Today I'm gonna answer some questions about what my favorite things are,

今天我會回答一些有關我最喜歡的東西的問題

because in Ask Emily episodes you ask me a lot of what my favorites are and I didn't know.

因為在「艾蜜莉問答」裡你們問了我很多有關我喜歡的東西可是我不知道

But now I do.

現在我知道了

When I visited the paleobotanical collection, the collection's manager, Ian Glasspool, showed me a vial of ash,

Erin，@familiarwldrnss 問： 你個人覺得最寶貴的博物館收藏是什麼？

which happened to be the first known evidence of a fire ever burning on the planet—

當我參觀古植物學收藏時，收藏管理員伊恩·格拉斯普給我看了一小瓶灰燼，

meaning that some 419 million years ago, when photosynthetic bacteria was forming into a kind of fungus,

這些灰正好是火在這個星球上第一次燃燒的證據——

it caught on fire and we have the physical evidence of that event happening.

這表示說大約在4.19億年前，當光合細菌形成某種真菌，

The idea that we can trace such a significant event back to the physical evidence of its happening

然後它著火了，而我們有這件事發生的實物證據。

opened up my mind to the possibility that we can potentially answer any question conceivable of mankind.

我們可以追踪像這樣重要事件到它實際發生的實物證據的想法

Sauropods! Especially Amphicoelias, which was an enormous dinosaur

讓我覺得我們有可能回答人類所有可以想像的任何問題

only known from a handful of fossils that were found and described in the 1870s before being accidentally misplaced.

thundertwig 問： 你最喜歡的恐龍是什麼？

If this animal were to have existed, it could have been up to 60 meters, or 200 feet, long,

蜥腳類(Sauropods)！尤其是雙腔龍(Amphicoelias)，一種巨大的恐龍

which seems a little ridiculous that we wouldn't be able to find more evidence of it

我們只從少數在1970年代發現的化石中描述過這種恐龍，接著不小心的被遺失了。

considering it was about the length of five and a half school buses put together end-to-end.

如果這種動物真的存在過，它可以高達60公尺或是200英尺長，

Somebody just turned the lights off.

這似乎有點可笑說我們找不到更多的證據

It's hard to beat insect adaptations—like how the bombardier beetle can fire out a cocktail of catalytic compounds in defense against predators.

因為它的長度跟5.5輛校車放在一起一樣長

This vaporic acid comes spewing out of its rear end at about 100°C, or 212°F.

有人把燈關掉了

Take that.

Tobias Würzburger，@CrimsonWizard 問： 你有最喜歡的一種動物大絕招嗎？

I really enjoyed painting class with Mr. Gulbransen because he let me set up an easel in the back of the classroom

很難有比昆蟲適應能力還要厲害的——像是放屁蟲(bombardier beetle)可以射出多種催化化合物來防禦掠食者。

and would tell me stories about how after college he lived in a tipi in Wyoming with his girlfriend.

這種從它尾端射出蒸氣般的酸液可以達到約100℃，或是212°F。

He also helped me get a bunch of scholarships to go to school and had a huge positive impact on my life.

接招吧

So thanks, Mr. G.

kimchi-kimi 問： 你在高中時最喜歡的課是什麼？

I really enjoyed visiting the International Museum of Surgical Science here in Chicago. In addition to having a rare working iron lung on display,

我真的很喜歡哥佈蘭森老師的繪畫課，因為他讓我在教室的後面架了一個畫架，

they also have 20th century recreation of an apothecary shop, and surgically removed kidney stones the size of your fist.

還會跟我說他大學畢業後，他跟他女朋友在懷俄明州，住在一頂印第安帳篷的故事。

I could say it's access to amazing cultural and scientific institutions,

他還幫我弄了一堆獎學金上學，還對我的生活產生巨大的正面影響。

but really it's grocery stores and their diverse selection and arcade bars where I can attempt to overcome my insatiable desire for pinball.

所以說謝啦，哥老師。

That would have to be around 4.4 million years ago when early hominids stood upright and became bipedal.

lecieltumultueux 問： 有哪些博物館是你最喜歡參觀或拜訪的呢？

And whether that was for freeing our arms for food- and baby-carrying purposes, wading through marshy bogs,

我很喜歡參觀芝加哥的國際外科醫學博物館(International Museum of Surgical Science)。他們除了有展示一個非常難得還會動的鐵肺，

or in order to cross large distances more efficiently, perhaps it was for dancing,

他們還有一間20世紀重建的藥劑師店和手術切除、跟你的拳頭一樣大的腎結石。

or the romantic notion that we wanted to walk hand-in-hand with our brethren.

thatbelle 問： 除了博物館之外，你到目前為止還最喜歡芝加哥的什麼？

For whatever reason, it was a good thing we did, because now we can do so much more.

我會說可以獲得令人讚嘆的文化和科學機構

Bacon.

但說真的是它的有超多重選擇的雜貨店，還有街機遊樂場，在那裡我可以嘗試去克服自己對彈珠檯得寸進尺的的渴望。

I mean, the uterus as an in-house developmental baby-making factory is pretty remarkable.

slinkspangspoink 問： 你好！你最喜歡人類進化的哪一個階段呢？

Probably the one where I started a Tumblr as a volunteer in a small university zoological collection

那會是約於440萬年以前，當早期人類站起來走路，並成為兩足動物。

and it ended up resulting in a full-time job at a major institution. That was a good one.

至於是為了空出我們的雙手於食物、和為了能攜帶嬰兒、涉水濕軟的沼澤、

Is that it exists at all.

或為了更有效率地跨越更長的距離，也許是為了跳舞，

Probably that sloths have unique symbiotic relationships with certain species of algae

或是非常浪漫的我們想和我們的弟兄手牽著手。

that are only found growing in the microcosmic environments of their hosts' fur.

無論是出於什麼原因，我們做了一件很好的事情，因為這個現在我們可以做更多。

I mean - you guys are asking me to pick between some pretty major collections here at The Field Museum.

fosdonut 問： 你最喜歡吃什麼動物？

We've got 3 million pinned beetles and that doesn't include the other 9 million specimens in the insect division.

培根

We've hardly talked with Janet Voight about her work with deep-sea octopuses and other invertebrates,

Thomas Nguyen 問： 在動物身體裡你最喜歡哪一個器官？

and let's not forget the major neglect to discuss molluscs on this show.

我說，子宮作為一個內建的發育性嬰兒製造工廠還蠻厲害的耶。

Seriously, we need more mollusc love on The Brain Scoop.

normalbiology 問： 什麼是你最喜歡的科學傳播經驗呢？

Diaphonization! Also known as clearing and staining, is a process in which a specimen is injected with enzymes that render the organs transparent.

可能是有一次，我身為在一個小型大學動物學收藏館的志工，建了一個Tumblr部落格，

Then, it's submerged in a solution of dyes that either adhere to the skeleton or the muscular system,

結果到最後讓我得到了一個在主要機構的全職工作。那經驗還不錯說。

resulting in a "see-through" animal with a highlighted mobility system.

sophietheadventurer 問： 你覺得大自然最令人驚奇的是？

It is so cool.

是它竟然存在

We got it? [Tom] We got it!

fireeyedgirl 問： 你最喜歡樹懶的哪部分？

Bam! [Tom] Great.

可能是樹懶和一些只能在它們毛裡