We’re not going to say garbage is good. It’s smelly and sticky, and the only people who love it are green hairy Muppets with poor interpersonal skills. But the good news is garbage isn’t always toxic. When we dump a bunch of our trash somewhere, that might not be the worst for nature. It might even be the best for nature.

我們不會(huì)說垃圾是好的。又臭又臟，唯一喜歡的人是人際交際能力很差的綠色毛茸Muppet。但是好消息是垃圾并不總是有害有毒的。當(dāng)我們把 垃圾倒在某個(gè)地方時(shí)，也許對(duì)大自然來說并不 太糟糕。

A Lush Forest Sprang Up from an Orange Peel Dump

橙子皮垃圾堆上長(zhǎng)出茂密 的森林

At the start of the 1990s, a juice company had a huge orange tree plantation up against a protected conservation area in Costa Rica. Tree plantations, while literally green, are not generally considered great for natural biodiversity. The juicing factory also produced tons and tons of waste, consisting of tons and tons of orange peels. They had to dump these peels somewhere, and a scientist brokered a solution. What if they were to give up some of their land to the conservation area? Then, the stewards of that area would take all that waste off the company’s hands, for free.

1980年代初期，一家橙汁廠在哥斯達(dá)黎加的一處保護(hù)區(qū)的對(duì)面種植了一大片的橙樹園，。樹木種植園，字面上來看是綠色的，通常被認(rèn)為對(duì)于生態(tài)并不友好，。而橙汁的生產(chǎn)同樣會(huì)產(chǎn)生成噸的 浪費(fèi)，包含成噸的橙子皮。他們必須把橙子皮倒在什么地方，而此時(shí)一名科學(xué)家提出了解決方案。他們放棄一部分他們的土地給予保護(hù)區(qū) 怎么樣？之後，那個(gè)地方的管理人員免費(fèi)從公司手中拿走廢料。

The juicing company agreed, and the conservation area handled the waste, by dumping 12,000 tons of it right on the protected land. This lasted right up until someone sued, saying that this was a crooked deal to defile a national park. The Costa Rica Supreme Court now put an end to the project.

橙汁公司同意了，而自然保護(hù)區(qū)接手了這些廢料，以直接向保護(hù)區(qū)傾倒12000噸的方式 。這一直持續(xù)到有人起訴，聲稱這是破壞環(huán)境，這是玷污國(guó)家公園。于是哥斯達(dá)黎加法院終止了這個(gè)項(xiàng)目。

So, this was some dirty scheme that was justly stopped, right? Not exactly. The party who sued wasn’t really someone concerned about a national park but a rival juice company wanting to mess with their competitor. And those tons of orange peels, though waste, weren’t really hurting the area. They were decaying and supplying nutrients. A decade and a half later, scientists surveyed the area and found that the land where the peels had been dumped had thrived, with more than double the living biomass as the unsullied parts.

所以，這是某種被正當(dāng)制止的骯臟計(jì)劃嗎？并不真是。起訴者并不是真心地關(guān)心國(guó)家公園，只不過是競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的手段。這些橙子皮，雖然是垃極，但是并沒有破壞環(huán)境。它們一直在腐爛，為土壤提供肥力。15年過後，科學(xué)家們調(diào)查該區(qū)域發(fā)現(xiàn)傾倒橙子皮的地方的生物量是其它地方的兩倍多。
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The forest had benefited hugely from the orange infusion, and this was with the original program having been quickly cut short. Clearly, whenever a law is passed to protect an area, we need to repeal it.

森林從橙子汁中獲益良多，而且這還是在最初計(jì)劃被縮短的情況下。顯然，無論何時(shí)通過一項(xiàng)法律來保護(hù)一個(gè)地區(qū) ，我們需要廢除它。

4
Britain’s Most Biodiverse Spot Is an Industrial Waste Site

英國(guó)最具生物多樣性的地方是一個(gè)工業(yè)廢料場(chǎng)
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處


Humans destroyed Canvey Wick in a series of different ways. Canvey Wick is a corner of one island in England, and early in the 20th century, we used it as a dumping site for gunk pulled out of the Thames. Then it was going to be an oil refinery, so we laid down huge circles of asphalt that would become foundations for construction. Then the 1970s got too weird, so we abandoned the refinery plans and also abandoned the site. We’d apparently taken a marshland and ruined it.

