Most mammals, they have whiskers, and what's exciting

大多數哺乳動物，它們都有鬍鬚，而令人激動的是

about them is that there's so much stuff that we don't know.

關於他們，有很多東西是我們不知道的。

I like to look at something that we see every day

我喜歡看一些我們每天都能看到的東西

and then find out really cool

然後發現真的很酷

and interesting things about them.

和關於他們的有趣的事情。

Lots of people, when they hear about whiskers,

很多人，當他們聽到鬍鬚的時候。

they think immediately of cat whiskers.

他們立即想到了貓的鬍鬚。

But, actually, other animals have much better whiskers -

但是，實際上，其他動物的鬍鬚要好得多 --

they're more sensitive, they're bigger,

他們更敏感，他們更大。

they move more than cats' whiskers.

他們的動作比貓的鬍鬚還大。

Porcupine whiskers are just the longest whiskers I've seen.

豪豬的鬍鬚是我見過的最長的鬍鬚。

The one that I've got back in the lab is about 45 cm long,

我在實驗室裡拿回來的那個大約有45釐米長。

and they move them almost continually,

而且他們幾乎不斷地移動它們。

and then they kind of bump and move and vibrate

然後它們就會碰撞、移動和振動

around over the material that they're on

在他們所處的材料上轉來轉去

so you can really see that they're moving all the time.

所以你可以真正看到他們一直在移動。

Hi, gorgeous!

嗨，美女!

It's very difficult to study the evolution of whiskers

研究鬍鬚的演變是非常困難的

because hair isn't really preserved in the fossil record.

因為頭髮在化石記錄中並沒有真正保存下來。

So we have a look at this little hole here

所以我們看一下這個小孔

which is called the infraorbital foramen,

這被稱為眶下孔。

or whisker holes.

或鬍鬚孔。

And all the information from the whiskers,

還有來自鬍鬚的所有資訊。

from those sensitive follicles,

從這些敏感的毛囊中。

travel through that hole and into the brain.

通過該孔並進入大腦。

Humans are really quite unusual to not have whiskers.

人類沒有鬍鬚真的很不尋常。

But we do still have these whisker holes

但我們確實仍有這些鬍鬚孔

where our whiskers would have been

我們的鬍鬚會在哪裡

and, also, we even have some remnants of muscles,

而且，我們甚至還有一些殘存的肌肉。

similar to what we see in animals with whiskers.

類似於我們在有鬍鬚的動物身上看到的情況。

Whiskers are very much like human fingertips.

鬍鬚非常像人類的指尖。

Lots of animals can move their whiskers

很多動物可以移動它們的鬍鬚

and then some animals engage in what is called whisking.

然後一些動物進行所謂的拂拭。

So this is cyclic forward and backward movements

所以這是循環的前進和後退的運動

that the animals make with their whiskers.

動物們用它們的鬍鬚做的。

And we might think of this as scanning.

而我們可能認為這就是掃描。

So, when we walk into a room,

所以，當我們走進一個房間的時候。

we might be looking around everywhere,

我們可能會到處尋找。

trying to see all around us,

試圖看到我們周圍的一切。

and that's what these guys are doing.

而這正是這些人正在做的事情。

And the fastest whisking that I've seen

還有我見過的最快的打蛋器

has been in harvest mice,

已經在收穫小鼠。

which reach up to about 25 times per second,

其中達到每秒約25次。

which are some of the fastest movements

哪些是一些最快的運動

that mammals can make.

哺乳動物可以做的。

The most sensitive whiskers are in aquatic mammals.

最敏感的鬍鬚是在水生哺乳動物身上。

Lots of seals will have kind of just under 2,000 nerve fibres

很多海豹會有一種僅僅低於2,000的神經纖維。

surrounding all of those whiskers in the follicle

圍繞在毛囊中的所有這些鬍鬚

and their whiskers are so sensitive

他們的鬍鬚是如此敏感

they can do this amazing thing

他們可以做這個驚人的事情

which is called hydrodynamic sensing.

這被稱為流體力學感應。

So, as a fish swims through the water, it leaves behind a wake,

是以，當一條魚在水中游動時，它留下了一個尾巴。

a trail of water movement,

一個水運動的痕跡。

and the seals are able to detect this.

而密封件能夠檢測到這一點。

And they use only their whiskers for this.

