2024 年搞笑諾貝爾獎：「神風」鴿子、逆流而上的死魚等等

本週榮獲搞笑諾貝爾獎的一系列奇異研究包括一項訓練鴿子駕駛炸彈的實驗和另一項解釋死魚如何逆流而上的實驗。

The Ig Nobel prizes, awarded this week, celebrate bizarre research that sparks an interest in science. Here are some highlights.

本週頒發的搞笑諾貝爾獎旨在表彰激發人們對科學興趣的奇異研究。以下是一些亮點。

An experiment that trained pigeons to pilot bombs and another that explained how dead fish can swim upstream are among a slew of bizarre research that was awarded Ig Nobel prizes this week.

本週榮獲搞笑諾貝爾獎的一系列奇異研究包括一項訓練鴿子駕駛炸彈的實驗和另一項解釋死魚如何逆流而上的實驗。

Organised by the magazine Annals of Improbable Research, the annual prize ceremony held at Harvard University celebrates hilarious research that spurs interest in science. And the awards are presented by genuine Nobel laureates.

由《不可思議的研究年鑑》雜誌主辦的哈佛大學年度頒獎典禮旨在慶祝激發人們對科學興趣的搞笑研究。這些獎項是由真正的諾貝爾獎得主頒發的。

Among the other eight winners was a team that showed how the hair on your head swirls in a different direction depending on whether you live in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere.

其他八名獲勝者中的一個團隊展示了你頭上的頭髮如何根據你生活在北半球還是南半球而向不同方向旋轉。

A study showing how painful side-effects can make fake medicine more effective, and another revealing a flipped coin is more likely to land on the same side it started on, also got a gong.

一項研究表明，痛苦的副作用如何使假藥更有效，另一項研究表明，翻轉的硬幣更有可能落在它開始的同一面，也獲得了好評。

As did scientists who popped paper bags next to a cat standing on a cow, and those who revealed how mammals can breathe through their anus — in an emergency.

科學家將紙袋放在站在牛身上的貓旁邊，以及揭示哺乳動物如何在緊急情況下透過肛門呼吸的科學家也是如此。

'Kamikaze' pigeons

「神風」鴿子

The psychologist and inventor BF Skinner is best known for his theory of "operant conditioning", that says you can use rewards to teach behaviour.

心理學家和發明家 BF Skinner 以其「操作性條件反射」理論而聞名，該理論認為可以使用獎勵來教導行為。

It's an idea he put into practice in the 1940s, when he trained pigeons to guide bombs to their target.

他在 20 世紀 40 年代將這個想法付諸實踐，當時他訓練鴿子引導炸彈飛向目標。

Dr Skinner obtained pigeons for his experiments from racing fanciers and a farmer.

史金納博士從賽鴿愛好者和農民那裡獲得了用於實驗的鴿子。

(Getty Images: Bettmann/Contributor)

（蓋蒂圖片社：貝特曼/貢獻者）

One of Dr Skinner's daughters, Julie Vargas, a behaviour analyst herself, explained:

史金納博士的女兒朱莉·瓦爾加斯（Julie Vargas）本人也是一名行為分析師，她解釋道：

"During World War II, my father wanted to help the war effort.

「第二次世界大戰期間，我父親想為戰爭提供幫助。

"Pilots were having a hard time hitting enemy ships. They had to get so low to hit the target properly they often lost their lives."

“飛行員很難擊中敵艦。他們必須飛得很低才能正確擊中目標，因此常常喪生。”

Enter the top-secret Project Pigeon.

輸入絕密的鴿子計劃。

While pondering missile guidance systems, Dr Skinner became inspired by the deft manoeuvring of birds in the sky. 

在思考飛彈導引系統時，史金納博士受到天空中鳥類靈巧機動的啟發。

He thought they could be used to pilot bombs and initially tried training crows, "but they were too aggressive", Dr Vargas said. 

瓦爾加斯博士說，他認為它們可以用來駕駛炸彈，並最初嘗試訓練烏鴉，「但它們太具有攻擊性」。

So Dr Skinner decided to train a set of "kamikaze" pigeons, and built a contraption that fitted on the front of a missile to accommodate avian pilots.

因此，史金納博士決定訓練一組「神風特攻隊」鴿子，並建造了一個裝置，安裝在飛彈的前部，以容納鳥類飛行員。

He then used movies to train each pigeon to steer a missile towards a ship. The bird had to peck repeatedly on the image of a ship as it got bigger in the screen (as it would in real life as the bomb fell through the air) to be rewarded with food.

