本集内容
Why some women can see colours most of us can’t
为什么有些女性能看见大多数人看不见的颜色
文字稿
Are you a woman?
你是女性吗？
Does your dad have colour vision deficiency?
你的父亲有色盲或色弱吗？
Have you noticed you can see differences in colour that other people can’t?
你是否发现自己能分辨出别人察觉不到的颜色差异？
If you answered ‘yes’ to all of these, there’s a chance you could have ‘tetrachromacy’.
如果以上问题你都回答 “是”，那么你有可能拥有 “四色视觉”。
（Source: Newcastle University）
It’s thought around 12% of women have a genetic mutation enabling them to develop a fourth type of cone cell in their eyes.
（信息来源：纽卡斯尔大学）
普遍认为，大约 12% 的女性携带一种基因变异，使她们的双眼发育出第四种视锥细胞。
Some scientists think this could mean some women see finer gradations of colour, or even completely novel colours that the rest of us can’t see.
有些科学家认为，这意味着部分女性能够分辨更细微的色彩渐变，甚至能看到我们其他人无法看见的全新颜色。
But this is really hard to prove, and because of that, it’s a bit controversial.
不过，由于难以验证，因此该观点尚存一些争议。
Dr Jenny Bosten, visual neuroscientist
“It’s quite a bold claim to say that some members of our species have extra colour vision.”
詹妮·博斯腾博士 视觉神经学家
“声称我们人类中的某些成员拥有额外的颜色视觉能力，这确实是一个相当大胆的说法。”
But scientists like Dr Bosten have been working for years to establish whether this enhanced colour vision exists, and some studies suggest it does.
为了证实这种更强的色觉是否真的存在，包括博斯腾博士在内的科学家们已经研究多年。有些研究表明，它确实可能存在。
（Source: Jameson et al., 2001）
One study found women with the genes for the extra cone cell type split a spectrum of colours into more separate shades, suggesting they could see finer colour distinctions than others.
（信息来源：Jameson et al., 2001）
一项研究发现，拥有这种额外视锥细胞基因的女性能把同一个色谱细分成更多种不同的色调，这表明她们或许能比别人分辨出更细微的颜色差异。
Artist Concetta Antico has the genes for a fourth cone cell type, and believes she sees extra colours as a result.
艺术家孔切塔·安蒂科就拥有第四种视锥细胞的基因，她认为自己因此能够看到别人看不到的额外的色彩。
Concetta Antico, fine artist
“The best way I can explain it as an artist would be it’s a nuance of colour. So, for example in shadows, when people with regular vision are looking at it, they’ll say: ‘Oh, that’s a grey shadow,’ right? And when I look at it, there’s a full rainbow of colour. So in a shadow it could be emerald and magenta and violet and all these colours.”
孔切塔·安蒂科 美术家
“作为一名艺术家，我能做出最好的解释就是，这是一种色彩上的微妙变化。比如，拥有普通视力的人看到一片阴影时会说 ‘噢，那是灰色的阴影，’ 对吧？但当我去看时，能看到整道彩虹般丰富的色彩。所以在一片阴影中，我能看到翠绿色、洋红色、紫罗兰色等各种颜色。”
There’s a lot we don’t know about tetrachromacy.
关于四色视觉，我们不知道的事还有很多。
But Concetta says her vision has been a blessing.
但孔切塔表示，这种视力是上天对她的眷顾。
Concetta Antico, fine artist
“I know this might seem bizarre. You probably just think I’m using, you know, any kind of artistic license of colours. It has made my life wonderful. It’s a huge gift.”
孔切塔·安蒂科 美术家
“我知道这听起来有些不可思议。你们可能会觉得我只是作为艺术家在色彩运用上进行了艺术化处理。但它让我的生活变得丰富多彩。这是一份巨大的恩赐。”
重点词汇或表达
deficiency 缺陷
mutation （基因的）变异
gradation （色彩的）层次，渐变
a bold claim 一个大胆的说法
bizarre 古怪的，奇异的