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My parents always wanted me to be a doctor.
我的父母总是希望我成为医生。
But a doctor that studies how vultures eat dead things is probably not the type of doctor my parents had in mind.
但是研究秃鹫吃死尸的医生可能不是我父母想到的那种医生。
I study vulture scavenging behavior and how vultures affect crime scenes.
我研究秃鹫的食腐行为以及秃鹫如何影响犯罪现场。
I'm here to talk to you about how we take vultures for granted in forensic science.
我在这里谈我们如何把秃鹫视为理所当然的法医科学。
Before we do that, I want to tell you a story.
在此之前，我想告诉你一个故事。
So we're going to take a trip, all 1,000 of us.
我们所有的1000人要去旅行。
It's May 2014 and we're standing in a park in Nashville, Tennessee, because we've been at a horse race.
2014年5月，我们站在田纳西州纳许维尔的一个公园里，因为我们刚去看了赛马。
As we wait for the porta potty, we see two ladies in their Sunday best: heels, pearls and lovely, floppy derby hats.
在等待上流动厕所时，我们看到身着星期天上教堂的最佳衣裳的两位女士：高跟鞋、珍珠和可爱的圆顶窄边礼帽。
At any moment, we expect them to start talking about their grandma's fine china.
我们预期她们就快开始谈论她们祖母的精致瓷器。
But they don't. Instead, we hear them say, "Oh, look. Something must be dead."
但她们没谈论那些。反而我们听到她们说：“哦，看！一定有东西死了。”
We look up and to the left and see vultures circling round and round.
我们抬头向左望，看到秃鹫一再地盘旋。
It occurred to me at this very moment that if these ladies at the derby are aware of vulture's connection to death,
那时我想到，如果这些看赛马的女士知道秃鹫与死亡的联系，
then why aren't we talking more about these birds at crime scenes?
那为什么我们不多谈论出现在犯罪现场的这些鸟？
People know that vultures are connected to death.
人们知道秃鹫与死亡有关。
But they don't really understand how.
但他们并不真正了解如何有关。
For example, here's an email I received from a detective in Louisiana:
例如，我收到路易斯安那州一名侦探发来的电子邮件：
"Lauren, there's been a kidnapping. What buzzards or vultures do we have in Louisiana?"
“劳伦，有一起绑架事件。我们在路易斯安那州有什么鵟鹰或秃鹫？”
Before we address the kidnapping, I'll first address this buzzard/vulture question I get all the time.
在我们谈论绑架事件之前会先谈谈我一直会遇到的鵟鹰/秃鹫问题。
Buzzards don't live in the United States. They are hawks that live in Europe.
鵟鹰不在美国生活。它们是生活在欧洲的鹰。
The big black birds you see circling in the sky within the US are vultures.
你在美国天空中看到的大黑鸟是秃鹫。
The two types of vultures that live in Louisiana are the turkey vulture and black vulture.
住在路易斯安那州的两种秃鹫是红头美洲鹫和黑秃鹫。
To fully understand the role of vultures in forensic science, I'll walk you through this forensic case.
为了充分理解秃鹫在法庭科学中的作用，我会引导你走过这件法医案子。
From the email, certain things become apparent.
从电子邮件中，某些事情变得明显。
We can assume the detective thinks the individual is dead.
我们可以假设侦探认为这个人已经死了。
And he wants to use the birds to try to find the body.
他想用这些鸟来寻找尸体。
Like the ladies in Nashville, the detective thinks that vultures circling in the sky will lead him to the body.
就像纳什维尔的女士们一样，侦探认为在天空中盘旋的秃鹫会将他引向尸体。
It's not that simple. I don't know if you've ever seen a vulture up close or spent much time with them, but they're huge, huge.
并不是这么简单。我不知道你是否曾近距离看过秃鹫，或花长时间与它们在一起，但它们非常巨大。
Six-foot wingspan. Vultures circle in the air because they are too big to flap their wings and fly, so they soar.
