What's the coolest thing you've ever seen outside after dark?

最酷的是什麼你見過天黑後外面的景象嗎？

Maybe it was fireworks or a full moon.

也許是煙花，也許是滿月。

These people are getting ready to watch something you can only see when it's dark.

這些人正準備觀看你只能在黑暗中才能看到。

If you can, you might wanna pause the video now and turn the lights off to watch too.

如果可以，您可以暫停觀看視頻並關燈觀看。

Check it out.

來看看

Someone named Siddharth has a question about what's making these flashing lights.

一位名叫 Siddharth 的人提出了一個問題是什麼在閃爍？

Let's call Siddharth now.

我們現在給西達斯打電話吧（電話鈴聲）

Hi Siddharth.

嗨，西達斯

I have a question for you, why do fireflies glow?

- 我有個問題要問你、螢火蟲為什麼會發光？

Great question.

- 問得好

Did you guess that those lights were fireflies? Or you might call them lightning bugs.

你猜那些燈是螢火蟲嗎？或者你可以叫它們閃電蟲？

Maybe you've even seen some in person.

也許你還親眼見過一些。

When I'm camping, I've watched them in fields near my tent.

露營時我在帳篷附近的田野裡看到過它們。

Even though they're called fireflies and lightning bugs, this isn't light from fire or lightning, it's not from light bulbs either.

儘管它們被稱為螢火蟲和閃電蟲、這不是火光或閃電、 也不是燈泡造成的。

This is light you can catch.

這是你能捕捉到的光。

Up close, you can see that this is an insect.

近距離觀察，你會發現這是一隻昆蟲。

Do you notice how these parts look different?

你注意到這些部分看起來有什麼不同嗎？

Light can shine through them, like this.

光線可以穿過它們，就像這樣。

The light shining through is actually made inside the firefly's body.

照射進來的光線實際上是由在螢火蟲的體內。

Different chemicals in its body combine to make light.

它體內的不同化學物質結合在一起產生光。

Scientists have been able to create similar chemicals.

科學家們已經能夠製造出類似的化學物質。

Watch what happens when they mix two.

看看兩者混合後會發生什麼。

Whoa.

哇，你看到的每一束光都是一隻螢火蟲結合體內的化學物質。

So each light you see here is a firefly combining chemicals in its body.

How amazing is that?

這有多神奇？

You may have noticed that fireflies don't stay lit up.

您可能已經注意到，螢火蟲不會一直亮著。

Instead, they flash their lights on and off.

相反，他們的車燈時亮時滅。

But what's all this flashing about?

但這些閃光是怎麼回事呢？

I'm curious, what do you think?

我很好奇，你怎麼看？

What are fireflies doing when they flash their lights?

螢火蟲閃光時在做什麼？

Now it'd be a good time to pause the video and discuss.

現在是暫停視頻並進行討論的好時機。

Okay, you ready?

好了，準備好了嗎？

This is a question scientists are curious about too, and it's a hard one to answer.

這也是科學家們好奇的問題、這個問題很難回答。

Fireflies don't think and act the way people do, and we can't really think like fireflies.

螢火蟲不會像人類那樣思考和行動、我們不能像螢火蟲一樣思考。

That's why scientists start with what they can see and measure, their observations, to better understand what fireflies might be doing.

這就是為什麼科學家們開始他們能看到和測量到的東西、 他們的觀察，以更好地瞭解 螢火蟲可能在做什麼

When you watch a group of fireflies, their flashes can seem random, it's hard to keep track.

當你看到一群螢火蟲時、它們的閃光似乎是隨機的、 很難跟蹤。

But what if you focus on one firefly?

但如果你只關注一隻螢火蟲呢？

You can see where it flies and when it flashes.

你可以看到它飛到哪裡，什麼時候閃。

Now, it's difficult to film fireflies in the dark, so we're gonna have to switch to a drawing.

現在，很難在黑暗中拍攝螢火蟲了、所以我們得改用畫圖。

But what you'll see next is based on real observations of some fireflies.

但接下來你會看到是基於對一些螢火蟲的真實觀察。

Okay, here's our firefly.

這就是我們的螢火蟲

Watch how it flashes every few seconds as it flies along.

看它如何每隔幾秒閃爍一次當它飛馳的時候。

Our firefly keeps circling back to one area.

我們的螢火蟲一直在一個區域盤旋。

And look, did you see the flash below?

看，你看到下面的閃光了嗎？

There's another firefly down on the grass.

草地上還有一隻螢火蟲。

Our firefly keeps flashing, and now the other firefly has started to flash too.

我們的螢火蟲一直在閃爍、現在另一隻螢火蟲也開始閃光了。

They keep flashing back and forth.

它們不停地來回閃爍。

Then, something new happens.

然後，新的事情發生了。

Our firefly flies down and lands next to the one in the grass.

