我們最近發現狡猾的烏賊 也具有這種能力。

and in experiments last summer,

在去年夏天的實驗中，

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

如果在不同的時間餵不同食物給烏賊，

they have to match that with where it was exactly

牠們必須確切地匹配位置

and when was the last time they saw it.

以及上一次看到那種食物的時間。

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

然後，牠們的覓食必須配合地點

of each food type in a different place.

和每種食物類型的補充速度。

Sound complicated?

聽起來複雜嗎？

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

這太複雜了，我幾乎 無法理解這個實驗。

So this is really high-level cognitive processing.

所以這真的是高級的認知處理。

Now, speaking of brains and evolution at the moment,

現在談到大腦和進化，

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

右邊有脊椎動物大腦進化的途徑，

and we all have good brains.

我們都有良好的大腦。

I think everyone will acknowledge that.

我想每個人都認可這一點。

But if you look on the left side,

左側描述一些

some of the evolutionary pathway outlined here to the octopus,

進化到章魚的途徑。

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

兩者都匯合到複雜的行為

and some form of intelligence.

和某種形式的智慧。

The last common denominator in these two lines

這兩行中的最後一個共同點

was 600 million years ago,

是 6 億年前

and it was a worm with very few neurons,

一種神經元非常少的蠕蟲。

so very divergent paths

所以，非常不同的路徑

but convergence of complicated behavior.

匯合到複雜的行為。

Here is the fundamental question:

這裡有一個很基本的問題：

Is the brain structure of an octopus

章魚的腦結構

basically different down to the tiniest level

是否基本上與脊椎動物的不同？

from the vertebrate line?

Now, we don't know the answer,

我們現在沒有答案，

but if it turns out to be yes,

但如果結果是肯定的，

then we have a different evolutionary pathway

那麼就有不同的進化途徑

to create intelligence on planet Earth,

創造出地球上的智慧。

and one might think that the artificial intelligence community

可能那些做人工智慧的人

might be interested in those mechanisms.

會對這些機制感興趣。

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

好，我們來談點遺傳學。

We have genomes, we have DNA,

我們有基因組，有 DNA，

DNA is transcripted into RNA,

DNA 被轉錄成 RNA，

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

RNA 將其轉化為蛋白質， 就成了我們。

Well, the cephalopods do it differently.

而頭足類動物有所不同。

They have big genomes, they have DNA,

牠們有很大的基因組，有 DNA，

they transcript it into RNA,

轉錄成 RNA，

but now something dramatically different happens.

但發生了一些截然不同的事情。

They edit that RNA at an astronomical weird rate,

牠們以天文奇速編輯 RNA，

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

速度超過人類或其他動物數百倍。

And it produces scores of proteins.

產生了大量的蛋白質，

And guess where most of them are for?

猜猜大部分在哪裡？

The nervous system.

在神經系統裡。

So perhaps this is an unorthodox way

因此，這可能是動物進化

for an animal to evolve behavioral plasticity.

可塑性行為的非正統方式。

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

這裡有很多猜測值得去深思。

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

現在讓我稍稍分享經驗，

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

並利用我和同事的聰明才智

to try and get this kind of information.

嘗試獲取此類訊息。

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

我們潛水，但無法一直待在水下，

because we can't breathe it,

因為我們無法呼吸，

so we have to be efficient in what we do.

所以我們必須高效地工作。

The total sensory immersion into that world

把感官全沉浸在水世界中

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

有助於我們了解 這些動物真正在做什麼。

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

我必須說

在水裡與章魚和潛水員交流

to be down there and having this communication

真的是一種非常棒的體驗，

with an octopus and a diver

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

得以藉此明白

牠們是思考和好奇的動物。

curious animal.

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

這真的無止盡地激勵著我。

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

讓我們回到那聰明皮膚片刻。

Here's a squid and a camouflage pattern.

這是一隻魷魚和迷彩圖案。

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

我們放大，看到美麗的顏料和反射層。

There are the chromatophores opening and closing very quickly.

有快速打開和關閉的色素細胞。

And then, in the next layer of skin,

接著在下一層皮膚中，

it's quite interesting.

