Essay Reading 76

Find a tiny life partner

Think of the weirdest creatures you’ve even seen in a sci-fi film.

想一想你在科幻电影中见到的最奇怪的生物。

Now think of this: there are far stranger, albeit(虽然) smaller, critters（生物） living in your own home.

现在想这些：有虽然小但很奇怪的小生物住在你家。

And Rob Dunn at North Carolina State University wants you to go on safari（游猎） to find them.

北卡罗莱纳州立大学的罗布·邓恩想让你去狩猎旅行找到它们。

Research has been done on the diversity of bacteria, fungi and other organisms that live on our skin, in our guts（内脏）, even in our belly buttons（肚脐）.

研究人员已经对生活在我们皮肤、内脏甚至肚脐上的细菌、真菌和其他生物体的多样性进行了研究。

But there are other entire ecosystems that surround us.

但在我们周围还有其他完整的生态系统。

And scientists want to understand how they differ based on how and where we live.

科学家们想知道它们是如何因我们的生活方式和生活地点而不同的。

What’s the tiny life like on a door frame in Brooklyn compared with that in Des Moines?

和得梅因相比，布鲁克林门框上的小生活是什么样的?

Or how do fridge microbes（细菌） of an urban singleton(独居) stack up with those of a suburban family?

或者冰箱里的城市单菌和郊区家庭的细菌是如何堆积起来的?

The research team seeks ten volunteers from each state, five urban and five rural.

研究小组从每个州分别招募了10名志愿者，5名来自城市，5名来自农村。

Each volunteer will get a kit of v ials（小瓶子） and swabs（药签）, along with instructions about where and how to swipe—such as door frames, couch cushions, refrigerators, even yourself.

每位志愿者将获得一套小瓶和棉签，以及在哪里和如何滑动的说明——比如门框、沙发垫、冰箱，甚至是自己。

The samples will be analyzed, to uncover the secrets of our microscopic companions.

这些样本将被分析，以揭开我们的微观同伴的秘密。

文章来源：金山词霸

图片来源：Pexels