然後，他用電影訓練每隻鴿子引導導彈飛向一艘船。當螢幕上的船變大時，這隻鳥必須反覆啄食船隻的圖像（就像現實生活中炸彈從空中落下時一樣）才能獲得食物獎勵。

Despite initial scepticism, Dr Skinner got several grants for his feasibility study.

儘管最初持懷疑態度，史金納博士的可行性研究還是獲得了幾筆資助。

Although electronic guidance systems won out in the end, the same kind of methods have been used to train birds to identify survivors at sea, Dr Vargas said.

瓦爾加斯博士說，儘管電子導引系統最終獲勝，但同樣的方法也被用來訓練鳥類識別海上倖存者。

Dr Skinner's work was eventually declassified and described in a 1960 issue of American Psychologist where he wrote:

史金納博士的工作最終被解密，並在 1960 年出版的《美國心理學家》中進行了描述，他寫道：

The ethical question of our right to convert a lower creature into an unwitting hero is a peacetime luxury.

我們有權將低等生物轉變為不知情的英雄，這道德問題是和平時期的奢侈。

In recognition, his work was awarded the 2024 Ig Nobel Prize for Peace.

為了表彰他的作品，他被授予 2024 年搞笑諾貝爾和平獎。

How dead trout 'swim'

死鱒魚是如何「游泳」的

As a child, James Liao, a biologist at the University of Florida, used to ponder why some fish love swimming behind rocks in a stream.

佛羅裡達大學的生物學家詹姆斯·廖（James Liao）小時候經常思考為什麼有些魚喜歡在溪流中的岩石後面游泳。

Fast forward to the 21st century and he found himself defrosting a dead trout to find out.

快進到 21 世紀，他發現自己正在解凍一條死鱒魚來找出答案。

This was part of an experiment where he first analysed the behaviour of live rainbow trout in a tank full of flowing water. To simulate a rock in a stream, he placed a cylinder in the tank upstream from the fish.

這是實驗的一部分，他首先分析了活虹鱒魚在裝滿流動水的水箱中的行為。為了模擬溪流中的岩石，他在魚的上游放置了一個圓柱體。

The trout swam forward but appeared to have a ultra-relaxed and passive swimming style.

鱒魚向前遊動，但遊動方式卻顯得極為放鬆和被動。

"It was this weird sashaying movement that looked like a flag flapping in the wind," Professor Liao said.

「這種奇怪的搖晃動作看起來就像一面旗幟在風中飄揚，」廖教授說。

He had a hunch that it would be useful to look at what happened when he tied a dead trout downstream from the cylinder instead.

他有預感，如果他把一條死鱒魚綁在圓筒下游，看看會發生什麼，這會很有用。

Lo and behold, the deceased fish also "swam" forward against the flow.

瞧，死去的魚也逆水流「遊」了過去。

The dead fish looked just like the live fish swimming, Professor Liao said: "They were almost indistinguishable." 

死魚看起來就像遊動的活魚，廖教授說：“它們幾乎無法區分。”

His analysis showed that the energy for the movement of the fish — dead or alive — came from swirling eddies created by the presence of the cylinder.

他的分析表明，魚的運​​動能量（無論是死的還是活的）都來自於圓柱體的存在所產生的漩渦。

As the eddies hit the body of the fish first this way then that, the animal moved forward against the flow without having to use its muscles.

當漩渦先這樣衝擊魚的身體，然後再那樣衝擊魚的身體時，魚就可以逆著水流向前移動，而無需使用其肌肉。

Professor Liao likened the movement to surfing instead of swimming, or changing the angle of a sail to catch the wind and tack across a bay in a boat.

廖教授將這項運動比喻為衝浪而不是游泳，或改變船帆的角度以乘風而行，乘船駛過海灣。

It means fish use the energy of water swirling behind rocks to swim upstream, and is what helps migratory species such as salmon cover long distances up rivers and streams, Professor Liao said.

廖教授說，這意味著魚類利用岩石後面旋轉的水的能量向上游遊動，這有助於鮭魚等遷徙物種沿著河流和溪流長途跋涉。

Professor Liao was awarded the 2024 Ig Nobel Prize for Physics.

廖教授榮獲2024年搞笑諾貝爾物理學獎。

Hair in the hemispheres

半球的頭髮

There's been a lot of debate over the decades whether water spirals down the plug hole one way in the

幾十年來，人們一直在爭論水是否以一種方式沿著塞孔螺旋流下。