非常有趣。

The chromatophores are closed,

色素細胞是封閉的，

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

你會看到皮膚呈現出這種神奇的虹彩。

This is also neurally controlled,

這也是神經控制的，

so it's the combination of the two,

所以是結合兩者，

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

如高解析度的烏賊皮膚中所見，

where you get this beautiful pigmentary structural coloration

這裡有美麗的顏料結構色彩，

and even the faint blushing that is so beautiful.

甚至是如此美麗的微紅。

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

那麼，我們如何利用這些訊息呢？

I talked about those skin bumps, the papillae.

我先前談到了皮膚腫塊，即乳突。

Here's the giant Australian cuttlefish.

這是巨大的澳大利亞烏賊。

It's got smooth skin and a conspicuous pattern.

牠有光滑的皮膚和明顯的圖案。

I took five pictures in a row one second apart,

我一秒連拍了五張照片，

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

只為看這種動物變形——

一、二、三、四、五——

and now I'm a seaweed.

現在牠模仿海藻。

And then we can come right back out of it

倒回來看看

to see the smooth skin and the conspicuousness.

光滑顯眼的皮膚。

So this is really marvelous, morphing skin.

這真是奇妙變形的皮膚。

You can see it in more detail here.

在這裡能看得更仔細。

Periscope up,

潛望鏡升起來了，

and you've got those beautiful papillae.

有美麗的乳突。

And then we look in a little more detail,

再看一點細節，

you can see the individual papillae come up,

看的到個別的乳突出現，

and there are little ridges on there,

那裡有小脊，

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

是乳突上的乳突等等。

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

每個物種都有十幾種 形狀和大小的凸起，

of those bumps

to create fine-tuned, neurally controlled camouflage.

以創造微調、神經控制的偽裝。

So now, my colleagues at Cornell, engineers,

現在我康奈爾大學的同事、工程師們

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

看到這些成果，說： 「我們應該能做出一些這種東西。」

Because in industry and society,

因為在工業和社會中，

this kind of soft materials under control of shape

這種受形狀控制的軟質材料

are really very rare.

確實非常罕見。

And they went ahead, worked with us

他們開始與我們合作，

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

製作了人造乳膠， 軟材料的第一批樣品，

shown here.

如圖所示。

And you see them blown up into different shapes,

看它們脹成不同的形狀，

And then you can press your finger on them

可以用手指按壓，

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

看得出來它們有點可塑性。

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

這是一個可以拿來運用的例子。

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

好，我想轉談布料的顏色，

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

這裡也能有很多應用。

Just look at this kaleidoscope of color

只要看看我們在頭足類動物中看到的

of dynamically controlled pigments and reflectors

動態控制顏料和反射層 如萬花筒般的顏色。

that we see in the cephalopods.

We know enough about the mechanics of how they work

我們對牠們的作用機制了解得夠多，

that we can begin to translate this

不僅可以將其轉化為布匹的染料，

not only into fabrics

but perhaps even into changeable cosmetics.

甚至可以轉化為千變萬化的化妝品。

And moreover, there's been the recent discovery

此外，最近在章魚的皮膚中 發現了感光分子，

of light-sensing molecules in the skin of octopus

which may pave the way to, eventually, smart materials

最終可能會為

能夠自我感知和回應的智慧材料

that sense and respond on their own.

鋪平前路。

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

那麼，這種形式的生物技術或仿生學

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

能改變我們看世界的方式， 即使在水面之上亦然。

Take, for example, artificial intelligence

例如，人工智慧

that might be inspired by the body-distributed brain

能受到章魚周身遍佈腦的啟發，

and behavior of the octopus

or the smart skin of a cuttlefish

或烏賊的聰明皮膚的啟發，

translated into cutting-edge fashion.

轉化為尖端時尚。

那麼，

我們如何辦到呢？

Well, how do we get there?

Maybe all we have to do

也許我們只需更聰明地看待

is to begin to be a little bit smarter

頭足類動物是多麼的機靈。

about how smart the cephalopods are.

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）