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Thanks to Brilliant for supporting this episode of SciShow. Go to Brilliant.org/SciShow to learn how you can take your STEM skills to the next level.
感谢Brilliant对本期节目的支持。登录Brilliant.org/SciShow了解如何进一步提高你的STEM技能。
Have you ever cut into a bell pepper and found another pepper inside it? Cause I have.
大家有没有这样的经历：切开一个灯笼椒，发现里边还有一个小辣椒？因为我有。
It's like someone took a baby pepper and put it inside a bigger one. I thought it was, like, a bug at first.
就好像是有人将一个小小椒放进了一个大辣椒里边。一开始我还以为这是一只虫子。
Well, I have some good news that mini pepper is totally edible. It's just a potential seed that got a little carried away.
好消息是这个迷你辣椒完全是可食用的。这就是一个没有发育的小种子。
You see, the seeds inside fruits like peppers start out as ovules: the plant version of egg cells.
你们看，果实，比如辣椒里边的种子，一开始的时候是幼籽，即植物的卵细胞。
During the flower stage, they wait for sperm inside a structure called the carpel—
在花期，它们等待着心皮里边的精子，
the outer part of which actually becomes the pepper fruit. You get a pepper when pollen ends up on the top of that carpel.
心皮是辣椒果实的外层。当花粉抵达心皮顶端时，就能繁育出辣椒。
The sperm in that pollen travel down to the ovules and fertilize them,
花粉中的精子来到幼籽并使其受精，
and that triggers the ovules to become seeds and the outer part of the carpel to become fruit.
这会触使幼籽变成种子，而心皮的外层则变成果实。
But there are lots of ovules in a pepper and not all of them get fertilized.
但一个辣椒中有很多幼籽，且并不是所有幼籽都能被受精。
Sometimes, an unfertilized ovule goes rogue and starts to become a new pepper instead. Or part of one anyway.
有时，一个为受精的幼籽会失控，转而开始变成一个新的辣椒。或者变成其中的一部分。
See, that inner pepper is actually a wanna-be carpel, or what botanists call a carpelloid structure.
里边的辣椒其实是想要成为心皮的，或是植物学家所说的心皮化结构。
Basically, genetic mutations can cause an unfertilized ovule to start growing like it's that outer part of the carpel.
基因突变可以让一颗未受精的幼籽像心皮外层部分一样开始生长。
It just starts making a fruit! Since this happens without the ovule being fertilized,
然后它就开始生成果实了！由于这一过程不需要幼籽受精，
these internal peppers are considered a type of parthenocarpy: the development of fruit without fertilization.
所以这些长在里边的辣椒被认为是一种单性结实：未受精的果实的发育。
And they're more common in peppers with genetic mutations that create misshapen ovules—ones which can't be fertilized properly.
这种情况在出现基因突变而导致畸形幼籽的辣椒中更常见，这些即为无法正常受精的幼籽。
Right now, no one really knows exactly why this is, but researchers are eager to find out,
目前，没有知道这到底是什么原因，但研究人员渴望找到答案，
because strains of pepper that produce carpelloid structures sometimes make entirely seedless peppers.
因为产生心皮化结构的辣椒品种有时可以产生完全无籽的辣椒。
That's right, parthenocarpy doesn't just give us nested fruits, it can produce completely seedless ones...something that we have taken advantage of.
没错，单性结实不仅会给我们内嵌果实，还可生产出完全无籽的果实......我们也在利用这一点。
Bananas, pineapples, eggplant, and oranges are just a few varieties of seedless parthenocarpic fruits that we enjoy on a regular basis.
香蕉、菠萝、茄子和橙子，只是我们经常享用的无核单性结实果实中的几个品种。
And while pepper seeds might seem benign, plants that make seedless pepper fruits tend to be more reliable and make consistently larger peppers,
虽然辣椒种子看起来是良性的，但无籽辣椒果实的植物往往更可靠，而且可以生产出更大的辣椒，
so they'd mean a better harvest. We're also not the only ones that benefit from parthenocarpy.
所以它们意味着更好的丰收。我们也不是唯一一个从单性结实中获益的物种。
Some wild plants use it as a way of dealing with predators. Like, wild parsnips.
一些野生植物将它作为一种抵御捕食者的方法，比如野生欧洲防风草。
They will produce some fruits with seeds and some without.
它们会产一些有籽果实和一些无籽果实。
The seedless ones are decoys for parsnip webworms: pests which eat and destroy the plant's seeds.
无籽果实为防风草结网毛虫准备的诱饵，这种毛虫会蚕食并摧毁这种植物的种子。
They tend to attack the seedless fruits instead of the ones that contain the plant's actual offspring!
它们会攻击无籽果实，而不是那些含有植物后代的果实。
So parthenocarpy is a useful phenomenon, both as a natural defense and for our own snacking purposes.
所以单性结实是一种有用的现象，不论是作为天然防御还是为了人类的饮食目的。
And yes, even though that tiny pepper isn't fertilized, it's a pepper all the same, which means that it is totally edible.
没错，即便这个小小的辣椒没有受精，它也还是一只辣椒，所以它是可以食用的。
Chop it up and put it in your taco. Just think of it as, like, a two for one special!
切碎它，把它放进你的塔可里。就把它当成是买一送二吧！
And if you love good deals, then I have more good news. Today's sponsor, Brilliant,
如果你喜欢这种促销，我有好消息要告诉大家。本期赞助商Brilliant
is offering 20% off their annual premium subscription to the first 200 people to sign up at Brilliant.org/SciShow!
为前200名注册Brilliant.org/SciShow的用户提供年度订阅八折优惠！
With that subscription, you will gain access to all of their amazing, interactive STEM courses, including their new Cryptocurrency course!
订阅后，大家将能观看他们所有互动STEM课程，包括他们的新节目《Cryptocurrency》课程！
In it, you'll learn all about the math and technology behind cryptocurrencies like BitCoin.
在该课中，大家讲学习加密数字货币，如比特币背后的数学和技术原理。
So whether you're naturally curious about the world around you, want to build problem-solving skills
不论你是对这个世界好奇、想建立解决问题的技能
or need to develop confidence in your analytical abilities, you'll get a lot of out of a Brilliant Premium.
还是需要培养分析能力的信心，你都能在Brilliant Premium中收获满满。
And you can start learning something new today by heading over to Brilliant.org/SciShow.
大家可以前往Brilliant.org/SciShow开始今天的学习。
