Beyond the Five Senses

Beyond the Five Senses Written by John Roussel

超越五感 作者：约翰·鲁塞尔

Introduction. Animals use senses to find food and stay out of danger. Our senses tell us what is happening with our bodies and in the world around us. You probably know about the five basic senses hearing, sight, smell, touch, and taste. Did you know that animals can also have many other senses? Some of these senses are common to most animals. Others are rare and amazing.

引言： 动物靠感官寻找食物、躲避危险。 我们的感官能告诉我们我们的身体和周围世界正在发生的事。 你可能听说过五种基本感官听觉、视觉、嗅觉、触觉和味觉。 你知道动物还有很多其他感官吗？ 有些感官是大多数动物都有的。 还有一些却非常少见、十分神奇。

Body position sense. Without looking, do you know where your left foot is right now? You can answer this question because your brain senses where your body parts are. Without this sense, an animal would not be able to move and do interesting things with its body.

身体位置感官。不用眼睛看，你知道你的左脚现在在哪里吗？ 你能回答出这个问题，是因为你的大脑能感知到身体各个部位的位置。 如果没有这种感官，动物就没法活动，没法用自己的身体做各种有趣的事了。

Pain Sense Pain might seem as though it's part of the sense of touch, but it isn't. People and other animals can feel pain even when nothing is touching them. Pain helps us by letting us know that we've been hurt. It can also warn us to stop or change what we are doing before we get hurt.

痛觉 痛觉看起来好像是触觉的一部分，其实并不是。 人类和其他动物哪怕没有被任何东西碰到，也会感觉到疼痛。 痛觉对我们很有用，它会提醒我们我们受伤了。 它还会在我们受伤前发出警告，让我们停下或者改变正在做的事。

Sense of Balance Humans and many other animals have tubes inside their ears that give them a sense of balance. Other senses, such as sight and knowing where your body parts are, make balancing easier. That is why balancing is more difficult when your eyes are closed or your leg is asleep.

平衡感 人类和很多其他动物的耳朵里有管状结构，能让我们拥有平衡感。 其他感官，比如视觉和感知身体部位位置的感官，能帮我们更容易保持平衡。 这就是为什么你闭上眼睛或者腿麻的时候，保持平衡会更难。

Temperature sense. Sensing hot and cold is important for many animals. Some bats and snakes have special heat sensors that can help them find prey. A rattlesnake can feel the heat of a mouse's body from over a foot away.

温度感官。 感知冷热对很多动物来说都很重要。 有些蝙蝠和蛇有特殊的热感应器官，可以帮它们找到猎物。 响尾蛇在一英尺以外的地方就能感应到老鼠身体散发的热量。