Technology makes our lives better. You're taking a MOOC class, and have your appointments organized on your computer. You watch wepisodes on your internet-capable high-definition television. You pay your bills electronically and save time and money. That's fine and dandy, until someone takes out the electronic banking system and the machines take over the planet.
科技为我们带来了更美好的生活。你可以参加网络课程，利用电脑整理自己的约会事宜。你也可以在支持联网的高清电视机上浏览网页，使用网络进行电子支付。这一切都让人觉得如此得心应手，直到有一天你发现，有人可以侵入银行的网上交易系统，而先进的机器将会攻陷我们的星球。
Sounds crazy? Perhaps. None of the gadgets and innovations we included in our list of 10 scary technologies is likely to rain death and destruction on our little planet, though that doesn't prevent people from being unnerved by them. Read on to find out what weirdness may await in the future.
这听起来是不是很疯狂？或许吧。以下我们列出的这10个吓人的科技发明中，不论是小玩意还是大发明，都不大可能对我们的星球造成伤害甚至是毁灭性的打击。只不过人们仍然对此感到惶惶不安。现在就让我们来看看，未来到底有什么古怪的事情在等着我们吧。
10.Hearing Voices at the Store
10.商店里的私人扩音器
Imagine that you walk into your friendly neighborhood big box store and instead of being greeted by a smiling retiree, you hear whispered voices prompting you to buy things. You spin around to see who's speaking, but there's no one there and none of the other shoppers seem alarmed. Have you finally gone nuts? No, but the ]advertising industry has.
想想看，你走进附近一家环境不错的大型超市，迎接你的并不是一位面带笑容的老年人，而是亲切温柔的声音耳语般地鼓励你购买一些商品。你四处搜寻，想要找到声音的来源，然而店内并无任何工作人员。你环顾四周，发现身边的其他消费者也并无异常。最后你会不会好奇的简直要疯掉了呢？不，当然不会。真正疯狂的是那些广告商。
A company called Holosonics has developed a technology called the Audio Spotlight system, which uses tiny speakers to focus sound into a very narrow beam. Ultrasonic frequencies are too high for the human ear to hear, but as the sound travels from the Audio Spotlight system's speakers, air distorts the sound and makes it audible. It's perfect for in-store advertising, but you'd have to be standing in the right place to hear it.
全方位应用声学公司（Holosonics）已经研发了一种称作“声音聚焦系统”的技术，能够利用微型扩音器将声音聚集成狭窄的一束。因超声波的频率过高，人类自然无法听到这类声音。但是应用了“声音聚焦系统”的扩音器发出声音后，空气可以改变超声波，使其能够为人类所听见。这种技术用来进行店内广告及营销工作简直是再合适不过了！然而要注意的是，只有站在正确的位置才能听到声音。
9.解密DNA
When the human genome was fully mapped in 2003, researchers around the globe began to dissect the genome's 3 billion-plus base pairs for the root causes of diseases like Alzheimer's and common cancers. But that was only the beginning. The real dream of biotechnology is not only to understand how our DNA expresses itself, but also to "write" new DNA that heals disease and repairs bodies from the inside out. J. Craig Venter, the bio-entrepreneur whose company helped map the genome, reached a new milestone in 2010 when he built the world's first synthetic, self-replicating chromosome He loaded some homemade synthetic DNA into a bacterial cell and watched it grow and divide according to computer-generated As, Ts, Gs and Cs. By his own reckoning, he had created "life."
在人类基因组计划于2003年圆满完成之后，全球范围内的研究人员都开始深入研究基因组中30多亿个碱基，试图找出一些疾病如阿兹海默或其他常见癌症的根本病因。然而这仅仅是个开始。生物科技的终极理想不仅在于搞清楚基因表达的方式，还要能够实现新型基因的创造，从而实现由内而外、完全治愈疾病的目的。克雷格·文特尔（J.Craig Venter）是一名生物科技领域的的企业家，其研究机构为“人类基因组”计划贡献了一份力量。2010年，他所进行的“全球首例人工合成、自我复制的染色体”项目取得突破性进展。克雷格·文特尔将人工合成的DNA植入菌细胞，通过计算机生成四种碱基（As,Ts,Gs 和Cs）来观察菌细胞的分化生长。用他自己的话来说，他是在创造生命。
In the happy scenario, biologists of the near future will figure out how to program viruses and bacteria to deliver custom-made cures that shrink cancerous tumors or reverse the tide of dementia. In the super scary scenario, bioterrorists engineer deadly superbugs that target us at a genetic level. In a 2012 article, The Atlantic imagined a technologically plausible scheme in which the president of the United States is assassinated by a highly contagious cold designed to target a weak link in his specific genetic code. To keep your DNA out of enemy hands, it's best not to leave the house without a hairnet and rubber gloves.
