刚刚，2023年搞笑诺贝尔奖揭晓

2023年搞笑诺贝尔奖揭晓啦：能识别“肛纹”的“智能”马桶、两个鼻孔鼻毛数一样吗、科学家为什么喜欢舔石头、有多少过路人在看到陌生人抬头望向天空时也会停下来看呢、老师和学生的无聊程度……

🤔️小作业：

1. What was the psychology experiment about strangers looking upward aiming to determine?

a) The curiosity level of different individuals.

b) The influence of a group's behavior on individuals.

c) The frequency of upward glances in a day.

d) The reaction time of passersby.

a) A test strip for urinalysis.

b) A system to measure urine flow rate.

c) A vision system for defecation analysis.

d) A sensor to produce an “analprint”.

无注释原文：

Robots made from dead spiders and ‘smart toilets’ among winners of this year’s Ig Nobel awards

From: The Independent

Research on turning dead spiders into robot-claws called “necrobots” and a “smart” toilet innovation to identify a person from their “analprint” are among this year’s Ig Nobel prize recipients.

The Ig Nobel prizes are given every September to quirky scientific studies and achievements that “make people laugh, then think”. The prize ceremony is organised each year by the science humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research.

Some of the research conducted over the last year which received the 2023 Ig Nobel prize included one in which scientists re-animated dead spiders to use as mechanical gripping tools, and another explaining the peculiar behaviour of many geologists who lick the rocks they study.

In the public health category, this year, the prize went to researchers who invented a “smart” toilet that uses a variety of technologies to monitor and quickly analyse the substances a user excretes.

The strange innovation by Stanford University scientists includes devices such as urinalysis dipstick test strip, a computer vision system for defecation analysis, as well as an interface with other devices.

This invention, dubbed the “smart” toilet, also has a sensor paired with an identification camera which assesses creases in the lining of a person’s anus to produce an “analprint” similar to fingerprints.

“Our bathrooms, often seen as the most private of spaces, have the potential to become the silent guardians of our health,” Stanford’s Seung-min Park, who was part of the team that built the toilet, told the Associated Press.

Jan Zalasiewicz, a geologist at the University of Leicester, won this year’s award in the chemistry and geology category for his work explaining why scientists lick rocks.

The geologist explained in a 2017 essay written for the Paleontological Association’s newsletter that the minerals within rocks tend to stand out better on a wet surface than a dry one, making licking an easier way to identify them in the field.

In his essay, he expresses nostalgia for the olden days when scientists not only licked rocks to identify them, but also sometimes cooked and ate them.

A strange street experiment won the award in the psychology category for studying how many passersby stopped to look upward when they saw strangers looking upward.

The research was an attempt to estimate the “drawing power of crowds of different size”, according to scientists.

“As the size of the stimulus crowd was increased a greater proportion of passersby adopted the behavior of the crowd,” found the study.

In the nutrition category, the award went to researchers who proposed the invention of “electrified” chopsticks and drinking straws, with the potential to “change the taste of food”.

The medicine prize was scooped up by scientists who used cadavers to explore whether there are an equal number of hairs in each of a person’s two nostrils, and in the education segment, the award went to a team studying the boredom of teachers and students.

The latter study showed “the mere expectation that classes will be boring caused students to feel bored”, said sociologist Wijnand Van Tilburg from the University of Essex, who conducted the experiment.

Research published in the journal Advanced Science, which showed that robots made using the bodies of dead spiders could potentially help grasp objects greater than weight of the arachnids, won the mechanical engineering award.

The “necrobots” could open the doors to a new era of robotics, scientists said.

As was customary every year, winning teams in each category received a $10-trillion bill from Zimbabwe alongside a trophy.

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Robots made from dead spiders and ‘smart toilets’ among winners of this year’s Ig Nobel awards

From: The Independent

Research on turning dead spiders into robot-claws called “necrobots” and a “smart” toilet innovation to identify a person from their “analprint” are among this year’s Ig Nobel prize recipients.

