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Insects Invented Gears Long before Humans Did
昆虫发明齿轮装置比人类早多了。
Planthoppers are tiny insects, only a couple of millimeters long. But man can they jump. An adult planthopper can sweep its two hindlegs together to spring forward more than a meter—the equivalent of you or I leaping over tall buildings in a single bound.
稻飞虱是只有几毫米长的昆虫。但是它们跳的跟人类一样高。成年稻飞虱迅速移动两条后腿向前弹跳一米多的距离，相当于人类跨越一次越过高楼的距离。
But these superjumpers must push off with both legs at almost exactly the same time, or else they’ll go into a spin and wipe out.
但是这些跳高强手必须两腿准确同时发力，不然它们会快速旋转，跌倒在地。
A new study reports that the planthopper Issus coleoptratus evolved a foolproof solution to this problem: in young nymphs of the species, the two legs meet under the belly in plates fringed with interlocking teeth. They function just like mechanical gears. The work appears in the journal Science.
一项新的研究报告显示稻飞虱进化出一个万无一失的解决方案：它们在幼年时期，它们的两条腿在肚子下方被有紧连着的牙齿的鳞甲连接。它们的功能就像机械齿轮。这项研究刊登在《科学》杂志上。
As the bug cocks its two hindlegs forward and then thrusts them back to push off, those gears guarantee that both limbs complete their motions within 30 millionths of a second of each other.
当稻飞虱迅速移动后退前进然后猛地往回推的时候，那些齿轮保证两条腿百万分之30秒的误差内完成动作。
The synchronized forces propel the nymph straight through the air at up to nine miles an hour—impressive. But adult planthoppers can jump at more than 12 miles an hour. And they do it using smooth-rimmed hips, with only friction to keep their legs in sync.
同步的动力能使得稻飞虱以九英里每小时的速度前进，令人印象深刻。但是成年的稻飞虱每小时跳行12英里。而且它们用光滑的臀部提供动力，只需要摩擦力保持它们的腿同步运行。
So perhaps the gears are like training wheels, just there until the youngsters learn how to jump straight.
因此，或许这些齿轮就像经过训练的轮子一样，直到幼虫学会如何跳直。
—Wayt Gibbs