而且他們只用自己的鬍鬚來做這件事。

These are porcupine whiskers

這些是豪豬的鬍鬚

and you can see

而且你可以看到

that they're arranged into a grid, or whisker map.

它們被排列成一個網格，或晶須圖。

So you have rows and columns of whiskers.

所以你有行和列的晶須。

So they're very ordered.

所以他們非常有秩序。

The same grid-like pattern can be seen

可以看到同樣的網格狀圖案

in physical structures through the brain,

在通過大腦的物理結構。

and now neuroscientists love this because it means

而現在神經科學家們喜歡這個，因為這意味著

they can actually tweak one whisker here,

他們實際上可以在這裡調整一個鬍鬚。

so a middle whisker, and they can follow it

是以，一箇中間的鬍鬚，他們可以遵循它

through the entire brain

通過整個大腦

to see where that sensory signal goes,

來看這個感覺信號的去向。

and each physical structure will light up in turn.

而每個物理結構將依次亮起。

In many animals,

在許多動物中。

whiskers are their primary and most important sense.

鬍鬚是它們最主要和最重要的感覺。

So it's very, very important not to trim them.

是以，不修剪它們是非常、非常重要的。

It wouldn't hurt them,

這不會傷害他們。

but they'll suddenly remove a sense.

但他們會突然刪除一種感覺。

So it would be like if you blindfolded us

所以這就像你把我們的眼睛蒙上一樣

and then put us in a room,

然後把我們放在一個房間裡。

and so we've got to feel around to work out where we are,

是以，我們必須四處摸索，找出我們的位置。

and that is what these animals are doing all the time.

而這正是這些動物一直在做的事情。

We can see that, when we look at rats and mice,

我們可以看到，當我們看大鼠和小鼠的時候。

that some of them will actually

他們中的一些人實際上會

engage in a behaviour called barbering.

從事一種叫做理髮的行為。

So this is when you have

是以，這時你有

a dominant individual that will trim the whiskers,

一個會修剪鬍鬚的主導個體。

so bite off the whiskers of their family

咬斷他們家的鬍鬚

or other people that live in their box.

或其他住在他們盒子裡的人。

And so, when they do that,

是以，當他們這樣做的時候。

those individuals will become more submissive.

這些人將變得更加順從。

So it establishes this hierarchy within the cage.

所以它在籠子裡建立了這種等級制度。

Whiskers can inspire lots of new technology and innovations.

鬍子可以激發很多新技術和創新。

Firstly, we can have a look at their shape.

首先，我們可以看一下它們的形狀。

So the undulations of seal whiskers has inspired,

是以，海豹鬍鬚的起伏有了靈感。

for instance, turbine blades.

例如，渦輪機葉片。

So turbine blades can be extra-aerodynamic

所以渦輪機葉片可以是額外的空氣動力學的

because they have these amazing

因為他們有這些驚人的

undulations or waves along them.

沿著它們的起伏或波浪。

These could also be applied to tidal energy, as well.

這些也可以適用於潮汐能源。

Then you have the fact that they are sensors.

然後你有一個事實，即它們是傳感器。

You can put these sensors onto robots.

你可以把這些傳感器放到機器人上。

So, then, you can have tactile robots or whisker bots.

是以，那麼，你可以有觸覺機器人或鬍鬚機器人。

And these could be really useful

而這些可能真的很有用

for something even like a robot hoover.

甚至像機器人吸塵器一樣的東西。

But also to make sure that robots can go

但也要確保機器人可以去

into hazardous, dark or complex environments.

進入危險、黑暗或複雜的環境。

These are the environments we need our robots to go into.

這些是我們需要我們的機器人進入的環境。

So people don't really think about whiskers at all.

是以，人們根本沒有真正考慮過鬍鬚的問題。

You probably go home and look at your cat

你可能會回家，看著你的貓

or your gerbil or your rabbit and you think, "Oh, yeah,

或你的沙鼠或兔子，你想，"哦，是的。

"they're fluffy and have whiskers."

"他們是毛茸茸的，有鬍鬚。"

But, actually, what we're doing is trying to understand,

但是，實際上，我們正在做的是試圖瞭解。

"Well, how do they work, and how sensitive are they,

"嗯，他們是如何工作的，他們有多敏感。

"and what do they use them for?"

"那他們用這些東西做什麼？"

And I think that that's super interesting to find out.

我認為這是一個超級有趣的發現。