海豹研究，面部識別技術來幫忙

江西 侯昌瑋

美國紐約州科爾蓋特大學的研究人員開發出了SealNet系統。科學家們認為他們發現了面部識別技術的一個新用途——拯救海豹。

主題語境：科普研究 篇幅：335詞 建議用時：6分鐘

1Scientists believe they have found a new use for facial recognition technology:saving large ocean animals known as seals.Researchers at Colgate University in the US state of New York have developed SealNet.The system is a database of seal faces created by taking pictures of many harbor seals in Maine's Casco Bay.

2The research team found the tool's accuracy in identifying the mammals was close to 100 percent.The researchers are working on increasing the size of their database to make it available to other scientists,said Krista Ingram,who is a biology professor at Colgate and a team member.

3Increasing the database to include rare species such as Mediterranean monk seals and Hawaiian monk seals could help save those species.Creating a list of seal faces and using machine learning to identify them could also help scientists know where in the ocean seals are.For marine mammals that move around a lot and are hard to photograph in the water, we need to be able to identify individuals,Ingram said.

4SealNet is designed to identify the face in a picture.It recognizes the seal's face based on information related to the eyes and nose shape, as it would recognize a human.A similar tool called PrimNet, which is used on primates (靈長類), had been used on seals earlier, but SealNet performed better, the Colgate researchers said.Seals and other ocean mammals have long been studied using satellite technology.Using artificial intelligence to study them is a way to bring conservation into the 21st century.

5Facial recognition technology could provide valuable data, said Michelle Berger, an associate scientist at the Shaw Institute in Maine.Berger was not involved in the SealNet research.“Once the system is perfected, I can picture lots of interesting environmental uses for it,”Berger said.“If it could recognize seals, and recognize them from year to year,that would give us lots of information about how much they move from site to site.”

Reading Check

Detail 1.How can the researchers benefit other scientists from the database?

A.By expanding the database.

B.By improving the database's accuracy.

C.By getting closer to seals.

D.By using more machines.

Detail 2.Why is taking photos of ocean mammals difficult?

A.They always live in large groups.

B.They can't adapt to new equipment.

C.They all have similar eyes and noses.

D.They often change their locations.

Inference 3.What does Berger think of the new technology?

A.It's really perfect.

B.It's unreliable.

C.It's of great benefit.

D.It's very interesting.

Inference 4.What can be inferred about the system?

A.It is a database of faces of all ocean animals.

B.It is also called PrimNet first used on primates.

C.It is mainly intended to protect seals better.

D.It's the first tool used for studying seals.

Language Study

I.Difficult sentence in the text

Creating a list of seal faces and using machine learning to identify them could also help scientists know where in the ocean seals are.創建一個海豹面部的列表，并使用機器學習來識別它們，也可以幫助科學家知曉海豹在海洋中的位置。

【點石成金】本句為主從復合句。句中的Creating a list of seal faces and using machine learning to identify them 為并列的兩個動名詞短語作主語；動詞know 后面是where引導的賓語從句。

Ⅱ.Text-centered chunks

facial recognition 面部識別

Mediterranean monk seal 地中海僧海豹

be related to 與……有關

artificial intelligence 人工智能

from site to site 從一個地點移動到另一個地點