关于未来，你需要了解的事

2018-04-13

时代英语·高一 2018年2期

导读：人类对未来世界总是充满好奇和想象。100年后我们靠什么发电？癌症会治愈吗？精神疾病会成为历史吗？汽车可以飞吗？英国广播公司《地平线》节目的科学家团队总结了关于未来我们最需要知道的几件事，一起来看看吧。

Will there be endless electric energy for lamps？电灯可以一直亮下去吗？

Much of our electricity is generated by burning coal or gas， both of which will ultimately run out. Renewable energy sources are fraught with their own problems （not least the changeable nature of British weather）， so could a Norwegian concept of raising wind turbines thousands of feet in the air where there is always a breeze become a reality？

大部分的电能是通过燃烧煤或天然气产生的，这两种能源最终都会耗尽。可再生能源自身存在着问题（尤其对于英国多变的天气来说），那么，在挪威长期有风的地带竖立数千英尺高的风力发电机会成为现实吗？

What about the weather in future？未来的天气怎么样？

Britains famously unpredictable climate may soon be a thing of the past， according to weatherman and meteorologist Peter Gibbs， who argues that we can expect a hotter， drier south， and a warmer， wetter north.

英国天气的多变是出了名的，不过据气象预报员兼气象学家皮特·吉布斯称，这也许很快就会成为历史。他认为南方天气可能更热、更干燥，而北方天气将更加温暖潮湿。

Will our human beings become a robot creature？人类会变成机器人吗？

James Young， who lost an arm and a leg in an accident， goes in search of integrated technologies that might reveal a future for human-machine chimeras.

James meets self-proclaimed cyborg Neil Harbisson， who claims to have “cured” his color-blindness by converting color to sounds that are then sent to his skull.

詹姆斯·杨在一次事故中失去了一只胳膊和一条腿，他开始寻找可能开启人机结合的集成技术。

詹姆斯见了自称电子人的尼尔·哈尔比森。哈尔比森称，他将颜色转化为声音，并将其传入大脑，从而“治好”了自己的色盲症。

Can our humans live over 100 years on average？人类可以普遍活过100岁吗？

The average life expectancy in the UK has been steadily increasing since records began in 1840， but the fact remains that the human body gives up at around the 100 year mark. So could that change？

The team turns to the east African naked mole rat， which enjoys ten times the lifespan of other species， to see if they can shed any light on the subject.

Dr Chris Faulkes， of Queen Mary University of London， asks whether—given the unique protein in their skin that makes it super stretchy and means cancer is virtually unheard of—the mole rat actually holds the secret to a long life.

英國人的平均寿命自1840年以来一直保持稳定增长，但事实是，人类的寿命始终维持在100岁左右，那么这点可以改变吗？

科学家们将目光转向东非的裸鼹鼠，想看看能否在它们身上找到一些答案。裸鼹鼠的寿命是其他鼠类的10倍。

伦敦大学玛丽皇后学院的克里斯·福克斯博士想知道裸鼹鼠身上是否有长寿的秘密。因为它们的皮肤中含有独特的蛋白质，可以保持超强弹性，也不会患癌症。

Can cancer be completely cured？癌症可以治愈吗？

A team of scientists of BBCs Horizon meets researchers pioneering gene-based therapies that early results suggest could offer a cure for leukaemia.

It works by “editing” a patients genome by inserting genes that will allow the immune system to identify cancerous cells as alien and destroy them.

《地平线》的科学家团队见到了基因治疗领域的顶尖研究人员，他们此前的研究结果表明，白血病可以治愈。

基因治療原理是通过插入基因对病人的基因组进行“编辑”，让免疫系统将癌症细胞识别为外来细胞并摧毁它们。

Will there not exist the kind of mental diseases？精神疾病会成为过去吗？

Michael Mosley visits a research project at St. Thomass Hospital in London， where doctors are working to map the developing brain by safely MRI scanning foetuses as they grow.

The plan is to use the increased knowledge to identify pathologies that could shed light on conditions like autism and schizophrenia.

迈克尔·莫斯利参观了伦敦圣托马斯医院的一个研究项目，那里的医生正在对生长期的胎儿进行安全的核磁扫描，以绘制出发育中的大脑图。

该项目旨在利用新获取的知识，去发现一些病理，以解释自闭症、精神分裂症等病症。

What will happen to the life on earth？地球上的生命会怎样？

Biologist Adam Rutherford outlines the potentially catastrophic impact of plummeting numbers of non-human vertebrate species between now and 2030—including the rise of smaller predators like rats as a knock-on effect if we lose apex predators such as lions and tigers.

He also warns that changing environments could lead us to a point where coffee can no longer survive on planet， or where entire marine systems disappear.

“Life will continue on earth as it has for four billion years，” he said. “What we are doing is removing the ability for us to live on earth.”

生物学家亚当·罗瑟夫介绍了从现在到2030年非人类脊椎动物种类数量急剧下降的潜在灾难性影响，比如如果我们失去了狮子、老虎等食物链顶端的肉食动物，产生的连锁反应是包括老鼠在内的小型肉食动物数量的增长。

他还警告说，不断变化的环境可能导致人类无法在地球上种植咖啡，或者整个海洋系统消失。

他说：“地球上的生命已经存在40亿年，而且将继续存活下去，我们的所作所为是在削弱人类在地球上生存的能力。”

Can cars fly？汽车会飞吗？

According to the show， several groups are developing what they hope will become “drone taxis”. But can we be trusted at the controls？ The answer is absolutely “no”.

But help is at hand. Dr Raffaello DAndrea designed the complex program that runs Amazons fiercely efficient warehouse robots—hundreds of which select products for dispatch to customers， all without crashing into one another.

By taking unreliable human pilots out of the equation， It could perhaps be the start of just the thing to finally make flying cars or at least flying taxis a reality.

据《地平线》称，几个团队正在研发一种“无人驾驶飞行出租车”，但是我们能放心让操控台自己操作吗？答案当然是“不能”。

但是希望就在前方。拉斐尔·D·安德拉博士设计了一个复杂的程序，该程序可以操控亚马孙公司的高效仓库机器人。几百台机器人在不会撞车的前提下高效运转，分拣出配送给顾客的产品。

抛开不靠谱的人类飞行员，这个系统或许是飞行汽车，或者至少是飞行出租车变为现实的起点。

Will our jobs be taken by robots？机器人会抢走人类的工作吗？

Some jobs seem more susceptible than others to being taken over by robots， but how sure can we be that ‘soft skill careers will always require human ability？

To give some indication， Dr Zoe Williams discovers an Artificial Intelligence programme thats as good as she is at being a GP.

有些工作似乎比其他工作更容易被機器人接管，但我们能有多少把握那些依靠“软技能”的职业将始终需要人力去完成呢？

为了展示一些可能性，佐伊·威廉姆斯博士开发了一个人工智能程序。这个程序能跟她一样出色地完成全科医生的职责。

Expect the unexpected.相信会有意外发生。

Crucial among the things we need to know about the future？ And the one the team of scientists are 100 percent confident will prove accurate？ Expect the unexpected.

在人类需要知道的关于未来的事情中，最重要的是什么？科学家们百分百确信无误的一件事就是：会有意料之外的事情发生。