我們的螢火蟲飛下來落在草地上的那隻旁邊。

This is something scientists have observed many times.

這是科學家們多次觀察到的現象。

A firefly flashes as it flies around, another flashes back.

一隻螢火蟲飛來飛去，閃閃發光、又一次閃回。

They flash back and forth, then the two meet up.

它們來回閃爍、然後兩人相遇。

Maybe you guessed earlier that flashing helps fireflies find each other in the dark.

也許你早猜到了閃光能幫助螢火蟲在黑暗中找到彼此。

And you're right, that seems to be one reason why fireflies flash.

你說得對，這似乎是一個原因為什麼螢火蟲會閃光？

Through their observations, scientists have also learned that the ones flashing as they fly are usually boys.

通過他們的觀察、科學家們還了解到 飛行時閃光的通常是男孩。

Another word for them is males.

他們的另一個詞是男性。

The ones flashing back from the grass are usually females or girl fireflies.

從草叢中閃回來的通常是雌性或少女螢火蟲。

It's like the males are flashing, "Hey, check me out," and the female flashes back.

就像雄性在閃光、"嘿，看看我" 而女性則閃回。

It's like she's answering, "I see you, come over here."

她好像在回答、"我看到你了，快過來"

A firefly's flash is a way to send a message, scientists call that "a signal".

螢火蟲的閃光是一種傳遞信息的方式、科學家稱之為 "信號"。

By observing many different fireflies, scientists noticed a curious thing about these signals.

通過觀察多種不同的螢火蟲。科學家們注意到了這些信號的一個奇怪之處。

Some male fireflies make a short flash every few seconds.

一些雄性螢火蟲每隔幾秒鐘就會發出短暫的閃光。

Other males fly upwards as they flash, making soups of light.

其他雄鳥一邊閃光一邊向上飛、製作光湯。

And remember those people we saw, they're watching males that match up their flashes so they can look like ripples of light.

記住我們看到的那些人、他們在觀察與他們的閃光相匹配的男性 這樣它們看起來就像光的漣漪。

Wow.

哇，科學家們現在認為不同種類的螢火蟲 有自己獨特的閃光信號 有 2000 多種不同的螢火蟲。

Scientists now think that different kinds of fireflies have their own unique flash signals and there are over 2000 different kinds of fireflies.

That's a lot of signals.

信號太多了

By flashing their unique signal, males can show, "Hey, I'm this kind of firefly," and females of the same kind can recognize that signal.

通過閃爍獨特的信號，雄性可以顯示出自己的實力、"嘿，我就是這種螢火蟲" 同類的雌性也能識別這種信號。

They flashback just at the right time to answer, "I'm the same kind of firefly too, come over."

他們閃回的時間恰好是回答問題的時間、"我也是這樣的螢火蟲，過來吧"

You can learn to recognize firefly signals too.

您也可以學習識別螢火蟲的信號。

There are flash charts like this that show the timing of different signals, and scientists continue to discover new flash signals as well as other ways that fireflies use their glow.

有這樣的閃光圖表顯示不同信號的時間、 科學家們不斷髮現新的閃光信號 以及螢火蟲利用其光芒的其他方式。

They've even found that some kinds of fireflies are flash fakers.

他們甚至發現某些種類的螢火蟲會偽造閃光。

In addition to their own signals, they sometimes copy the signals of other fireflies, that's wild.

除了自己的信號之外、他們有時會抄襲 其他螢火蟲的信號，這太瘋狂了。

So in summary, fireflies can make their own light by combining chemicals inside their body.

總之，螢火蟲可以自己發光通過結合體內的化學物質。

Even though their flashes might seem random to us, they're actually signals that help fireflies of the same kind recognize each other and meet up.

儘管在我們看來，它們的閃光可能是隨機的、它們實際上是信號 幫助同類螢火蟲 互相認識並見面。

That's all for this week's question, thanks Siddharth for asking.

本週問題到此結束、謝謝 Siddharth 的詢問。

Now for the next episode, we reached into our question jar and picked out three questions sent into us that we're thinking about answering next.

現在開始下一集、我們把手伸進了我們的問題罐 並挑選出三個問題發送給我們 我們正在考慮下一個問題。

When the video's done playing, you'll get to vote on one.

視頻播放完畢後你們將投票選出一個。

You can choose from, "Who invented erasers?"

你可以選擇 "誰發明了橡皮擦？"

"How do you fix a broken heart?"

"如何修復破碎的心？"

"Why is ocean water cold?"

"海水為什麼是冷的？"

So submit your vote when the video is over, we wanna hear from all of you watching.

請在視頻結束後提交您的投票、我們想聽聽你們的意見。

There are mysteries all around us, stay curious, and see you next week.

我們周圍充滿了神祕、保持好奇心，下週見。