今年的搞笑诺贝尔奖得主包括将死蜘蛛变成被称为“亡灵机器人”的机械爪研究，以及通过“肛纹”识别人的“智能”马桶创新。

claw作名词，表示“（动物、鸟或有些昆虫的）爪，螯”，英文解释为“a sharp curved nail on an animal, bird, or some insects”，如：lobster claws 龙虾的螯，举个🌰：The cat dug his claws into my leg. 猫的爪子抓进了我的腿中。

也可以表示“爪形夹具；（机械的）爪”，英文解释为“part of a tool or machine, like a claw , used for holding, pulling or lifting things”，作动词，显然就是用这个爪子去抓，扒。

anal /ˈeɪ.nəl/ 表示“肛门的”，英文解释为“relating to the anus (= the opening at end of the intestines through which solid waste leaves the body)”如：the anal passage/sphincter 肛道/肛门括约肌。

类似于fingerprint表示“指纹,指印”，analprint = anal+print 可以指“肛纹”

表示“接受者；领受者；承受者”，英文解释为“a person who receives something”举个🌰：He was a recipient of the Civilian Service Award. 他被授予平民服务奖章。

The Ig Nobel prizes are given every September to quirky scientific studies and achievements that “make people laugh, then think”. The prize ceremony is organised each year by the science humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research.

每年九月，搞笑诺贝尔奖会被颁发给那些既让人发笑又令人深思的古怪科学研究和成果。该奖项每年由科学幽默杂志《不可思议研究年报》（Annals of Improbable Research）组织。

quirky /ˈkwɜːkɪ/ 表示“古怪的，独特的”，英文解释为“unusual in an attractive and interesting way”举个🌰：He was tall and had a quirky, off-beat sense of humour. 他个子高高的，有一种独特、另类的幽默感。

annal /ˈæn.əl/ 1）通常复数annals，表示“科学期刊”，英文解释为“a serious magazine or newspaper that is published regularly about a scientific subject”举个🌰：The new guidelines are published in today's Annals of Internal Medicine. 新的指南发表在今天的《内科学年鉴》上。

2）表示“年鉴；编年史”，英文解释为“a record of the events of one year”

表示“不大可能发生的；未必确实的”，英文解释为“not likely to happen or be true ”举个🌰：It's highly improbable that he will agree. 他很可能不会同意。

Some of the research conducted over the last year which received the 2023 Ig Nobel prize included one in which scientists re-animated dead spiders to use as mechanical gripping tools, and another explaining the peculiar behaviour of many geologists who lick the rocks they study.

在过去一年的研究中获得2023年搞笑诺贝尔奖的，有一项研究是科学家们“激活”死蜘蛛，将其用作机械夹持工具，还有一项研究解释了许多地质学家舔舐所研究岩石的奇特行为。

animate /ˈæn.ɪ.mət/ 表示“使生气勃勃；使有活力”，英文解释为“to make someone seem more happy or active”举个🌰：A sparkle in his eyes animated his face whenever he smiled. 他一笑起来，眼睛就亮晶晶的，一时脸上也增添了生气。

grip /ɡrɪp/ 1）表示“使入迷，吸引…的注意力”，英文解释为“to keep someone's attention completely”举个🌰：This trial has gripped the whole nation. 这场审判引起了全国的关注。

2）表示“紧握，握紧，紧抓（住）”，英文解释为“to hold very tightly”举个🌰：The baby gripped my finger with her tiny hand. 婴儿的小手紧紧握住我的手指。

3）表示“（感情等）强烈地控制；对…产生强烈影响”，英文解释为“When an emotion such as fear grips you, you feel it strongly.”举个🌰：Then he turned towards me, and I was suddenly gripped by fear. 然后，他转过身对着我，我突然惊恐万状。

peculiar /pɪˈkjuː.li.ər/ 表示“奇怪的，古怪的”，英文解释为“unusual and strange, sometimes in an unpleasant way”举个🌰：What a peculiar smell! 多么奇怪的气味！

geologist /dʒiˈɒl.ə.dʒɪst/ 表示“地质学家”，英文解释为“a person who studies geology”

lick表示“舔，舐”，英文解释为“to move the tongue across the surface of something”举个🌰：He licked the chocolate off his fingers. 他把手指上的巧克力舔干净了。

In the public health category, this year, the prize went to researchers who invented a “smart” toilet that uses a variety of technologies to monitor and quickly analyse the substances a user excretes.

