How Do Animals Become Zombies?
Zombies don't just exist in science fiction movies and music videos.
They're for real and we can find them all over the animal kingdom.
It's not because animals have come back from the dead, it's because parasites have figured out how to control the behavior of their animal hosts.
For example, a parasitic fly lays eggs in a honey bee's body.
The beset bee leaves the hive one night, then crawls in zombie-like circles before dying.
The fly larvae hatch from the bee's body to seek their own victims.
Then there's the parasitic hair worm that lives inside crickets.
Crickets can't swim but the worm forces the cricket to jump into water when it's ready to emerge and start its next phase of life.
And then there's the fungus that can infect tropical tree-dwelling ants.
translation
sentence:
僵尸不仅仅存在于科幻电影和音乐视频中。
它们是真的，我们可以在动物王国里找到它们。
这并不是因为动物死而复生，而是因为寄生虫已经知道如何控制它们的动物宿主的行为。
例如，寄生蝇在蜜蜂体内产卵。
被围困的蜜蜂一天晚上离开了蜂巢，然后在死亡前像僵尸一样盘旋。
幼虫从蜜蜂的身体中孵化出来，寻找自己的受害者。
还有一种寄生在蟋蟀体内的毛虫。
蟋蟀不会游泳，但当蟋蟀准备浮出水面并开始下一阶段的生活时，这种蠕虫会迫使蟋蟀跳入水中。
还有一种真菌可以感染住在树上的热带蚂蚁。
When the ants are infected by the fungus, they crawl out to a spot on the tree where the fungus can thrive.
Then the fungus kills the ant and eats its body from the inside out, sprouting spores from the ant's head.
Other ants pick up these spores; now they're doomed as well.
So how do these dastardly parasites do it?
Scientists think these parasites can control or mimic molecules in the animals' brains that influence behavior.
And no, humans are not immune to getting "zombified" by parasites.
Researchers think the protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii, might actually change people's personalities making them more sociable but also reckless.
It's thought that the parasite alters hormone levels and boosts dopamine, making us feel good.
More than 22% of Americans might be infected with Toxoplasma gondii which we catch from house cats.
translation
sentence:
当蚂蚁被真菌感染时，它们会爬到树上真菌可以生长的地方。
然后真菌杀死蚂蚁，从内到外吃掉它的身体，从蚂蚁的头部萌发孢子。
其他蚂蚁会捡起这些孢子;现在他们也难逃厄运。
那么这些卑鄙的寄生虫是怎么做到的呢?
科学家认为这些寄生虫可以控制或模仿动物大脑中影响行为的分子。
而且，人类也不能幸免于被寄生虫“僵尸化”。
研究人员认为，原生动物弓形虫实际上可能会改变人的性格，使他们更善于交际，但也更鲁莽。
据认为，这种寄生虫会改变激素水平，增加多巴胺，让我们感觉良好。
超过22%的美国人可能感染了刚地弓形虫，这种弓形虫是我们从家猫身上感染的。
words
[
{
"name": "zombie",
"trans": [
"n. 僵尸，还魂尸；无生气的人，麻木迟钝的人；（为黑客所控用来发送垃圾邮件等非法活动的）肉机；还魂神力鸡尾酒；蛇神"
],
"usphone": "'ˈzɑːmbi'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "parasite",
"trans": [
"n. 寄生植物（或动物），寄生虫；不劳而获者，依赖他人过活者"
],
"usphone": "'ˈpærəsaɪt'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "parasitic",
"trans": [
"adj. 寄生的（等于 ******al）"
],
"usphone": "'ˌpærəˈsɪtɪk'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "beset",
"trans": [
"v. 困扰，烦扰",
"adj. 充满……的"
],
"usphone": "'bɪˈset'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "hive",
"trans": [
"n. 忙碌的场所，繁忙的地方；蜂房，蜂箱；蜂群；蜂窝状物体",
"v. （蜜蜂）入蜂箱"
],
"usphone": "'haɪv'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "crawl",
"trans": [
"v. 爬行，匍匐前进；缓慢移动，缓慢行进；挤满，爬满；谄媚奉承，卑躬屈膝",
"n. 缓慢移动，徐行；爬泳，自由泳；（海边浅滩的鱼、龟等）围养池"
],
"usphone": "'krɔːl'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "circle",
"trans": [