如果事情发展顺利的话，在不远的将来，生物学家有望控制细菌和病毒，针对患病者的病症提供所需的治疗，从而缓和癌症类肿瘤的病况或是有效扭转老年痴呆的发作。不过，如果事情朝着极其可怕的一面发展，生化恐怖分子也可能研发出致命性的超级细菌，直接从基因层面上对人类构成威胁。2012年，美国大西洋月刊发表一篇文章，作者在文章中提出一个科技上完全可行的假设：通过使人感染一种高传染性的感冒，你能暗杀美国总统于无形，因为这种感冒能攻击人体基因代码中某一特定的微弱链接。这样看来，要想避免敌人获取你的DNA，以后出门时发网和橡胶手套可都要随身携带啦。
8.网络战争
Imagine a war fought completely by computer. No, we're not talking about a scene out of the movie "WarGames," we're talking an all-out attack on a nation's electronic infrastructure. What's that, you may ask? Those are the systems that control emergency response services, banks and other electronic commerce, the systems that run the electrical grid, water and fuel pipeline controls, and oh, yeah: defense weaponry. A well-executed attack could cause serious disruption and open the populace up to physical threats.
你能想象一场完全由电脑来对峙的战争吗？等等，我们说的可不是《战争游戏》中的一些场面，而是大家的电脑火力全开地攻击一个国家的电子设施。听到这里你的反应可能是：“呃，你在说什么？”我们所说的电子设施就是那些控制着应急服务部门、银行、电子贸易、国家电网、供水管道、燃油管道和……噢！还有怎么能少的了防御武器装备运行系统。一场精心设计的网络攻击可以完全瓦解上述的电子设施，甚至乎会影响到普通大众的人身安全。
In 2013, FBI Director James Comey predicted that cyberattacks would soon overtake traditional international terrorism as the greatest threat to homeland security. In 2008,Georgia suspected Russia of denial-of-service attacks (which Russia denied). In 2013, South Korea accused North Korea of cyberttacks. Hackers have taken on the Pentagon, and some suspect terrorist organizations of training their operatives to launch computer assaults. So how do you defend against a cyberattack? Educating people about computer viruses and Trojan horses will help, and using updated antivirus software is also important.
联邦调查局局长詹姆斯•科米（James Comey）在2013年预测，网络攻击会很快超越传统的国际恐怖组织，成为国家安全的最大隐患。2008年，在美国佐治亚州（Georgia），有互联网研究专家怀疑俄罗斯政府对美国发起了阻断服务攻击。（译注：denial-of-service attacks，缩写：DoS，亦称洪水攻击，是一种网络攻击手法，其目的在于使目标计算机的网络或系统资源耗尽，使服务暂时中断或停止，导致其对目标客户不可用。）而俄国政府对此言论表示否认。2013年韩国控告朝鲜对其进行网络攻击。这么多的网络攻击事件传出后，顿时言论四起，有的说黑客已经攻破了五角大楼的防火墙，还有的说有些疑似恐怖组织正在训练特工，准备发起电脑袭击。那么身陷不安全网络的我们该如何防范呢？为了能够让大众更安全地上网，政府应该普及有关计算机病毒和特洛伊木马病毒（Trojan horses）的各种知识，让公众能够识别并预防，除此之外，还应该不断更新使用的杀毒软件。
Cyberattacks actually might be useful tools against machines that have learned to think for themselves and chosen to eliminate humanity. It's the stuff of science fiction, but why do some people believe this could happen? Learn more on the next page.
科幻小说可能会出现：网络攻击实际上是用来对付那些拥有了意识并想要消除人类的机器的。但为什么会有人相信呢？不要走开，下一小节告诉你。
审校:Fiona 校对:落花生 编辑:Freya然
评论
打印
