2011 科技大事回顧

Science American選出的十大回顧

只快速翻譯大標題，每一段落末端是個人評論

10 IBM工業電腦"華生"打敗人腦，贏得益智比賽冠軍

IBM's Watson Computer Wins on Jeopardy!

In February IBM's Watson capitalized on its advanced natural language–processing, information retrieval and machine-learning capabilities to soundly defeat two highly accomplished Jeopardy! champions—Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter—at their own game.

Although some pundits have dismissed the event as a stunt, Watson's abilities should prove useful outside of game shows. In 2012 look for Watson to begin applying its advanced analytics skills in the health care industry to improve patient diagnosis and treatment. Health insurance provider WellPoint, Inc., is working with IBM to develop software for Watson that will let physicians coordinate medical data based on specific patient needs as well as help identify the most likely diagnosis and treatment options in complex cases.

As far as conversing with computers, most people will be able to relate to the Siri voice-activated navigator on Apple's iPhone 4S this year before they get a chance to interact with anything as sophisticated as Watson. At least the conversation has begun.—Larry Greenemeier

Iphone 4s的語音祕書在年末也吸引不少目光，看來機器貓小叮噹指日可待啦!

9 Solyndra太陽能公司破產

The Sun Sets on Solyndra

In 2010 President Barack Obama hailed Solyndra for "demonstrating that the promise of clean energy isn't just an article of faith." In 2011 the company, which pioneered cylindrical thin-film solar cells, filed for bankruptcy—signaling the end of a long solar boom in the U.S.

For some observers, Solyndra became a symbol of the failures of spending taxpayer dollars to support particular industries (although that role could just as easily have gone to fellow 2011 bankruptcies flywheel-makers Beacon Power or biofuel-maker Range Fuels).

But the truth is, Solyndra failed because solar power is now cheap—conventional silicon photovoltaic modules can be had for roughly $1 per watt, compared with more than $3 per watt for Solyndra's thin-film cylindrical versions. That's a good thing for those who would like to see the renewable technology on more rooftops. In fact, 2011 was a banner year for the U.S. solar industry in terms of installations and the like.

Still, solar power cannot compete on cost with electricity generated from burning fossil fuels in many places—and with the end of government subsidy programs in most parts of the globe following Solyndra's bankruptcy, next year looks set to be even more challenging for solar companies.—David Biello

看來太陽能還有許多技術要克服啊!乾淨能源加油!!

8 基因療法捲土重來

Gene Therapy Makes a Comeback

Maligned for many years after a 1999 study led to the death of an 18-year-old patient, gene therapy may have finally recovered its promise as breakthrough medicine. In recent years the field has taken positive steps, culminating most recently in the successful—and safe—treatment of hemophilia B.

The new treatment uses a modified cold virus, outfitted with a gene that hemophiliacs are missing. The gene in question allows the body to produce Factor IX, which helps the blood to clot.

The study, published online in December by The New England Journal of Medicine, only enrolled six patients—but after the therapy, four of them could halt their regular Factor IX infusions, and the other two could safely reduce the frequency of their infusions.

Coupled with another success earlier this year (treating children born with severe combined immune deficiency), along with new ways of delivering missing genes, the field is offering renewed hope for treating genetic disorders.—Katherine Harmon

那一天有蜘蛛人出現我也不意外，這個療法太imba，法律跟本跟不上

7 Steve Jobs驟逝

The Death of Steve Jobs

In many of Steve Jobs's obituaries, the word "genius" seemed to follow within 20 letters of his name. Although some of the coverage bordered on hagiography, the accounts also provided an opportunity for an extended meditation on the nature of technological innovation. In an age of open systems, Apple under Jobs had put in place a culture that tried to strive for unyielding control over the location and positioning of every screw and solder joint in its products.

Jobs's death came at a new peak of success for the company. After many earlier ups and downs, the company had brought to market during the 2000s an array of stunning new offerings: sleek desktop and notebook computers; the iPod, iTunes, the iPhone, the iPad and glass retail stores that seem to serve as magnets for technophiles of every age.

