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A small scientific study suggests that cattle can be trained to leave their waste in special areas.
一项小型科学研究表明，牛可以在接受训练后把粪便留在特定区域。
The goal of the research was to reduce the bad environmental effects of cattle.
这项研究的目的是减少牛对环境的不良影响。
In the recent study, scientists trained 11 out of 16 young cattle to use the "MooLoo"— a kind of bathroom for cattle.
在最近的研究中，科学家训练了16头小牛中的11头使用“MooLoo”——一种给牛用的卫生间。
The researchers used a sweet treat to get the cows to push through a door and urinate in the special area.
为了让奶牛穿过一扇门在特定的区域排尿，研究人员使用了一种甜食。
It took only 15 days to train the young cattle.
训练这些小牛只用了15天。
"The cows are at least as good as children, age 2 to 4 years, at least as quick," said Lindsay Matthews of New Zealand's University of Auckland.
新西兰奥克兰大学的林赛·马修斯说：“这些奶牛至少和2到4岁的孩子一样听话，至少和他们的速度一样快。”
Matthews was the lead writer of the study that appeared recently in Current Biology.
马修斯是最近发表在《当代生物学》上的这项研究的主要作者。
He worked with other researchers on the tests at an indoor animal research laboratory in Germany.
他和其他研究人员一起在德国的一个室内动物研究实验室进行了测试。
Urine contains nitrogen. When mixed with solid waste, it becomes ammonia.
尿液中含有氮。当它与固体废物混合时，就会变成氨。
The chemical can play a part in environmental problems such as acid rain, Matthews said.
马修斯说，这种化学物质可能会在酸雨等环境问题中发挥作用。
It can also pollute water with nitrates and create the pollutant nitrous oxide, he said.
他说，牛尿分解而成的硝酸盐会污染水，它也会转化成污染物——一氧化二氮。
Cattle urinate a lot. A single cow can produce about 30 liters of urine a day, Matthews said.
牛经常小便。马修斯说，一头牛每天可以产生大约30升尿液。
In 2019, nitrous oxide made up seven percent of all the U.S. greenhouse gases, the Environmental Protection Agency reports.
据美国环境保护局报道，2019年，一氧化二氮占美国所有温室气体的7%。
Scientist Brian Hare of Duke University was not part of the research but said he was not surprised by the findings.
杜克大学的科学家布莱恩·黑尔没有参与这项研究，但他表示，他对这一发现并不感到惊讶。
"I am surprised no one has demonstrated this before," Hare said. "The critical question is 'can it and will it scale'?"
黑尔说：“我很惊讶以前没有人证明过这一点。关键问题是‘它能不能扩大规模？’”
Scale means to do something more often or in larger amounts.
规模的意思是更频繁或更大量地做某事。
If it could be done, training animals would make it easier to deal with waste products and reduce greenhouse gasses, said Donald Broom.
唐纳德·布鲁姆说，如果可以做到这一点，训练动物会使处理废物和减少温室气体变得更容易。
He is a professor of animal welfare at the University of Cambridge in England.
他是英国剑桥大学的动物福利学教授。
At the laboratory in Dummerstorf, Germany, the researchers put the cattle in the special area, waited until they urinated and then gave them a treat: a sweet liquid of mostly molasses.
在德国杜梅尔斯托尔夫的实验室，研究人员把牛放在特定的区域，等到它们排尿后再给它们一种食物：一种主要由糖蜜制成的甜的液体。
Cows like sweets, Matthews said.
马修斯说，奶牛喜欢甜食。
If the cows urinated outside the MooLoo after the training, they got a shot of cold water.
如果奶牛在训练结束后在“MooLoo”外排尿，研究人员就会用冷水喷射它们。
Two issues raise questions about the study.
关于这项研究有两个问题。
Researchers gave drugs to the cattle to get them to urinate more because they had limited time.
由于时间有限，研究人员给牛服用药物，让它们多排尿。
And researchers only trained cows to use the MooLoo to urinate, not to leave solid waste.
研究人员只训练牛使用“MooLoo”排尿，而不是排便。
Urine is a bigger problem, at least in Europe, Matthews said.
马修斯说，尿液是一个更大的问题，至少在欧洲是这样。
But he predicted the researchers could train cows to leave solid waste too.
但他预测，研究人员也可以训练奶牛排便。
The biggest environmental problem for cattle, though, is the heat-trapping gas methane.
然而，对牛来说，最大的环境问题是吸热型气体——甲烷。
Cows release the gas that scientists say causes global warming.
科学家说，奶牛释放的气体会导致全球变暖。
The cows cannot be trained to not release such a gas, Matthews said: "They would blow up."
马修斯说，没有办法训练奶牛不释放这样的气体，“它们会爆炸的。”
I'm John Russell.
约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
