Best Inventions of the Year 2013

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美国《时代》周刊评选出了2013年的25项最佳发明，有些很实用：能隐身的摩天大楼、能让瘫痪者重新站立的外骨骼套装；有些很有趣：不能提神的咖啡酒、结合了两种美味的羊角甜甜圈面包。让我们随着这篇文章，一起来看看其中一些令人惊艳的最佳发明吧。

The year 2013 has seen a wide array1. an array of： 大量，大批。of inventions, some of them solving problems that we never thought could be solved and others simply making life more fun. Which of these inventions stand out? Check out some of the things that made it intoTimemagazine’s list of the 25 best inventions of 2013.

The Driverless (Toy) Car无人驾驶（玩具）汽车

San Francisco-based Anki wants to bring robotics to the people.2. Anki： 一家专注于人工智能研发的美国高科技公司；robotics： 机器人学。The company’s first offering is Anki Drive, a $200 racing game in which toy cars can drive themselves. The cars carry sensors that feed data to an iPhone or iPad, which players can use to control speed and position for their cars.3. sensor： 传感器；feed： 馈给，发送（信号）。Meanwhile, the Anki app computes actions of the enemy cars so they can compete as craftily as the humans.4. compute： （用计算机）计算，估算；craftily：有技巧地，熟练地。

Gravity’s Lightbox太空灯箱

For his filmGravity, set entirely in space, director Alfonso Cuarón had to throw out the normal sci- fiplaybook.5.为了拍摄背景全都设置在太空中的电影《地心引力》，导演艾方索·柯朗不得不扔掉科幻电影的教科书，另寻佳径。Gravity：《地心引力》，一部于2013年上映的太空灾难电影；Alfonso Cuarón：艾方索·柯朗（1961— ），墨西哥电影导演、编剧和监制，电影代表作有《地心引力》（2013）、《人类之子》（2006）和《哈利·波特：阿兹卡班的囚徒》（2004）。Working with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, he created a“lightbox”: a 20-by-10-ft. structure covered with 196 panels of 4,096 LED bulbs each to simulate the extreme light in outer space.6. 与摄影特效师艾曼努尔·卢贝兹基合作，他设计出了一个“太空灯箱”——这个18平方米的灯箱上有196个镶嵌板，上面有4,096个LED灯泡，每个都可以模拟太空中的发光体。cinematographer： 摄影师，摄影特效师；Emmanuel Lubezki： 艾曼努尔·卢贝兹基（1964— ），墨西哥电影摄影师，电影代表作有《人类之子》（2006）和《断头谷》（1999）；simulate： 模拟。The box had the added bonus of being able to project images that would be added later in CGI, so that the actors had a visual reference.7. 灯箱还带来了另一个好处：它能把后期电脑生成图像技术添加到影片中的影像提前投射出来，为演员在表演时提供视觉参考。bonus： 附加值，额外的好处；project： 投射；CGI： = computer graphic image，电脑生成图像技术，是指使用电脑产生的影像，如影片中的3D特效。

Alcoholic Coffee咖啡酒

Portuguese and Spanish researchers writing in the journalLWT—Food Science and Technologyannounced the birth of a new coffeebased beverage. They dried used grounds, heated the powder in scalding water for 45 minutes, removed the liquid and added sugar and yeast.8. 他们将干燥的咖啡渣放在滚烫的热水中煮45分钟，脱水后加上糖和酵母，然后让混合物发酵提纯。used grounds： 咖啡渣；scalding： 滚烫的，灼烫的；yeast： 酵母。Then they let the mixture ferment and concentrated it to boost the alcohol content.9. ferment： 使发酵；concentrate： 凝缩，浓缩；boost： 增长，增加。The result? A booze that’s about 80 proof, like tequila and vodka.10. booze： 酒，烈酒；proof： 西方的一种酒精浓度衡量单位，即酒中含乙醇的体积百分比；tequila： 龙舌兰酒，一种墨西哥产、使用龙舌兰草心为原料所制造出的酒精饮品；vodka： 伏特加，俄罗斯的传统酒精饮料。It’s good enough to consume11. consume： 喝光。, they found, and its taste might improve with age. But beware: this coffee won’t keep you awake,since most of the caffeine disappears as it brews.

Sony’s Smart Lens索尼智能镜头

With its large sensor, high-quality glass and 3.6x optical zoom, the Sony DSC-QX100 has all the fixings of a high-quality digital camera—but it clips to your iPhone or Android phone.12With Sony’s “PlayMemories Mobile” app, your phone acts as the view finder. Unattached, it’s the remote control. The DSC-QX100 is a bit too big to fit in a jeans pocket but plenty small enough for a bag. It retails13for $499.

The Cronut羊角甜甜圈面包

In 2013 a new fusion food joined the ranks of the ice cream cake and the turducken.14The cronut—made of croissant-style pastry that’s fried like a doughnut, filled with cream and topped with glaze—trans fixed foodies when New York City chef Dominique Ansel started selling it in May.15His recipe inspired imitations around the world, and customers proved willing to wait hours for a taste; scalpers were even hawking the $5 treats for up to $40.16

The 3Doodler 3D打印笔

Enjoy doodling17? The 3Doodler promises to make it more fun. The pen doodles in three dimensions instead of two. Essentially it works like a 3-D printer, melting and cooling colored plastic to create freestanding structures in any shape imaginable.18Invented by Maxwell Bogue, Peter Dilworth and Daniel Cowen at the Boston-based toy company WobbleWorks, the 3Doodler raised over $ 2 million on Kickstarter, the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects.