4种超人的感觉

4种超人的感觉

Humans vary a lot when it comes to ability. Some of us compose songs that bring others to tears, some run like the wind, and others dream up new technologies that change the world. But that’s only the tip of the ability iceberg.

人类在能力方面差异很大。我们中的一些人创作的歌曲让其他人流泪，一些人像风一样奔跑，还有一些人梦想着改变世界的新技术。但这只是能力冰山的一角。

Scientists are discovering that a few of us are capable of far more amazing feats — some of which seem more superhero than human.

科学家们发现，我们中的一些人能够做出更惊人的壮举——其中一些看起来比人类更像超级英雄。

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Granted, most of these super abilities are probably genetic, but it’s fun to imagine that any of us might develop one or two with a little practice.

诚然，这些超能力中的大多数可能都是遗传的，但想象一下我们中的任何一个人只要稍加练习就能培养出一两种超能力，这是很有趣的。

Synesthesia

联觉

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Imagine being able to hear or taste colors or see music swirling before your eyes. No, this isn’t some groovy flashback to the psychedelic '60s. It’s actually a neurological condition called synesthesia, which activates more than one sense simultaneously. According to some estimates as many as 1 in 200 people — mainly women — have it. The most common type involves perceiving numbers, letters or words in color (e.g., the letter A might always appear pea green). However, other synesthetes, for example, may hear “The Star-Spangled Banner” whenever they taste chocolate or smell lavender. The multi-sensual combinations are practically endless.

想象一下，你能听到或尝到颜色，或看到音乐在你眼前旋转。不，这并不是回到迷幻的60年代。这实际上是一种叫做联觉的神经系统疾病，它同时激活不止一种感觉。据估计，每200人中就有1人——主要是女性——有此能力。最常见的类型包括感知数字、字母或颜色的单词(例如，字母A可能总是呈现豌豆绿色)。然而，其他有联觉者，例如，每当他们品尝巧克力或闻到薰衣草时，可能会听到“星条旗永不落”。多感官的组合实际上是无穷无尽的。

Echolocation

回声定位能力

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Bats do it. Dolphins do it. And apparently so do some humans. A few gifted people — all blind — have developed the ability to “see” nearby objects by creating sounds (e.g., clicking) and listening to the return echoes to sense their size, distance and density. Dan Kish, who lost both eyes in infancy to retinoblastoma (an aggressive form of eye cancer), is so skilled at echolocation (or “FlashSonar” as he likes to call it) that he can bike through crowded city streets and down steep mountain trails. He even camps alone in the wilderness for weeks on end.

蝙蝠、海豚具有定位能力。显然，有些人也是如此。一些有天赋的人——都是盲人——通过制造声音(例如，点击)和聆听回声来感知周围物体的大小、距离和密度，从而发展出“看到”附近物体的能力。丹·基什在婴儿期就因为视网膜母细胞瘤(一种恶性眼癌)失去了双眼，他非常擅长回声定位(他喜欢称之为“闪光声纳”)，以至于他可以骑车穿过拥挤的城市街道和陡峭的山路。他甚至一连几个星期独自在野外露营。

Super tasters

超级品酒师

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About 25 percent of people have significantly more taste buds on their tongues, allowing them to savor flavors up to three times more intensely. Not surprisingly, Super tasters have less heart disease and are thinner because they don’t usually like the taste of fatty and sugary foods, but may also be more prone to certain cancers because they tend to shun green vegetables as well (particularly bitter kinds like Brussels sprouts and cabbage).

大约25%的人的舌头上有更多的味蕾，这使得他们能更强烈地品尝到三倍于常人的味道。毫不奇怪,超级品酒师很少得心脏病，而且更瘦,因为他们通常不喜欢高脂肪和含糖食物的味道,但也可能更容易患某些癌症，因为他们常常避开绿色蔬菜(特别是苦种像抱子甘蓝和卷心菜)。

Seeing auras

看到光环

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Call them crazy, but there are some people who claim to see luminous colors or glowing light surrounding other people. Most scientists deny the existence of a visible human energy field, chalking it up to psychic poppycock or an unusual form of synesthesia. But at least one recent discovery should make even the most skeptical researcher take pause. Japanese scientists have shown that the human body actually does emit small amounts of visible light. In other words, we literally glow throughout the day and night, fluctuating in intensity. Though this light is apparently too weak to be detected by the human eye, still, you have to wonder ... could a few hypersensitive individuals really be aura-seers?

你可以称他们为疯子，但也有一些人声称他们看到周围有明亮的颜色或明亮的光。大多数科学家否认存在可见的人类能量场，将其归因于精神上的胡言乱语或一种不寻常的联觉形式。但至少最近的一项发现应该会让最持怀疑态度的研究人员暂停下来。日本科学家已经证明，人体确实会发出少量可见光。换句话说，我们在白天和晚上都是发光的，只是在强度上波动。虽然这种光线很微弱，肉眼无法探测到，但你不得不怀疑……少数高敏感的人真的能预知极光吗?