離開
進入中英對照讀新聞》Penguin parents sleep for just a few seconds at a time to guard newborns, study shows研究顯示，企鵝父母每次只睡幾秒鐘以守護新生兒
2016年3月5日在南極洲奧恩港出沒的帽帶企鵝。（法新社檔案照）
◎周虹汶
It’s a challenge for all new parents: Getting enough sleep while keeping a close eye on their newborns. For some penguins, it means thousands of mini-catnaps a day, researchers discovered.
這是所有新手爸媽的一個挑戰：密切關注新生兒之同時，獲得充足的睡眠。研究人員發現，對一些企鵝來說，這意味著一天要進行成千上萬次迷你瞌睡。
Chinstrap penguins in Antarctica need to guard their eggs and chicks around-the-clock in crowded, noisy colonies. So they nod off thousands of times each day — but only for about four seconds at a time — to stay vigilant, the researchers reported Thursday in the journal Science.
南極洲的帽帶企鵝需要在擁擠、喧鬧的棲地全天候守護牠們的蛋和幼鳥。研究人員週四在《科學》期刊報告，為了保持警惕，牠們每天打瞌睡成千上萬次──但一次只睡4秒鐘左右。 .
These short “microsleeps,” totaling around 11 hours per day, appear to be enough to keep the parents going for weeks.
這些短暫的「微睡眠」每天總計約11小時，似乎足以讓這些爸媽堅持好幾週。
“These penguins look like drowsy drivers, blinking their eyes open and shut, and they do it 24/7 for several weeks at a time,” said Niels Rattenborg, a sleep researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in Germany and co-author of the new study. (AP)
德國馬克斯．普朗克生物智慧研究所睡眠研究員暨這份新研究的共同作者尼爾斯．拉滕伯格說，「這些企鵝看來就像昏昏欲睡的司機，眨眼睜開又閉上，而且牠們1天24小時、1週7天這樣做好幾個禮拜。」（美聯社）
新聞辭典
around-the-clock：形容詞，指全天候的、不分晝夜的、不眠不休的、毫不鬆懈的。例句：These workers work in three shifts around the clock. （這些工人日夜不停地分三班輪流工作。）
drowsy：形容詞，指昏昏欲睡的、困倦的、懶散的、呆滯的。例句：She’d just woken up and was still drowsy.（她剛醒，還覺得睏。）