翼展6英尺。秃鹫在空中盘旋，因为它们太大，以致无法拍翅飞翔，所以它们翱翔。
They soar in thermals, which are vortexes or little tornadoes caused by pressure differences in the air
它们在热浪中翱翔，这是由于太阳照射一整天升高了地面的温度，造成气压差，
that form throughout the day as the sun heats up the ground.
而形成的漩涡或小型龙卷风。
Therefore, when you see a circling vulture,
因此，当你看到一只盘旋的秃鹫时，
the bird is usually traveling from point A to B, rather than circling above something dead.
它通常是在从A点飞到B点，而不是在死尸上方盘旋。
Actually, if you want to use a vulture to try to find a body, look for a vulture in a tree or on a fence post.
其实如果你想用秃鹫寻找尸体，要在树上或栅栏上寻找秃鹫。
Vultures are too big and slow to hunt. So they have to scavenge.
秃鹫太大、太慢，无法狩猎。所以它们必须当清道夫。
In fact, vultures are the only animals in the world that depend upon death as a food source.
事实上，秃鹫是世界上唯一依靠死尸作为食物来源的动物。
The turkey vulture that you see here is super cool, because it's one of the few bird species that can actually smell.
你在这里看到的红头美洲鹫非常酷，因为它是少数真正具有嗅觉的鸟类之一。
It hones in on the deceased by sensing a chemical that's coming off the body during decay.
它通过感应尸体衰变过程中冒出的化学物质找到死尸。
The evolutionary role of the vulture is to rid the earth of harmful toxins produced following death.
秃鹫的进化作用是消除死尸产生的有害毒素。
Once death has been detected, the turkey vulture lands and quickly scavenges.
一旦发现死尸，红头美洲鹫就会降落和迅速地拾荒。
Vultures usually remove the eyes first, then tear the skin, start pulling the tissues, and leave you with a skeleton.
秃鹫通常先摘下眼睛，然后撕开皮肤，开始拉扯肌肉组织，留下骨架。
Therefore, the importance of vultures is not in the air, but on the ground.
因此秃鹫的重要性不在空中而在地面。
Vulture scavenging is somewhat gruesome.
秃鹫的食腐有点可怕。
If you're ever on a bad first date, just reference this talk,
如果你的第一次约会很糟糕，那么请引用这个演讲的话题，
and I don't think you'll have to worry about your potential suitor giving you another call.
我认为你不必担心你的潜在追求者会再打电话给你。
Although gruesome, vultures are key forensic players, and here's why.
虽然可怕，秃鹫是关键的参与法医，下面要说的就是为什么。
Vultures will consume a dead human just like they will consume roadkill.
秃鹫会咽下死人的尸体，就像它们会咽下路上被车辆碾死的动物尸体一样。
But you don't ever hear about that, and it's because vultures are so good at what they do.
但你未曾听说过这些，是因为秃鹫很擅长于它们的工作。
If vultures depend on death for survival and if they scavenge humans,
如果秃鹫靠死尸维生、食腐人类的尸体，
then how can vultures be absent from forensic textbooks and training manuals?
那为什么秃鹫没被列在法医教科书和培训手册中呢？
The answer: the tradition has been for researchers to exclude animal scavengers from decomposition studies by placing a cage over the decaying subject matter.
答案是：传统上，研究人员把腐烂的东西放在笼子里，防止食腐的动物接近。
Why? Because researchers were afraid an animal would run away with their subject matter
为什么？因为研究人员怕动物会带着被分析的东西跑走，
and they wouldn't have any data to report -- consequently excluding animals' results in a lengthy skeletonization process,
让他们没数据可供报告，因此，排除动物于解剖过程外的结果，
and this information is currently what detectives use during investigations.
