【正文】 suppose I ask you to image a lunch salad, no problem, right? But I bet you imagine specific ingredients. Did yours have tomatoes, Onion, Lettuce? mine did? Our brains fill in all sorts of details that might not be part of other people?s image of a salad, which could lead to disappointment for us. If the next time we order a salad in a restaurant, we have our imagined salad in mind, that?s not necessarily what we?ll get on our plate. The problem is not that we imagine things, but that we assume what we?ve imagined is accurate. We should be aware that our imagination has this builtin feature, the blind spot, which makes our predictions fall short of reality. Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a biology class. Professor: Almost all animals have some way of regulating their body temperature。 otherwise they wouldn?t survive extreme hot or cold conditionssweating, panting, swimming to cooler or warmer water。 these are just a few. And that?s body is colder or warmer than the surrounding environment, because it?s a microclimate. A microclimate is a group of climate conditions that affect the localized area, weather features like temperature, wind, moisture and so on. And when I say localized, I mean really localized, because microclimates can be, as the name suggests, pretty small, even less than a square meter. And microclimates are affected by huge number of other variables. Obviously weather conditions in the surrounding areas are a factor. But other aspects of the location like, um… the elevation of the land, the plant li fe nearby, and so on, have a substantial effect on microclimates. And of course the human development in the area, eh, a road will affect a nearby microclimate. It?s also interesting to know that microclimates thither or near each other can have very different conditions. In the forest for example, there can be a number of very different microclimates close to each other, because of all the variables I just mentioned. Student: So how does a hole in the ground, a burrow , stay cool in a hot climate? Professor: Well, since cold air sinks , and these spots are shaded , they are usually much cooler than the surrounding area. And these spots are so important because many animals rely on microclimates to regulate their body temperature. Hmm, for instance, there is a species of squirrel, in the Western part of the United States that can get really hot when they were out foraging for food. So they need a way to cool down. So what?d they do? They go back to their own burrow . Once they get there, their body temperatures decrease very, very quickly. The trip to the burrow prevents the squirrel from getting too hot. Student: But squirrels are mammals, right? I thought mammals regulate their temperature internally. Professor: Mammals do have the ability to regulate their body temperature, but not all can do it to the same degree, or even the same way. Like when you walk outside on a hot day, you perspire, and your body cools itself down, a classic example of how mammal regulates its own body temperature. But one challenge that squirrels face, well many small mammals do, is that because of their size, sweating would make them lose too much moisture. They dehydrate. But on the other hand, their small size allows them to fit into very tiny spaces. So for small mammals, microclimates can make a big difference. They rely on microclimates for survival. Student: So cold blood animals, like reptiles, they can?t control their own body temperature, so I can image the effect of microclimate would have on them. Professor: Yes, many reptile insects rely on microclimates to control their body temperature. A lot of reptiles use burrows or stay under rocks to cool down. Of course with reptiles, it?s a balancing act. Staying in the heat for too long can lead to problems, but staying in the cold can do the same. So reptiles have to be really precise about where they spend their time, even how they position their bodies. And when I say they?re precise, I mean it some snakes will search out a place under rocks of a specific thickness, because too thin a rock doesn?t keep them cool enough, and too thick a rock will cause them to get too cold. That level of precision is critical to the snake for maintaining its body temperature. And even microscopic anisms rely on microclimates for survival. Think about this, deposing leaves create heat that warms the soil。s sounds great! Student: Yeah… the first article I wrote it was profile of the chemistry professorthe one whose name teacher the year. My article