"n. 圆，圆形物；圈子，阶层；弧形楼座；黑眼圈；循环，周期",
"v. 盘旋，环行；围绕，圈起"
],
"usphone": "'ˈsɜːrk(ə)l'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "larvae",
"trans": [
"n. 幼虫，幼体（****a 的复数）"
],
"usphone": "'ˈlɑːrviː'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "hatch",
"trans": [
"v. 孵化，孵出；密谋，策划",
"n. （船甲板或飞机底部装货物的）舱口；（尤指厨房和餐厅之间供传递食物的）两室之间的小窗口；（飞机或宇宙飞船的）舱门；（地面或天花板的）开口"
],
"usphone": "'hætʃ'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "victim",
"trans": [
"n. 受害者，罹难者；（面对不幸事件或虐待时的）无助者，患病者；牺牲品，祭品；受骗者"
],
"usphone": "'ˈvɪktɪm'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "worm",
"trans": [
"n. 蠕虫；（某些昆虫的）幼虫；寄生虫，寄生虫病；小人物，懦夫；蠕虫病毒；蛆虫；螺纹状物，蜗杆，旋管",
"v. （给动物）驱肠虫；蠕动，曲折行进；（通常为欺骗别人或得到好处）逐渐取得（成功或好感）",
"abbr. 一次写入型光盘，单写多读型光盘（write-once read-many）"
],
"usphone": "'wɜːrm'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "cricket",
"trans": [
"n. 蟋蟀；板球（运动）"
],
"usphone": "'ˈkrɪkɪt'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "fungus",
"trans": [
"n. 真菌，真菌类植物；霉菌；（尤指鱼的）真菌感染；迅速出现的令人讨厌的东西"
],
"usphone": "'ˈfʌŋɡəs'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "dwelling",
"trans": [
"n. 住宅，住所，公寓",
"v. 居住（**** 的现在分词形式）"
],
"usphone": "'ˈdwelɪŋ'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "spot",
"trans": [
"n. 斑点；污迹；污渍；脏点",
"v. 看见；看出；注意到；发现",
"adj. 现货交易的；立即支付的"
],
"usphone": "'spɑːt'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "thrive",
"trans": [
"v. 茁壮成长，兴旺，繁荣；（尤指在别人觉得困难的时候）以……为乐，可以出色应对"
],
"usphone": "'θraɪv'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "sprout",
"trans": [
"v. （植物）发芽，抽条；（毛发等）生长，长出；涌现，突然出现；从表面凸出",
"n. 苗，新芽，嫩枝；（用作蔬菜的）豆芽，紫花苜蓿芽（sprouts）；球芽甘蓝"
],
"usphone": "'spraʊt'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "spore",
"trans": [
"n. 孢子",
"vi. 长孢子"
],
"usphone": "'spɔːr'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "pick up",
"trans": [
"v. 拾起；探出；重新开始",
"捡起；拿起；学会"
],
"usphone": "'pɪk ʌp'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "doom",
"trans": [
"n. 厄运，劫数；悲观，沮丧",
"v. 注定"
],
"usphone": "'duːm'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "dastardly",
"trans": [
"adj. 卑鄙的；懦弱的"
],
"usphone": "'ˈdæstərdli'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "mimic",
"trans": [
"v. 模仿（人的言行举止）；模拟（外观或效果）；模拟（另一种植物或动物）；（药）模拟（另一物质）的生理作用；（疾病）表现出（另一疾病）的症状",
"n. 善于模仿的人；会模拟的动物（或植物）",
"adj. 模拟的，演习的"
],
"usphone": "'ˈmɪmɪk'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "immune",
"trans": [
"adj. 免疫的；不受影响的；免除的，豁免的",
"n. 免疫者，免除者"
],
"usphone": "'ɪˈmjuːn'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "protozoan",
"trans": [
"n. 原生动物",
"adj. 原生动物的"
],
"usphone": "'ˌproʊtəˈzoʊən'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "reckless",
"trans": [
"adj. 鲁莽的，不计后果的；粗心大意的"
],
"usphone": "'ˈrekləs'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "alter",
"trans": [
"v. 改变，改动；（使）变化；改（服装）；改建（某建筑）；<美>阉割"
],
"usphone": "'ˈɔːltər'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "hormone",
"trans": [
"n. 激素，荷尔蒙；人造激素；性激素（****s）"
],
"usphone": "'ˈhɔːrmoʊn'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "dopamine",
"trans": [
"n. 多巴胺（神经细胞产生的一种作用于其他细胞的化学物质 ）"
],
"usphone": "'ˈdoʊpəmiːn'",
"ukphone": "''"
}
]