是目前侦探侦查时使用的信息。
A lot of times at a crime scene when people see a skeletonized body,
大多数时间里，人们在犯罪现场看到骷髅，
they think, "Wow, this has been here for a really long time undiscovered."
他们会想：“哇，在被发现之前这已存在很长一段时间了。”
Oh, no, no, no, no. Vultures accelerate decay.
哦，不，不，不，不。秃鹫加速腐烂。
And the skeletonized body could have been there for as little as five days if scavenged by vultures.
如果秃鹫食腐过那个尸体，骷髅可能只在那里短短的五天而已。
The failure to account for vulture scavenging can result in forensic scientists inaccurately estimating how long someone has been dead
没算上秃鹫的食腐，可能导致法医科学家不准确地估计某人死亡了多久，
and then searching through the wrong missing person's files.
以致搜索错误的失踪人员档案。
Therefore, the goal is to get forensic scientists to focus on vulture evidence
因此，我们的目标是让法医科学家专注于秃鹫证据，
and to get law enforcement to consider vulture scavenging and a possible recent death when skeletal remains are found.
并让执法机构考虑秃鹫的食腐，来发现骨骼遗骸可能的死亡时间。
Let's get back to the importance of the kidnapping case.
让我们回到绑架案件的重要性。
I responded to the detectives and told them that vultures like areas with water.
我回复给侦探，告诉他们秃鹫喜欢有水的地方。
They like areas with white-tailed deer, they typically arrive within the first five days following death,
它们喜欢有白尾鹿的地区，它们通常在死后的头五天内到达，
they're going to leave an intact spinal column and feathers.
它们将留下完整的脊椎和羽毛。
The detectives write back and say, "We found the body buried in a shallow grave. We also found the feathers you mentioned."
侦探回信说：“我们发现尸体被埋在一个浅坟里。我们还发现了你提到的羽毛。”
But there appeared to be a problem because the feathers were located 40 yards from where the body was found.
但似乎有一个问题，因为羽毛距离发现尸体的地方40码远。
The feathers were next to a bloody pine cone.
羽毛旁边是一个血淋淋的松果。
Vultures aren't attracted to blood, and they typically don't wander.
秃鹫不会被血吸引，它们通常不会漫游。
They might wander 40 feet, but they're not going to wander 40 yards.
它们可能闲荡40英尺，但它们不会闲荡40码。
That would be a waste of energy for a bird that doesn't know when it will get its next meal.
对于一只不知道什么时候能吃下一顿饭的鸟而言，那会浪费能量。
So my first job here was to determine if vultures were at the scene.
我先得确定秃鹫是否曾出现在现场。
Indeed, the feather by the pine cone was consistent with the turkey vulture.
事实上，松果旁的羽毛与红头美洲鹫的相同。
So why in the world would a vulture wander 40 yards?
那怎会有只秃鹫闲荡40码远呢？
One of the reasons I love vultures is because they tend to operate in a manner that can be explained by biology and physics.
我爱秃鹫的原因之一是它们倾向的运作方式可用生物学和物理学来解释。
I started mentally going through the numerous bating experiments I had conducted at a body farm in Texas.
我开始在脑袋里回想曾在德州的尸体农场进行的无数软化实验。
A body farm is a place where you can donate your body to science.
尸体农场是可将自己的尸体捐献供科学研究的地方。
I also went through my experiences with trapping and GPS tagging vultures.
我还回想起捕捉和帮秃鹫贴GPS标签的经验。
And then the year-long process of monitoring vultures via remote GPS technology.
以及其后通过远程GPS技术监测秃鹫一年的过程。
Next, I brought up my field notes and had an "Aha!" moment.
接着我拿出田野笔记，“啊哈”，我知道了！
I knew of two things that would lure a vulture 40 yards from a body. Guts and brain matter.
我知道有两样东西会引诱秃鹫离开尸体40码：胆和脑的物质。
I presented this information to the detectives
我提供这些信息给侦探们，
and learned that they suspected the victim had been incapacitated by blunt force trauma to the head.
