一詞：貓和狗誰更聰明？現在科學界有新說法了
dense[dens]
adj. 密集的
Ever since humanity split into dog and cat people, we've been arguing over which one of our beloved companions is a smarter species.
自從人類分裂爲汪星人和喵星人，我們就一直在爭論，在這兩種備受喜愛的夥伴中，哪種更聰明。
A study from 2017 mightn't be the last word on the matter, but for those who think more neurons means more intelligence, it looks as if dogs stand out among carnivores for having a remarkably dense cerebral cortex.
2017年的一項研究可能無法給這件事下最終定論，但是對於那些認爲神經元越多就越聰明的人來說，似乎在肉食動物中，狗出類拔萃，因爲狗的大腦皮層神經元十分密集。
An international team of researchers analysed the wrinkled outer layers of the brains of a variety of carnivorous animals - including dogs and cats - to determine whether the demands of hunting prey mean a higher count of cortical neurons, adding brain power where it counts.
一個國際研究員小組分析了多種食肉動物的大腦褶皺外層，包括狗和貓，以此判斷捕獵的需求是否意味着皮質神經元比例更高，增加有需要的地方的腦力。
"I believe the absolute number of neurons an animal has, especially in the cerebral cortex, determines the richness of their internal mental state and their ability to predict what is about to happen in their environment based on past experience," said neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel from Vanderbilt University in the US.
來自美國範德堡大學的神經學家蘇珊娜·埃爾庫拉諾·烏澤爾說，“我相信動物神經元的絕對數量，特別是大腦皮層神經元的數量，決定了動物的心理狀態的豐富程度以及基於經驗預測環境中即將發生的事情的能力。”
So is it time to give dogs their due?
那麼現在是時候給狗說句公道話了？
"I'm 100 percent a dog person," Herculano-Houzel confesses, "but, with that disclaimer, our findings mean to me that dogs have the biological capability of doing much more complex and flexible things with their lives than cats can."
“我是百分百的汪星人。”埃爾庫拉諾·烏澤爾坦白說，“但是，我放棄說，我們的研究結果對我來說意味着，狗有這種生理上的能力，可以比貓做更復雜更靈活的事情。”
Capability might not necessarily be realised as intelligence, of course. Cats are notoriously harder to study - not because they're stupid, but because frankly they just don't care for our 'science'.
當然，能力並不一定能解讀爲智力。衆所周知，要研究貓很困難。並不是因爲貓很笨，而是坦白來說，它們不在乎我們的‘科學’”
And if you're a dog person cracking out the champagne to celebrate anyway, here's one more fun fact.
如果你是個汪星人，打開香檳來慶祝狗更聰明的話，這裏還有一個有趣的事實。
The real oddball carnivore is the racoon - even though it's close to cats in terms of size, it actually has a similar number of neurons to dogs. Considering raccoons can smash intelligence tests, we're not surprised.
真正怪異的肉食動物是浣熊。雖然浣熊體型和貓很接近，但實際上它們的神經元數量和狗差不多。說到到浣熊能碾壓智力測試，我們並不驚訝。
今日詞彙
dense[dens]
adj. 密集的
They thrust their way through the dense crowd.
他們從密集的人羣中擠了過去。
A dense column of smoke 一股濃煙