人類用一系列不同的方式摧毀了坎維威克?？簿S威克是英格蘭島嶼的一角，在20世紀(jì)早期，我們將之作為一個(gè)傾倒從泰唔士河中撈出的臟東西的場(chǎng)所。接著它成為了煉油廠，所以我們鋪設(shè)了巨大的瀝青圈，作為建筑的基礎(chǔ)。之後1970年代實(shí)在太奇怪了，所以我們放棄了煉油廠的計(jì)劃，也放棄了這個(gè)地方。很明顯，我們占領(lǐng)了一塊沼澤地并摧毀了它。

But we hadn’t. Because the land that was left behind contained a mixture of soils more varied than anywhere else in the country. This resulted in what’s been dubbed a brownfield rain forest. It now fosters a wide array of species who live nowhere else in Britain. Species like otherwise unknown kinds of bees, and the bombardier beetle, which will blow noxious fluid from its belly at you in an audible explosion.

但是我們沒有，因?yàn)檫@被留下來的土地中含有比這個(gè)國(guó)家的任何其它地方都更多樣化的混合土壤成分。這造就了被譯成褐色雨林的事物。它現(xiàn)在培育出了在這個(gè)國(guó)家其它地方都沒有的生物群。其中有像是其它地方?jīng)]有的蜜蜂。還有一種放屁甲蟲，會(huì)向你噴射有害液體。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處


Or Hedychrum niemalei, a parasitic wasp, or a second type of wasp with carnivorous larvae, and... Okay, we just remembered nature is terrifying. Maybe we need to get that refinery built after all, so we have fuel for our flamethrowers.

或者是一種寄生蜂Hedychrum niemalei，或者一種食肉性胡蜂的第二形態(tài)，，還有，，，好吧，我們剛想起大自然是可怕的。也許我們最終還是需要那座精煉廠，所以我們可以給噴火器添加燃油。

3
NYC Drops Dead Subway Cars in the Ocean, for the Ocean’s Sake

為了海洋，紐約市將報(bào)廢的地鐵車廂扔進(jìn)了海里
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處


Thousands of subway cars were in active use in New York City from 1964 all the way into the 21st century. Finally, the city took these aging clunkers out of service and buried them at sea:

數(shù)以千計(jì)的地鐵車廂以各種方式從1964年到21世紀(jì)在紐約市頻繁使用。最終， 這座城市讓這些老舊的車廂退役，而且將之埋入海中。

Okay, that doesn’t look like something the sea would appreciate. The smell alone from those cars renders them lethal to humans over extended periods; one could only imagine the effect they’d have on fish. But actually, we don’t need to imagine, because we’ve seen the result, and it looks pretty good:

好吧，這看起來不像是大海會(huì)欣賞的事物。光是這些車廂的氣味就足以使其在長(zhǎng)時(shí)間內(nèi)對(duì)人體產(chǎn)生致命危害；人們只能想象這些車廂對(duì)魚的影響。但是實(shí)際上，我們不必猜想，因?yàn)槲覀兛梢灾苯涌吹浇Y(jié)果，而結(jié)果相當(dāng)不錯(cuò)。

This was not another mob scheme to dispose of NYC trash in the dead of night. It was a plan to build an artificial reef that would spark coral growth. These cars also provide plenty of room for medium fish to congregate (packed like sardines) without predators being able to squeeze their way in.

這并不是一場(chǎng)暴徒在夜深人靜的時(shí)候處理掉紐約市垃圾的計(jì)劃。這是一個(gè)建造人工珊瑚礁來刺激珊瑚生長(zhǎng)。這些車廂同樣為中等魚類的聚集（像沙丁魚那樣密集）提供了大量的空間。而捕食者卻無法擠進(jìn)去。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處


The program was a success. It turned out much better than, say, the time Florida tried making their own reef using old tires, and disaster ensued.

這項(xiàng)工程很成功。事實(shí)證明，哎呀，這比佛羅佛里達(dá)嘗試用舊輪胎來制造自己的人造礁石，而災(zāi)難也就隨之而來好太多了。

2
Australian Parrots Have Moved to the City to Raid Dumpsters

澳大利亞鸚鵡己搬到城市去襲擊大垃圾箱

Our dumpsters provide food for all kinds of vermin. They attract rats, they attract roaches, and in Sydney over the past decade, they’ve started attracting sulphur-crested cockatoos. This is a bird normally associated with more wooded areas and looks a bit more fancy than your typical city pigeon.