并获悉他们怀疑受害人因为头部被钝器击伤而丧失行动的能力。
The blow to the head was thought to have occurred in the area where the pine cone was found,
头部被重击据信发生在发现松果的地区，
and then the victim was drug 40 yards and buried in a shallow grave.
然后受害人被拖行40码，埋在浅土里。
This suggested that brain matter was the lure for the vulture
这表明脑物质诱惑了秃鹫，
and illustrates how studying vulture behavior can help piece together some of the evidence.
并说明了研究秃鹫的行为有助于拼凑出一些证据。
The detectives also sent me this photo. The victim's arm is sticking up out of the grave.
侦探们也发了这张照片给我。受害者的手臂伸出坟土外。
As a forensic scientist, you have to think about the whole picture.
作为法医科学家必须考虑整个情况。
The feather by the pine cone indicated that vultures were at the scene.
松果旁的羽毛表明秃鹫去过现场。
This crime scene photo also depicts characteristic vulture scavenging behavior.
这个犯罪现场照片还描绘了秃鹫食腐行为的特征。
We zoom in, we see a white down feather, which is characteristic of the turkey vulture.
放大近看，我们能看到一支白羽毛，这是火鸡秃鹫的特征。
Also note that the skin has a cut-like tear near the wrist.
也请注意，在手腕附近的皮肤有切割般的撕裂伤。
The turkey vulture smells the decay, lands.
火鸡秃鹫闻到腐尸而降落着地。
It can get through the pine needles, pull out the hand,
它能穿过松针，拉出手，
it's going to tear the skin with its beak and then start pulling the soft tissues away from the bone.
用喙撕开皮肤，然后开始拉扯骨头上的软组织。
Just tear and pull, tear and pull, tear and pull.
就撕和拉，撕和拉，撕和拉。
This photo illustrates the scavenging efficiency of vultures.
这张照片说明秃鹫的食腐效率。
This is important because it helps support the time line the detectives are putting together for the murder.
这很重要，因为它有助于支持侦探拼凑的谋杀时间轴。
There's not a whole lot of evidence. You're not likely going to see the vultures at the crime scene.
没有很多证据。你太不可能在犯罪现场看到秃鹫。
Instead, vultures just leave these very subtle clues.
相反，秃鹫只留下这些非常微妙的线索。
Rather than looking for the vulture, look for the feathers and pristine bones.
不是寻找秃鹫，而是寻找羽毛和在原始状态下的骨头。
Vultures are important because they are so good and fast at what they do.
秃鹫很重要，因为它们做得非常好，速度也很快。
They're like tornadoes. If you blink, you will miss them.
它们就像龙卷风。如果你眨眼就会错过了。
I provided my opinion about the vulture evidence to the detective.
我提供侦探有关秃鹫证据的意见。
And he presented the vulture evidence in court.
他将秃鹫的证据呈上法庭。
The kidnapping case was a death penalty case. And the defendant was found guilty.
那宗绑架案是死刑案件。被告被判有罪。
This case illustrates how studying vulture behavior helps innovate forensic science.
这个案例说明了研究秃鹫行为如何帮助创新法庭科学。
Someone who has been murdered deserves the most thorough investigation possible.
有人遇害值得进行最彻底的调查。
When we include vultures in forensic studies,
我们研究法医学时把秃鹫包括在内，
we paint a more thorough picture of what happened, when it happened and who it happened to.
能对发生的事、发生的时间以及遭遇的人进行更全面的描述。
So, the next time you're at a crime scene with a dead body...
所以下次你处理犯罪现场的尸体时，
look to the ground to find the clues vultures have left.
在地面找找秃鹫留下的线索。
And if anyone ever brings up vultures on a date, you'll know they're a keeper. Thank you.
如果有人在约会时谈起秃鹫，你会知道他们是好对象。谢谢。