在公共卫生类别中，今年的奖项颁给发明了一款“智能”马桶的研究人员，该马桶利用各种技术来监控和快速分析用户的排泄物。

表示“物质；材料”，英文解释为“material with particular physical characteristics”如：an organic/chemical substance 有机/化学物质。

excrete /ɪkˈskriːt/ 表示“排泄”，英文解释为“to get rid of material such as solid waste or urine from the body”举个🌰：Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。

The strange innovation by Stanford University scientists includes devices such as urinalysis dipstick test strip, a computer vision system for defecation analysis, as well as an interface with other devices.

斯坦福大学（Stanford University）科学家的这项奇特创新包括尿液分析试纸条、用于排便分析的计算机视觉系统以及与其他设备的接口。

表示“尿液分析””，英文解释为“analysis of the urine to test for the presence of disease by the presence of protein, glucose, ketones, cells, etc”

dipstick test是一种简单的化验方法，通常用于迅速检测和分析液体样本，如尿液或血液。在尿液分析中，dipstick test 特指使用一种特制的试纸条（dipstick）来检测尿液中的各种成分，如蛋白质、糖、酮体、酸碱度等。用户只需将这种试纸条浸入尿液样本中，然后根据试纸条上的颜色变化来判断尿液中的各种成分是否正常。

2019年现代版「甄嬛传」？泰国王妃被剥夺全部头衔时，各大媒体几乎都用了strip这个词，后接of，strip of 1）表示“剥夺（财产、权利）；撤销（头衔）”，英文解释为“To strip someone of their property, rights, or titles means to take those things away from them.”举个🌰：The soldiers have stripped the civilians of their passports, and every other type of document. 那些士兵们已经夺走了市民的护照以及所有其他证件。

2）strip还有“脱衣服；脱光…的衣服”的意思，英文解释为“to remove your clothing, or to remove all the clothing of someone else”举个🌰：He had been stripped naked, beaten and robbed. 他被脱光衣服，遭受殴打，东西还被抢了。

3）作名词，strip /strɪp/ 表示“条，带，细长片”，英文解释为“a long, flat, narrow piece”如：a narrow strip of land 狭长地带。

defecation /def.əˈkeɪ.ʃən/ 表示“排便”，英文解释为“the act of passing the contents of the bowels out of the body”举个🌰：Normal defecation frequency varies from three times a day to three times a week. 正常的排便频率从一天三次到一周三次不等。

interface /ˈɪn.tə.feɪs/ 表示“接口；界面”，英文解释为“a connection between two pieces of electronic equipment, or between a person and a computer”举个🌰：My computer has a network interface, which allows me to get to other computers. 我的计算机有网络接口，可以与其他计算机连在一起。

This invention, dubbed the “smart” toilet, also has a sensor paired with an identification camera which assesses creases in the lining of a person’s anus to produce an “analprint” similar to fingerprints.

这项被称为“智能”马桶的发明，还配备了一个与识别摄像头配对的传感器，用于评估人们的肛门皱襞，从而产生类似指纹的“肛纹”。

1）表示“把…称为”，英文解释为“If someone or something is dubbed a particular thing, they are given that description or name.”举个🌰：Today's session has been widely dubbed as a "LearnAndRecord"meeting. 今天的会议被大众称为“LearnAndRecord”的会议。

2）表示“为（影片或声道等）配音”，英文解释为“If a film or soundtrack in a foreign language is dubbed, a new soundtrack is added with actors giving a translation.”举个🌰：It was dubbed into Spanish for Mexican audiences. 它已为墨西哥观众配成西班牙语了。

表示“传感器”，英文解释为“a device that is used to record that something is present or that there are changes in something”举个🌰：The security device has a heat sensor which detects the presence of people and animals. 保安装置中有一个热传感器，能探测人和动物的存在。

crease /kriːs/ 表示“（布或纸上的）褶痕，皱褶”，英文解释为“a line on cloth or paper where it has been folded or crushed”举个🌰：He ironed a crease down the front of each trouser leg. 他在每条裤腿的正面熨出一条褶痕来。

lining /ˈlaɪnɪŋ/ 1）表示“衬层；内衬；衬里”，英文解释为“a layer of material used to cover the inside surface of sth”如：a pair of leather gloves with fur linings 一双毛皮衬里的皮手套。