Jobs was infamous for his overbearing management style and sometimes poor treatment of employees. But Apple's achievements may not have resulted from such controlling behavior: James Surowiecki of The New Yorker[commented that this unparalleled success came as Jobs decided to ease up slightly on the compulsiveness button. In an earlier incarnation, Jobs would have never allowed "apps" written by outsiders to run on his machines. Yet the ubiquity of the app has also helped Apple flourish, creating as Surowiecki put it, "market ecosystems" that brought the company to new levels of power and profits.—Gary Stix

感謝Jobs為我們留下i系列產品，也希望蘋果公司繼續努力

6 太空登陸計畫停擺

The End of the Space Shuttle Program

Oh the places we went!

In a Space Age finale, the launch of Atlantis on July 8 concluded the U.S. space shuttle program. After 135 missions flown in five orbiters over three decades—during which there was the catastrophic loss of two shuttles and 14 astronauts—the routine flight of STS 135 to the International Space Station (ISS) culminated 50 years of almost continuous U.S. manned spaceflight. It also the marked the first time the U.S. gave up its technology to lob humans into space without a clear plan for where it will go after it regains its spacefaring capability.

Now, with Russia's Soyuz affording the only access to the ISS, the U.S. is developing its next generation of space hardware, aiming to send astronauts to destinations beyond low Earth orbit before 2030—most likely the moon or an asteroid.—Michael Battaglia

金融風暴威力強大，連科學計畫都遭殃
登陸火星要等個1、20年後

5 希格斯粒子找到了

A Hint of Higgs

Has the cagey Higgs boson finally been cornered? In a highly anticipated announcement, two international teams of physicists said in December that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) had seen blips in its data consistent with the existence of the Higgs, a particle that has long been suspected to exist but has never been seen.

The boson is a natural outcrop of the Higgs mechanism, the leading hypothesis for why the elementary particles that make up atoms, people and planets have mass. The latest data are suggestive but not conclusive; the LHC should settle the matter in 2012. —John Matson

證實牛頓的名言"站在巨人的肩膀上，確實看得比較遠"

4 極端氣候愈來愈多

Record-Setting Extreme Weather

Overflowing rivers swollen by persistent rains. Over a million acres scorched by wildfires. Mighty blizzards blanketing the Northeast. One hundred ninety-nine tornadoes in a single day. The weather outside was not just frightful, but also costly. Although the number of extreme weather events have been increasing all over the world in the past few years, in 2011 the U.S. set a record in weather-related damage with 12 catastrophes that cost at least $1 billion each. The damage from the May 22 tornado that devastated Joplin, Mo., alone could top $3 billion.

Extreme weather events have hit other nations hard as well, including Pakistan, the Philippines and Australia, which have all seen heavy flooding. All the events have convinced many experts that with climate change, the weather will, unfortunately, only get worse.—Rose Eveleth

地球人再不在意，最後不用外星人來攻打我們，我們自己就會滅亡
因為我們要花大量的金錢跟時間修復環境

3 光速再也不是最快的

Faster-Than-Light Neutrinos?

In September a team of researchers unveiled a finding that, if correct, would completely upend physics. In an experiment called OPERA, the physicists clocked lightweight particles called neutrinos making the subterranean journey from Switzerland to Italy 60 nanoseconds faster than they would have moving at the speed of light, which since the time of Einstein's theory of special relativity has been considered the cosmic speed limit.

But most physicists are banking on Einstein; the consensus view is that OPERA's neutrinos only appear to be outpacing light-speed, perhaps because of some unaccounted-for experimental calibration.—John Matson

Image of OPERA's Dario Autiero presenting his group's neutrino result courtesy of CERN

雖然推翻愛因斯坦理論很可惜，好處是時光旅行指日可待

2 科技點燃阿拉伯茉莉花革命

Technology Fuels the Arab Spring

In the last year new technologies didn't just make our lives easier—they completely changed the political structure of the Middle East. Twitter had a hand in bringing down a several dictatorships this year as protestors in the Middle East communicated and organized with one another via social media.