我們的大垃圾箱為各種害蟲提供了食物。蟲子們吸引來了老鼠，它們吸引了蟑螂，在悉尼過去的十年里，它們開始吸引來了硫冠鳳頭鸚鵡。這是一種通常與更多樹木的地區(qū)聯(lián)系在一起的鳥類，看起來是比你在城市里的鴿子更漂亮。

Cockatoos are smart. They won’t only peck at bags sticking out of dumpsters but have taught themselves to open sealed bins. They can also, on occasion, open windows, though we can’t imagine why they’d want to.

鳳頭鸚鵡聰明。它們不僅會(huì)啄垃圾箱里伸出來的袋子，還學(xué)會(huì)了打開密封的箱?。它們有時(shí)也會(huì)打開窗戶，盡管我們并不知道它們?yōu)槭裁催@樣做。

For now, the sight of one of these birds will strike the average Sydney dweller as a strange treat. Given time, however, we’ll surely all be socially conditioned to see them as pests. Raccoons are cute and we’d all love them if we saw them for the first time, but when a homeowner sees one scratching at their garbage cans, they reach for their gun. If you see a sulphur-crested cockatoo, you should also note that it might outlive you. These birds can live to be 100, while the average Australian will die in the next three years.

現(xiàn)在，看到一只這樣的鳥對(duì)于一般的悉尼市民來說是一件奇怪的樂趣。然而，假以時(shí)日，我們一定會(huì)在社會(huì)上將之視為害蟲。浣熊很可愛，每個(gè)第一次見到它的人都會(huì)喜歡它。但是當(dāng)一個(gè)房主看到一只浣熊在他們的垃圾桶里亂翻的時(shí)候，他們 會(huì)伸手去拿槍。如果你看到一只鳳頭鸚鵡，你應(yīng)當(dāng)注意到它可能活得比你長(zhǎng)。這些鸚鵡可以活到100歲，而澳大利亞人則會(huì)在未來的三年里死去。

1
The Lone Tomato

孤獨(dú)番茄
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處


The island of Surtsey in Iceland is less than 60 years old. In 1963, underwater volcanos erupted, and we saw this new landmass poke its way through the surface. We named it after Surtr, from Norse mythology, because people in Iceland are pretty metal.
Surtsey on November 30, 1963, 16 days after the beginning of the eruption.

冰島的Surtsey島還不到60歲。1963年，水下火山爆發(fā)，我們看到這塊新的陸地從地表伸了出來，，我們以北歐神話中的Surtr來命名它，因?yàn)楸鶏u人都相當(dāng)鋼。

Though the island was pure barren stone, not much time passed before observers noticed life popping up on it. It started with moss, and then came lichen. Then came the insects. Seals from the ocean flopped up there to hang out. Decades later, the island had soil, with bushes and worms.

盡管這個(gè)島上全都是石頭，但是沒過多久，觀察者們就注意到了島上突然出現(xiàn)了生命。開始是苔蘚，然後是地衣。之後是昆蟲。來自大洋的海豹到處撲楞。幾十年過後，這座島上出現(xiàn)了土壤，然後出現(xiàn)了權(quán)木和昆蟲。

Back in the 1960s, though, scientists detected life there skipping some steps in evolution. ágúst Bjarnason came to the island and investigated a 5-inch plant that had sprouted. It was a tomato plant. That made no sense. Solanum lycopersicum was a New World plant originally, and it took centuries of sextive breeding to get it in the shape it is now. It couldn’t grow on a new, isolated island thanks to spores blowing in the wind. How had it got there?

然而1960年代，科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)那里的生物跳過了一些進(jìn)化的歩驟。Agust Bjarnason 來到了島上發(fā)規(guī)了一株5 英尺高的植物。這是一株蕃茄 。這不科學(xué)。蕃茄一開始的時(shí)候是一株新世界的作物，花費(fèi)了數(shù)個(gè)世紀(jì)才變成了現(xiàn)在這個(gè)樣?。

The plant was growing out of some kind of organic lump. Bjarnason looked closer and realized it was a human turd. Some prior scientist had visited the island, defecated there and left behind both a tomato seed that had passed through his digestive tract and the fertile soil necessary to foster that seed into a seedling.

這種植物生長(zhǎng)于有機(jī)塊中。Bjarnason湊近了看發(fā)現(xiàn)是人類謝特，一些之前的科學(xué)家登島後留下的肥力和其中就包含的一粒蕃茄種子。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處


Let us rejoice at the thought of this stubborn tomato. We should all take it as evidence that nature is perfectly capable of dealing with our shit.

讓我們?yōu)檫@頑強(qiáng)的種子喝彩。我們應(yīng)當(dāng)將之作為大自然善于處理我們的謝特的證據(jù)。