SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN'S 60-SECOND SCIENCE 2009-02-02翻译

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute.

If you have a dog, you know you gotta walk it. But do you know how it walks? Well, if you have no idea which foot Fido puts forward when, you’re in good company. Because according to a study published in the journal Current Biology, even places like natural history museums get it wrong half the time.

Studies published back in the late 1800s showed that all four-legged animals walk the same way. They start by moving forward their left hind leg, followed by the left front leg. Then they repeat the sequence on the right-hand side. Different animals differ in the timing of their steps.

The reason they walk that way is for stability. Lifting one leg at a time leaves three feet on the ground, forming a nice stable tripod to stand on. But not everyone seems to know that, even folks who should. Scientists looked at 300 depictions of animals walking—in museums, anatomy texts, and even children’s toys. And they found that nearly half the time these images get it wrong. For a toy, that kind of inattention to detail might mean that Rex has a tendency to roll over. But for museums to mess up like that? They just don’t have a leg to stand on.

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

这是科学美国人的60个科学。我凯伦霍普金。这只是一分钟。

如果你有一只狗，你知道你总得走了。但是，你知道如何走？好吧，如果你不知道的脚菲多提出时，你在良好的公司你。因为根据在Current Biology杂志发表的研究，如自然历史博物馆，甚至错误的地方得到它一半的时间。

发表在19世纪末重新研究表明，四足行走的动物以同样的方式。他们开始向前迈进的左后腿，其次是左前腿。然后他们就重复右侧序列。不同的动物不同，在他们的步骤，时间。

他们之所以走这样的稳定。起重，一次腿离开地面三英尺，形成一个很好的稳定的三脚架立场。但不是每个人似乎都知道，谁应该更伙计。科学家研究了300描写动物的步行博物馆，解剖文本，甚至儿童玩具。他们发现，将近一半的时间让这些图片是错误的。对于玩具，即不注重细节可能意味着一种雷克斯有一种倾向要顺延。但博物馆这样的混乱呢？他们只是没有一个是站不住脚的。

为感谢美国科学分钟的60个科学。我凯伦霍普金。

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