The Arab Spring began in December 2010 after the self-immolation of fruit vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, who was protesting high unemployment rates in Tunisia.  News and images of his protest began moving quickly. Protests in Tunisia ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, and by February resistance brought down the 30-year regime of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, forcing him to resign. In August, after months of protests that erupted into a civil war, Libya's dictator since 1969, Muammar Gaddafi, was hunted down by opposition forces and killed.

To see if Twitter played a role in regime change, researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle analyzed millions of tweets, looking for words like "revolution," "liberty," and "Ben Ali." The occurrence of those words spiked as the revolutions got underway. They also saw that the activity from Egypt on Twitter in the days before Mubarak resigned increased 100-fold. The study concludes that the service played a key role in toppling dictators in Egypt and Tunisia, although other experts debate just how much social media tools drove the revolutions.—Rose Eveleth

地球本一村，科技加速整合訊息傳遞
發明個翻譯軟糕來加速翻譯吧

1 日本海嘯引發核能災害

The Japan Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis

On March 11, a catastrophic earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed nearly 16,000 people in Japan—and destroyed a nuclear power complex. In the days and weeks that followed, the Fukushima Daiichi facility went on to experience three meltdowns and, because of a buildup of hydrogen gas, multiple explosions.

After months of heroic efforts workers have officially succeeded in achieving "cold shutdown"—that is, keeping the temperatures in the damaged reactors below 100 degrees Celsius so that the water used to cool the reactors does not just quickly boil away. Such a shutdown state makes it simpler to keep the melted nuclear fuel from undergoing further fission. Unfortunately, leaks in the reactor containment vessels means that water must continue to be added to keep the reactors chilled.

Regardless, much damage has been done. Roughly 88,000 people have been evacuated from an area of 20 kilometers surrounding the power plant, many never to return. Most recently, the utility that owns the plant spilled 45,000 liters of radioactive cooling water, and radioactive elements spewed by the power plant have been found over an area of some 30,000 square kilometers. The multiple meltdowns slowed the pace of new nuclear power plant construction globally—potentially setting back efforts to combat climate change—as well as created the world's newest nuclear park, otherwise known as an "exclusion zone."—David Biello

See our In-Depth Report, "The Japan Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis"

面對大自然的反撲，我們的力量如此微小
人類該好好省思如何走下一歩

辣椒為何有些不辣?

資料來源
網址

Chillies come in many degrees of heat, from the sweet painless bell peppers to the “Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper”, a superlatively hot chili that needs to be handled with gloves. A less dramatic range also exists in the wild: some chillies are hot, and others are not. In supermarkets, the spectrum of heat is the result of clever breeding. It the wild, it’s due to a tension between two threats: drought and disease.
辣椒是個很神奇的食物，它有不一樣的辛辣度。從不辣的甜椒到需要戴手套才能處理的"Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper" ,顧名思義，如果不戴手套處理，那辛辣的痛覺就像被蝎子刺到一般。
野生的辣椒也是，原因為何，可能來自於乾燥和疾病的壓力。

Hot chillies owe their mouth-watering bite to substances call capsaicinoids – a unique breed of chemical weapon wielded only by these plants. The weapon targets proteins that detect excessive heat, delivering an intense burning feeling without any actual burning. Birds, which pollinate chillies, don’t have these proteins and are immune to the fiery tastes. Mammals aren’t so fortunate; against them, capsaicinoids are an effective deterrent.
辣椒的武器源自於"capsaicinoids" 辣椒素，這是一種化學武器，這武器會攻擊蛋白質，提供一種灼熱感。鳥類授粉者可以躲過，因為它們沒有這類的蛋白質，不過哺乳動物可沒這麼幸運，辣椒素可是非常有效率的武器。

But pilfering mammals are not the biggest threats that wild chillies face. In 2008, Joshua Tewksbury at the University of Washington showed that their most important foe is a fungus called Fusarium semitectum, which rots the fruits and kills the seeds. Tewksbury showed that capsaicinoids kill the fungus, and chillies that lack their protection have half as many seeds in areas where Fusarium is around.
哺乳動物並不是辣椒最大的天敵，它們最主要的天敵來自一種菌類，它會造成果實的腐敗和種子的死亡，辣椒素可以殺死這些菌類，沒有他的保護，辣椒容易死亡。

