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When you imagine a fish, you probably imagine something smooth and sleek that slices right through the water.
说起鱼，大家可能会想到一些表皮光滑的生物在水中穿梭。
But there are a handful of fish that just aren't sleek at all, like the boxfish, which is essentially a colorful box with fins.
但有很少一部分鱼一点也不光滑，比如箱鲀，就像一只带鳍的彩色盒子。
It might seem like exactly the worst shape for fish but it actually comes with some surprising perks.
对于鱼来说，这可能是最糟糕的形状，但实际上它还有一些令人惊讶的好处。
In general, fish need to be able to cut through the water without a lot of resistance, or drag.
一般而言，鱼需要能够在没有阻力或阻力的情况下划水前行。
That way, they don't waste too much energy swimming, and they're quick enough to escape predators.
这样的话，它们就无需耗费太多精力在游泳上，并且能够足够迅速的逃避捕食者。
But the boxfish has a rigid skeleton in the shape of a box, which, as you might expect, creates a lot of drag.
但是箱鱼有一个盒子形状的坚硬骨架，正如你所预料的那样，这会造成很大的阻力。
The odd thing is, despite their shape, boxfish aren't these lumbering, awkward things.
奇怪的是，虽然它们是这种形状，但箱鲀可不是这些笨重笨拙的东西。
They're actually pretty agile and good at dodging predators. And that caught scientists' attention.
它们相当敏捷且擅长躲避捕食者。这引起了科学家的注意。
In 2002, a group of researchers used 3D-printed models of these fish to explore how water flowed around them.
2002年，一群研究人员利用这些鱼的3D打印模型研究它们周围的水是如何流动的。
At first, they focused on little vortices forming off the ends of the fish's pointed corners.
起初，他们关注的是这些鱼尖角末端形成的小漩涡。
Vortices naturally resist changes in direction,
旋涡会天然抵御方向上的变化，
so the researchers thought this was like a self-correcting mechanism that helped the fish stay stable.
所以研究人员认为这就像是一个自动调节机制，帮助它们保持稳定。
Which might seem like a pretty clever trick of evolution.
这看起来像是进化中的一种相当高明的把戏。
And they weren't the only ones intrigued by the idea that a creature shaped like a box could be both stable and nimble.
而且，他们并不是唯一对盒子形状的生物既稳定又灵活这一想法感兴趣的人。
Engineers at Mercedes-Benz even created a concept car modeled after the boxfish in the 1990s.
梅赛德斯奔驰的工程师们甚至在上世纪90年代以箱鲀为原型设计了一款概念车。
The problem was, the researchers had missed one key detail.
问题是，研究人员漏掉了一个关键细节。
If those vortices were having a significant impact on the fish, they would make it too stable to turn quickly and dodge predators.
如果漩涡对这些鱼有重要影响，它们会使鱼过于稳定而不能迅速转向和躲避捕食者。
And that clearly wasn't the case.
显然事实并非如此。
Observations of boxfish showed that they had no problems making quick maneuvers or darting into their reefs for protection.
对箱鲀的观察表明，它们迅速地动作，或冲进珊瑚礁寻求保护，都没有问题。
And in a later study, scientists realized that the vortices weren't actually that strong compared to the other forces pushing the fish around.
在之后的研究中，科学家意识到，和推动鱼前进的其他力相比，旋涡其实没那么强。
In fact, far from being exceptionally stable, these fish proved to be extremely unstable. They wobble and topple over really easily.
实际上，这些鱼远非异常稳定，而是极其不稳定。它们很容易摇晃和倒下。
But the scientists realized that, of all things, that's what makes them so good at navigating.
但科学家们意识到，这正是它们如此擅长导航的原因。
It requires a little extra work when they're just swimming from place to place — they have to use their fins to stay upright in the moving water.
当它们从一个地方游到另一个地方时，这需要一些额外的工作——它们必须用它们的鳍在流动的水中保持直立。
But when they need to make a quick turn, all it takes is a little push of the fin in the right direction,
但当它们需要快速调转方向时，只需要将鳍轻微推向正确的方向
and their body topples over, letting them turn on a dime.
同时它们的身体倾倒，以方便它们转身。
So if a predator shows up, this clumsy-looking fish can be headed in the opposite direction
所以如果捕食者现身，这种看起来笨拙的鱼甚至在这条光滑且速度更快的鱼转过身来之前，
— with almost no effort — before the sleek, faster fish can even turn around.
——几乎毫不费力地——调转方向。
It's still not a quick swimmer — the boxfish's drag is at least double that of most other fish,
它仍然不是敏捷的游泳者——箱鲀的阻力至少是其他鱼类的两倍，
so basically what you'd expect of a swimming box. But it doesn't really need to swim far; it mostly just moseys around the reef.
所以它就是一个游着泳的箱子。但它其实不用游很远；躲在珊瑚礁周围就可以了。
So the maneuverability is worth the trade-off. Sadly, it probably lost its chance to inspire the next Mercedes-Benz,
所以机动性是值得交换的。遗憾的是，它可能失去了激发下一款梅赛德斯-奔驰的机会，
since a high-drag vehicle that easily tips over isn't the car of the future but some engineers are still interested in it.
因为容易翻倒的高阻力汽车并不是汽车的未来，但一些工程师仍然对它感兴趣。
Designers of underwater robots or jet planes that need maximum maneuverability might be able to learn something from this fish.
水下机器人或喷气式飞机需要最大操纵灵敏度，它们的设计师或许能够从这些鱼那些学到些什么。
So it may still inspire our future technology in spite of itself.
所以它可能仍然会不由自主地激发我们未来的技术。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow!
感谢收看本期节目！
And if you liked learning about this odd little reef-dweller and its surprising abilities,
如果你想了解这种奇怪的小珊瑚礁居民和它令人惊讶的能力
you might enjoy our episode about three things fish just shouldn't be able to do. You can watch that next!
你或许会喜欢我们关于鱼类不应该能够做的三件事的节目。欢迎前去观看！
