海豹研究，面部识别技术来帮忙

江西 侯昌玮

美国纽约州科尔盖特大学的研究人员开发出了SealNet系统。科学家们认为他们发现了面部识别技术的一个新用途——拯救海豹。

主题语境：科普研究 篇幅：335词 建议用时：6分钟

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 (灵长类), 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.创建一个海豹面部的列表，并使用机器学习来识别它们，也可以帮助科学家知晓海豹在海洋中的位置。

【点石成金】本句为主从复合句。句中的Creating a list of seal faces and using machine learning to identify them 为并列的两个动名词短语作主语；动词know 后面是where引导的宾语从句。

Ⅱ.Text-centered chunks

facial recognition 面部识别

Mediterranean monk seal 地中海僧海豹

be related to 与……有关

artificial intelligence 人工智能

from site to site 从一个地点移动到另一个地点