Tewksbury studied wild chillies across 1,000 square miles of Bolivian rainforest. Those at the south-western corner are almost uniformly loaded with capsaicinoids, while most of those in the north-eastern corner aren’t hot at all. That seems puzzling: if being hot affords such valuable protection, why aren’t all chillies as pungent as possible?
研究指出，玻利維亞的雨林裡，西南區的辣椒充滿了辣椒素，但東北區的卻一點都不辣。如果辣椒素這麼有用，為何會有如此差異?

Back in 2008, Tewksbury suggested that the fungus was responsible – it’s more common in the south-western area. With less pressure to defend themselves, the north-eastern chillies could afford to be milder. But this explanation was never entirely convincing. Even in the north-east, the fungus was still a significant threat. Now, Tewksbury has a different idea. He thinks that being a red hot chilli pepper comes at a price: hot chillies suffer when it’s dry.
The chillies in Tewksbury’s patch of Bolivia experience very different levels of rainfall: the south-western corner is drenched in rain, and the north-eastern one is relatively dry. Tewksbury mimicked these conditions in a greenhouse.
研究人員早在2008就提出真菌的影響，但這無法解釋地區的差異，不過現在提出一個新看法，那就是乾旱。

When he gave the chillies all the water they wanted, all of them did equally well. When he deprived them of water, the ones that were fortified with capsaicinoids produced half as many seeds as their milder cousins. The hot plants have 40 percent more pores – stomata –on the undersides of their leaves, so they’re more likely to lose water when it’s dry. The milder plants, with their relatively sparser stomata, are better at retaining water.
研究人員將實驗分成二組，發現缺乏水份的那一組容易產生辣椒素，而較辣的那組有多出40%的氣孔，所以較容易排出水份

It might seem strange that hot flavours and drought tolerance could be so intimately connected. But Tewksbury thinks that the genetic changes which alter levels of capsaicinoids in the chillies’ fruits also affect the number of stomata in their leaves. He now wants to work out what these changes are.
辛辣度和乾旱如此相連，那它們是怎麼作用的呢?

On top of that, chillies produce capsaicinoids using the same sets of chemical reactions that produce lignin – the sturdy substance that coats their seeds. If they’re channelling their resources into defensive chemicals, they might not have enough to protect their seeds.
最重要的是，辣椒素的製造和木質素相同，一旦保護了個體，種子可就慘了，因為沒有足夠的外衣來保護種子

The fact that not all chillies are hot shows two important lessons about evolution. First, living things live in a world of varied restrictions, and something that’s adaptive in one place (like pungent chemicals) could be your downfall in another. Second, living things aren’t made from independent modules – it’s very difficult to tinker with one bit without affecting something else.
辛辣的演化告訴我們二件事，第一，生物在不同的環境有不一樣的反應，第二，生物產物並不一定獨立產生，有可能交叉交互影響。

For the chillies, the ideal situation would be to pack defensive chemicals while still resisting drought – that doesn’t seem possible. People often think that evolution is about progress and improvement; in reality, it’s more often about compromise and trade-offs.
對辣椒而言，最理想的是同時擁有辣椒素也能抗旱，但看來是不可能，人類常認為演化是改善且進步的，但現實看來常為妥協和權衡之計。

2011耶誕書單

2011耶誕節的科普書單

Survivors
by Richard Fortey, Harper Press, £25
Retired palaeontologist Richard Fortey meanders into and out of deep time, chasing the species that have evaded extinction, and drawing on a career's worth of fascinating anecdotes.
幸存者
一位退休的古生物學家 Richard Fortey所著
討論物種的如何避免滅絕

The 4% Universe
by Richard Panek, One World/Houghton Mifflin, £10.99/$26
In this impeccably researched book Richard Panek explores why we still don't know the nature of dark matter and dark energy, even though they make up 96 per cent of the universe.
4%的宇宙
Richard Panek所著
此書介紹有關宇宙的暗物質跟能量

