可以捕捉苍蝇的植物
刘立军 供稿
TRANSCRIPT
They say you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. But what if you had access to a remote-controlled carnivorous plant? Because researchers have engineered a bio-inspired system, an artificial neuron, if you will, that can trigger the snap of a Venus fly trap.
Hi, my name is Simone Fabiano. I’m associate professor at Linkoping University in Sweden.
Fabiano designed the trap-springing device using nerve cells as a kind of bio-based blueprint.
“The way our biological neurons work is that they integrate information from different input over time, perform computation, and communicate the results to other neurons by means of voltage pulses.”
Now, standard, silicon-based systems can also deliver electrical pulses. But if you want to couple them with something living to produce bionic prosthetics or engineer any kind of brain/machine interface. Well, they suffer from several limitations.
“Such as rigidity, poor biocompatibility, complex circuit structures, and operation mechanisms that are fundamentally different from those of biological systems.”
To smooth biological integration, Fabiano built his system from polymers that conduct both electrons, like, everyday electronics, and ions, which is how neurons get things done.
It’s the ions that “enable communication between biological and artificial neurons.”
Each part of the artificial neuron, which the researchers describe in the journal Nature, has a direct counterpart in its biological role model.
“We have an input terminal that acts as the biological neuron’s dendrite.”
That dendrite collects the incoming electrical signals and sends them to a capacitor which, like a neuronal cell body, integrates the information. Then, once the voltage reaches a specific threshold, a pulse is fired along organic amplifiers that mimic a nerve cell axon.
“We use the ionic concentration-dependent switching characteristics of our transistors to modulate the frequency of spiking, which is to a large extent analogous to biological systems.”
So the ions control the current that flows from the faux neuron to its target, in this case, a live Venus fly trap, triggering the rapid-fire closure of its leafy appendages.
All in all, a dramatic demonstration of the potential of neuromorphic design that should give interested engineers, and interloping fruit flies, something to watch out for.
VOCABULARY
1. snap n. a sudden sharp noise, especially one made by sth. closing or breaking （尤指关上或断裂的声音）啪嗒声，咔嚓声
2. interface n. 界面
3. rigidity n. 硬度
4. dendrite n. 树突
5. threshold n. the level at which sth. starts to happen or have an effect 阈；界；起始点
6. transistor n. 晶体管
7. analogous adj. 相似的；类似的
8. closure n. 关闭
9. watch out for: to make an effort to be aware of what is happening, so that you will notice if anything bad or unusual happens 密切注意；留意。例如：The cashiers were asked to watch out for forged banknotes. 出纳员接到要求，要注意伪钞。
QUESTIONS
Read the passage. Then listen to the news and fill in the blanks with the information (words, phrases or sentences) you hear.
They say you can (Q1) _________________________. But what if you had access to a remote-controlled carnivorous plant? Because researchers have engineered a bio-inspired system, an artificial neuron, if you will, that can trigger the snap of a Venus fly trap.
Hi, my name is Simone Fabiano. I’m associate professor at Linkoping University in Sweden.
Fabiano designed the trap-springing device using (Q2) ____________ as a kind of bio-based blueprint.
“The way our biological neurons work is that they integrate information from different input over time, perform computation, and communicate the results to other neurons by means of (Q3) _____________.”
Now, standard, silicon-based systems can also deliver (Q4) __________________. But if you want to couple them with something living to produce bionic prosthetics or engineer any kind of brain/machine interface. Well, they suffer from several limitations.
“Such as rigidity, poor biocompatibility, complex circuit structures, and operation mechanisms that are fundamentally different from those of biological systems.”
To smooth biological integration, Fabiano built his system from polymers that conduct both electrons, like, everyday electronics, and ions, which is how neurons get things done.
It’s the (Q5) ____________ that enable communication between biological and artificial neurons.
Each part of the (Q6) _____________ neuron, which the researchers describe in the journal Nature, has a direct counterpart in its biological role model.
“We have an input terminal that acts as the biological neuron’s dendrite.”
That dendrite collects the incoming electrical signals and sends them to a (Q7) ____________ which, like a neuronal cell body, integrates the information. Then, once the voltage reaches a specific threshold, a pulse is fired along organic amplifiers that mimic a nerve cell axon.
“We use the ionic concentration-dependent switching characteristics of our transistors to modulate the frequency of (Q8) ___________, which is to a large extent analogous to biological systems.”
So the ions control the (Q9) __________ that flows from the faux neuron to its target, in this case, a live Venus fly trap, triggering the rapid-fire closure of its leafy appendages.
All in all, a dramatic demonstration of the potential of neuromorphic design that should give interested engineers, and interloping fruit flies, something to (Q10) ___________________.
KEY
Read the passage. Then listen to the news and fill in the blanks with the information (words, phrases or sentences) you hear.
They say you can (Q1) catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. But what if you had access to a remote-controlled carnivorous plant? Because researchers have engineered a bio-inspired system, an artificial neuron, if you will, that can trigger the snap of a Venus fly trap.
Hi, my name is Simone Fabiano. I’m associate professor at Linkoping University in Sweden.
Fabiano designed the trap-springing device using (Q2) nerve cells as a kind of bio-based blueprint.
“The way our biological neurons work is that they integrate information from different input over time, perform computation, and communicate the results to other neurons by means of (Q3) voltage pulses.”
Now, standard, silicon-based systems can also deliver (Q4) electrical pulses. But if you want to couple them with something living to produce bionic prosthetics or engineer any kind of brain/machine interface. Well, they suffer from several limitations.
“Such as rigidity, poor biocompatibility, complex circuit structures, and operation mechanisms that are fundamentally different from those of biological systems.”
To smooth biological integration, Fabiano built his system from polymers that conduct both electrons, like, everyday electronics, and ions, which is how neurons get things done.
It’s the (Q5) ions that enable communication between biological and artificial neurons.
Each part of the (Q6) artificial neuron, which the researchers describe in the journal Nature, has a direct counterpart in its biological role model.
“We have an input terminal that acts as the biological neuron’s dendrite.”
That dendrite collects the incoming electrical signals and sends them to a (Q7) capacitor which, like a neuronal cell body, integrates the information. Then, once the voltage reaches a specific threshold, a pulse is fired along organic amplifiers that mimic a nerve cell axon.
“We use the ionic concentration-dependent switching characteristics of our transistors to modulate the frequency of (Q8) spiking, which is to a large extent analogous to biological systems.”
So the ions control the (Q9) current that flows from the faux neuron to its target, in this case, a live Venus fly trap, triggering the rapid-fire closure of its leafy appendages.
All in all, a dramatic demonstration of the potential of neuromorphic design that should give interested engineers, and interloping fruit flies, something to (Q10) watch out for.
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