2）表示“（胃等器官内部的）保护层”，英文解释为“The lining of your stomach or other organ is a layer of tissue on the inside of it.”如：a bacterium that attacks the lining of the stomach 一种侵袭胃粘膜的细菌。

“Our bathrooms, often seen as the most private of spaces, have the potential to become the silent guardians of our health,” Stanford’s Seung-min Park, who was part of the team that built the toilet, told the Associated Press.

“我们的浴室，常常被视为最私密的空间，有可能成为我们健康的无声守护者。”斯坦福大学的Seung-min Park在接受美联社采访时如此说道，他是制造这款马桶的团队成员之一。

Jan Zalasiewicz, a geologist at the University of Leicester, won this year’s award in the chemistry and geology category for his work explaining why scientists lick rocks.

莱斯特大学（University of Leicester）地质学家扬·扎拉谢维奇（Jan Zalasiewicz）因其解释科学家为什么舔舐岩石的研究，赢得了今年化学和地质学类别的奖项。

The geologist explained in a 2017 essay written for the Paleontological Association’s newsletter that the minerals within rocks tend to stand out better on a wet surface than a dry one, making licking an easier way to identify them in the field.

他在2017年为《古生物学会》（Paleontological Association）时事通讯所写的文章中解释说，岩石中的矿物质在潮湿的表面往往比干燥的表面更容易显现出来，因此舔舐是一种更容易在实地识别岩石的方法。

In his essay, he expresses nostalgia for the olden days when scientists not only licked rocks to identify them, but also sometimes cooked and ate them.

在他的文章中，他表达了对过去的怀念，那时科学家们不仅通过舔舐来识别岩石，有时还把它们煮了吃。

nostalgia /nɒˈstældʒə/ 表示“对过去美好时光的留恋，恋旧；怀旧”，英文解释为“a feeling that a time in the past was good, or the activity of remembering a good time in the past and wishing that things had not changed”，举个🌰：He looked back on his university days with a certain amount of nostalgia. 他带着一点留恋，回忆起大学时光。

📍诗歌《乡愁》余光中就有译为：Nostalgia.

📍词根“-algia”表示“疼痛”，前缀“nost-”（来自希腊语“nostos”，表示“回家”）。想象你对过去的家乡有一种「疼痛」的怀念，这就是“nostalgia”。

A strange street experiment won the award in the psychology category for studying how many passersby stopped to look upward when they saw strangers looking upward.

一项奇特的街头实验获得了心理学类别的奖项，该实验研究了有多少路人在看到陌生人抬头望向天空时也停下来抬头望向天空。

The research was an attempt to estimate the “drawing power of crowds of different size”, according to scientists.

据科学家称，这项研究旨在评估“不同规模人群的吸引力”。

“As the size of the stimulus crowd was increased a greater proportion of passersby adopted the behavior of the crowd,” found the study.

研究发现，“随着刺激性人群规模的增加，越来越多的过路人开始效仿人群的行为。”

很有意思的一个词，单数 stimulus /ˈstɪmjʊləs/，复数 stimuli /ˈstɪm.jʊ.laɪ/，没错有s的是单数。表示“刺激（物），激励（物）；促进因素”，英文解释为“something that causes growth or activity; something that causes part of the body to react”。

1）表示“比率，比例”，英文解释为“the number, amount, or level of one thing when compared to another”举个🌰：The proportion of women to men at my college was about one to eight. 我所在大学的男女比例大约为8：1。

2）表示“部分；份额”，英文解释为“the number or amount of a group or part of something when compared to the whole”举个🌰：Children make up a large proportion of the world's population. 孩子占世界人口的很大一部分。

3）表示“（某物各个组成部分或一物与另一物之间的）相称，协调，均衡，匀称”，英文解释为“the correct or most attractive relationship between the size of different parts of the same thing or between one thing and another”举个🌰：Your legs are very much in proportion to (= the right size for) the rest of your body. 你的腿和你身体的其他部位比例非常协调。

In the nutrition category, the award went to researchers who proposed the invention of “electrified” chopsticks and drinking straws, with the potential to “change the taste of food”.

