螯里藏着太阳的虾

这种虾远比它的体型看起来更危险。在温暖的浅海沿岸,生活着一种几乎只有手指长短的生物,它那只格外大的螯像上了膛的弹簧一样蓄势待发,等待着出击的时刻。

This shrimp is far more dangerous than its size would ever suggest. In warm, shallow coastal seas lives a creature scarcely the length of a finger, one oversized claw cocked and held ready like a loaded spring, waiting for its moment.

当这只虾猛然合上那只螯时,动作快到出击本身几乎都不是重点了。这个动作会在周围的水中制造出一个气泡,气泡几乎瞬间破裂,而在这破裂发生的短短一瞬间,气泡内部的温度会逼近太阳表面的温度。单是那声响,就超过了枪声的音量,足以在附近震晕甚至震死小鱼。

When the shrimp snaps that claw shut, it happens with such velocity that the strike itself is almost beside the point. The motion creates a bubble in the surrounding water that collapses almost instantly, and for a mere fraction of a second, the interior of that collapsing bubble reaches a temperature approaching that of the sun's own surface. The sound alone exceeds the volume of a gunshot, loud enough on its own to stun or kill small fish nearby.

在这个过程中,虾本身完全不会发热。热量和声响都来自那个气泡,而且在任何附近的东西感觉到之前,二者都已经消失了。在珊瑚礁附近工作的潜水员,往往先听到那只螯的爆响,才在珊瑚丛中发现那只虾的身影。

Nothing about the shrimp itself grows hot in the process. The heat and the sound both originate in the bubble, and both vanish again before either could be felt by anything nearby. Divers working near coral reefs often hear the snap of that claw before they spot a single shrimp among the coral.