How the Hippies Saved Physics
by David Kaiser, W.W. Norton, £19.99/$26.95
The Fundamental Fysiks Group was an entourage of freewheeling physicists in Berkeley, California, who pushed the boundaries of "experimental" science in the 1970s.
嬉皮如何儲存物理？
（好怪的書名）
David Kaiser著

Evolution
by Jay Hosler, Illustrated by Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon, Hill and Wang, $18.95
A superb comic book that tells the story of evolution on Earth from the perspective of aliens from the planet Glargal.
演化
Jay Hosler著
利用外星人的角度告訴我們演化的故事，特別的是它是一本漫畫

Knocking on Heaven's Door
by Lisa Randall, Bodley Head/Ecco Press, £20/$29.99
This insider's guide unveils - and explains -the hard and complicated work being done at the frontier of particle physics. The effect is like being taken behind the curtain in Oz and given a full tour by the wizard.
敲打天堂的大門
Lisa Randall著
（好像是一本有關物理的書）

The Sun's Heartbeat
by Bob Berman, Little, Brown & Co, £25.99/$25.99
Astronomer Bob Berman is a masterful storyteller who spins the tale of our favourite star with a deft touch and leaves you desperate to see the Northern Lights for yourself.
太陽的心跳
Bob Berman著
天文學家Berman告訴你有關太陽的故事

The Hidden Reality
by Brian Greene, Allen Lane, Alfred A. Knopf, £25/$29.95
Theoretical physicist Brian Greene makes abstract ideas about the multiverse both engaging and implausibly comprehensible.
隱藏的真實
Brian Greene著
從理論物理來告訴你有關多元宇宙的事物

1493
by Charles C. Mann, Knopf/Granta, $30.50/£25
A complex tale, 1493 makes for compulsive reading because it illustrates the paradoxical nature of the ecological effects linking the world.
1493
Charles C. Mann所著
1943造成世界生態的連鎖效應（好神秘的感覺）


Global Climate Change: A Primer
by Orrin H. Pilkey and Keith C. Pilkey, illustrations by Mary Edna Fraser, Duke University Press, £12.99/$19.95
Gorgeous batik illustrations inspired by satellite and aerial photographs turn global catastrophes into works of art in this book on climate change basics.
地球氣候變遷
Orrin H. Pilkey和Keith C. PilKey合著
利用衛星和空拍照片來說明氣候變遷

The Physics Book
by Clifford A. Pickover, Sterling, £19.99/$29.95
This gorgeously illustrated book tours chronologically through the major moments in the history of physics from the big bang to the "big rip" - a possible scenario for the end of the universe.
物理
Clifford A. Pickover著
介紹宇宙從大爆炸到big rip的重要歷程

Paranormality
by Richard Wiseman, Macmillan, £12.99
Psychologist Richard Wiseman demonstrates with wit and humour why so-called supernatural events are far less extraordinary than the complex inner workings of our brains.
超自然
Richard Wiseman著
心理學家從大腦來討論＂超自然（paranormality）＂的事物

Here on Earth
by Tim Flannery, Allen Lane/Atlantic Monthly Press, £14.99/$25
Part scary exposition of how we've screwed things up, and part optimistic take on how we can undo that harm, this is a wonderful exploration of the intricate superorganism that is humankind.
此時此刻
Tim Flannery著
介紹人類這個超級個體，對地球產生的各種影響

Inflight Science
by Brian Clegg, Icon Books, £12.99
Everything you ever wanted to know about the science of flying - from the terrible taste of tepid in-flight tea to how we manage to defy gravity in a pressurised aluminium cylinder.
機艙上的科學
Brian Clegg著
顧名思意，介紹飛機上的各種科學，從茶水味道介紹到鋁合金如何抵抗重力

Sciencia
by Wooden Books, Walker & Company, £14.99/$20
This six-volume collection combines elegant design, informative cartoons and excellent explanation of science and mathematics.
科學者
Wooden Books著
六本書結合優雅的設計，內容豐富的漫畫來介紹優秀的科學和數學

不知道那幾本會有電子書，期待中