As far back as 1968, researchers found that hydra use neurotransmitters like glutamate to activate neurons and orchestrate eating, which sounds like something an organism with a brain would do.

1968年，研究人员就发现水螅会利用谷氨酸等神经递质来激活神经元并协调进食，这听起来就像有大脑的有机体会做的事情。

When you see a Source hydra panel, it looks a little bit like a normal solar module, except for just a little thicker.

Source 水力板看起来有点像普通的太阳能模块，只是稍微厚了一点。

But hydra have neural nets of diffuse brain cells, rather than a dense organ-like we have.

但水螅有弥漫的脑细胞构成的神经网络，而不像我们有一个密集的器官。

No matter what happens, though, Alexander's three-headed hydra problem just became a two-headed one.

不管发什么，亚历山大的三头怪问题现变成了两头了。

One of the arguments of the book is that AI is kind of like a hydra right now, especially generative AI, like new things popping up every day.

这本书的一个论点是， 人工智能目前就像个九头蛇，尤其是成式AI， 新东西每天都涌现。

What we now know about hydras suggests that they could hold the keys to big breakthroughs in research on stem cells, aging, and diseases like Alzheimer’s.

我们现对水螅的了解表明，它们可能掌握着干细胞、衰老以及阿尔茨海默病等疾病研究的重大突破的关键。

Like the mythical hydra, maybe this is a beast that never can be truly  slain with just chopping off its heads.

就像神话中的九头蛇一样，也许这是一种永远无法通过砍下头来真正杀死的野兽。

Instead of a brain, hydras have nerve nets, the most basic nervous systems in nature.

水螅没有大脑，而是拥有神经网络 ，这是自然界中最基本的神经系统。

Can humans learn the secrets of longevity from the hydra, a tiny aquatic creature capable of indefinite self-renewal?

人类能否从水螅这种具有无限自我更新能力的微小水物身上寿的秘诀呢？

If the mortality rates observed in this study continued, that means that in 3000 years, 5% of those hydras would still be alive, if they were kept safe in the lab.

如果本研究中观察的死亡率持续下去，这意味着3000年后， 仍有5%的水螅存活， 前提是它们实验室里得妥善保护。

This year, a group of Japanese scientists demonstrated that hydras sleep.

今年，一群日本科家 证明了水螅睡觉。

So how do hydras not decline with age?

那么水螅为什么不会随着年龄增而衰退呢？

The hydra has fascinated scientists for centuries, and when they sequenced its genome back in 2010, they discovered that it had the same number of genes as humans.

水螅几个世纪以来一直让科家着迷，当他们2010年对其基因组进行测序时， 他们发现水螅的基因数量与人类相同。

Because, like, maybe they can magically repair the neurodegeneration that leads to Alzheimer’s, that would pretty much be exactly what we would expect from hydras at this point.

因为，也许它们能神奇地修复导致阿尔茨海默病的神经退行， 这正是我们目前对水螅的期望。

See, hydra bodies are really simple: one head and one foot lined up along a single body axis.

看看，水螅的身体非常简单：一个头部和一个足部沿着单一身体轴线排列。

And even though hydra regeneration is a little more extreme, it’s similar to how we humans heal wounds and develop as embryos.

尽管水螅的再能力有点极端，但它类似于我们人类如何愈合伤口和胚胎如何发育的过程。

No decline in fertility, or increase in mortality, was observed at any point in the hydra life cycle.

水螅的命周期中，任何阶段都没有观察育力下降或死亡率上升。

Every cell in a hydra’s body is replaced every three to four weeks, by fresh cells produced by brand new stem cells.

水螅身体里的每一个细胞每隔三四周就会被全新干细胞产的新细胞替换。

According to a study that came out this week from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, there’s another exception to this rule: the hydra.

根据德国马克斯·普朗克研究所本周发布的一项研究，还有另一个例外：水螅。

This hydra is a freshwater polyp that’s a centimeter long, and reproduces both asexually and sexually, can regenerate after it’s been cut into pieces, including being able to regenerate its ENTIRE HEAD, and, as it turns out, is pretty much immortal.

这种水螅是一种一厘米的淡水水母，既能无性繁殖也能有性繁殖， 被切成碎片后还能再，甚至能再整个头部， 结果证明它几乎是永的。