在营养学类别中，奖项颁给发明了“带电”筷子和吸管的研究者，这些工具能够“改变食物的味道”。

electrify /iˈlek.trɪ.faɪ/ 表示“使电气化”，英文解释为“to make a machine or system operate using electricity when it did not before”举个🌰：The east coast railway line has been electrified. 东海岸铁路线已经实现了电气化。

The medicine prize was scooped up by scientists who used cadavers to explore whether there are an equal number of hairs in each of a person’s two nostrils, and in the education segment, the award went to a team studying the boredom of teachers and students.

医学奖得主则是利用尸体探索人的两个鼻孔中是否有相同数量毛发的科学家，而在教育领域，奖项颁发给了研究教师和学生无聊程度的团队。

scoop /skuːp/ 1）表示“大量获得（选票或奖项）”，英文解释为“to get a large number of votes or prizes”举个🌰：The party is expected to scoop up the majority of the working-class vote. 人们预料该党将赢得工人阶级的大多数选票。

2）表示“（用勺）舀;（用铲）铲”，英文解释为“to move something with a scoop or with something used as a scoop”举个🌰：He scooped the sand into a bucket with his hands. 他用手把沙子捧进桶里。

3）表示“抢在…之前报道”，英文解释为“to be the first newspaper to discover and print an important news story”举个🌰：Just as we were about to publish the story, we were scooped by a rival paper. 正当我们打算发布这条消息时，被另一家报社抢先了一步。

4）表示“（敏捷地）抱住”，英文解释为“If you scoop a person or thing somewhere, you put your hands or arms under or around them and quickly move them there.”举个🌰：Michael knelt next to her and scooped her into his arms. 迈克尔跪在她旁边，一下子把她抱在怀里。

cadaver /kəˈdæv.ər/ 表示“尸体，死尸”，英文解释为“a dead human body”

nostril /ˈnɒs.trəl/ 表示“鼻孔”，英文解释为“either of the two openings in the nose through which air moves when you breathe”举个🌰：The horses came to a halt, steam streaming from their nostrils. 这些马停了下来，鼻孔喷着热气。

The latter study showed “the mere expectation that classes will be boring caused students to feel bored”, said sociologist Wijnand Van Tilburg from the University of Essex, who conducted the experiment.

埃塞克斯大学（University of Essex）社会学家维兰德·范·蒂尔堡（Wijnand Van Tilburg）进行了后一项研究的实验，他表示，结果表明，“仅仅是预期课堂会很无聊就会让学生感到无聊”。

Research published in the journal Advanced Science, which showed that robots made using the bodies of dead spiders could potentially help grasp objects greater than weight of the arachnids, won the mechanical engineering award.

发表在《Advanced Science》杂志上的研究表明，利用死蜘蛛制成的机器人可能有助于夹住比蜘蛛体重更大的物体，这项研究赢得了机械工程奖。

grasp /ɡrɑːsp/ 1）表示“抓紧，握紧”，英文解释为“to quickly take something in your hand(s) and hold it firmly”举个🌰：She suddenly grasped my hand. 她突然抓住了我的手。

2）表示“理解，领悟，明白（尤指费解之事）”，英文解释为“to understand something, especially something difficult”举个🌰：I think I managed to grasp the main points of the lecture. 我觉得我还是理解了演讲的要点。

The “necrobots” could open the doors to a new era of robotics, scientists said.

科学家们表示，“亡灵机器人”可能会开启机器人技术的新时代。

As was customary every year, winning teams in each category received a $10-trillion bill from Zimbabwe alongside a trophy.

按照每年的惯例，每个类别的获奖团队都能获得10万亿津巴布韦支票和奖杯。

customary相当于usual，表示“惯常的”举个🌰：She's not her customary cheerful self today. 她今天不像往常那样乐呵呵的。

📺美剧《权利的游戏》（Game of Thrones）第二季中的台词提到：It was customary for me to extend him an invitation. 邀请他前来赴宴是一种习俗。

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