Crows 乌鸦

It’s hard to imagine that a crow could be as smart as you, or perhaps even smarter. But scientists have done a series of studies that prove that they might be just as good, or better, at solving problems. In one study, researchers gave crows and humans the same puzzle: A toy floats on top of water inside a tall glass, too narrow for a bird to get its beak¹ down or for a small child to place their hands into. Children younger than eight years old are completely stumped², and generally can’t figure out a way to get the toy. But crows aren’t confused at all. They simply drop pebbles³ into the narrow glass. Eventually the stones displace enough water at the bottom of the glass that the toy rises to the top, and the birds can quickly snatch it.

你一定想象不到乌鸦可能和你一样聪明，或许比你还要聪明。科学家为此做了一系列的研究来证明，在解决难题这一方面，乌鸦可能不比人类差。在其中的一项研究中，研究人员给了乌鸦组和人类组相同的题目。在一个装着水的高玻璃瓶里漂浮着一个小玩具，瓶口很窄，乌鸦的嘴无法伸进去，人类小孩也无法把手伸进去。人类8岁以下的孩子完全懵了，根本不知道怎么拿出玩具。但是乌鸦完全不在话下。它们简单地将小卵石叼进玻璃瓶，最终玻璃瓶底聚集的卵石将水面抬高，小玩具漂浮到瓶口，然后乌鸦一下就把玩具叼了出来。

Bees 蜜蜂

Bees are known mostly for their sting. But they are also highly intelligent little creatures. Researchers taught bees to identify which of two horizontal lines was above the other. When they got the answer right, they received a sugar-syrup reward. The thing is, the researchers only taught them how to identify whether lines that were horizontal were above or below. So, when the researchers showed the buzzers⁴ vertical⁵ lines, the bees simply flew away. They knew there was no way to get that tasty treat!

说起蜜蜂，第一反应多是它们屁股上的刺会蜇人。但蜜蜂也是一群有着相当高智商的小家伙们。研究人员教会蜜蜂分辨两条水平线中哪一条更高。当蜜蜂选对了，会得到糖浆作为奖赏。结果，蜜蜂只学了分辨水平线，当研究人员让它们分辨垂直线的时候，它们完全不予理睬。因为它们知道，除了水平线都没糖吃。