时间：2022-09-02 07:10:20
What will the future bring? People just can’t stop asking that question. Some bold[大胆的] thinkers try answering it, too. To imagine life in the future, you have to know what might be possible. You also need a lot of imagination.
Science fiction is one way to predict[预言] the future. It’s a kind of writing that blends[混和] real science with fantasy. Over the years, science fiction writers, artists and engineers have had many ideas about what life would be like in 2009. Does your everyday life look anything like what they imagined?
Home, Sweet Robot
In the 1950s, Ray Bradbury wrote a book called The Martian Chronicles[编年史]. It describes a house that talks. From inside the walls, a voice tells people when to get out of bed. It also tells them whose birthday it is and how to dress.
In Bradbury’s house of the future, there is a robot for every chore. One robot cooks while other robots set the table and wash the dishes. Tiny mice-like robots scurry[急转,急跑] around vacuuming[用真空吸尘器打扫] the floor.
Some of Bradbury’s predictions came true. Today, robots are on the job in many places. They vacuum floors. They cook meals. They even build cars and explore outer space.
Bradbury wasn’t the only one to imagine a house of the future. In the 1950s, Disneyland created
a theme park called Tomorrowland. A “smart” house practically ran itself. Today, many homes have
automatic controls for air temperature and sound systems. You may have a microwave that cooks meals in just minutes.
Cities in Space
Some predictions that were made in the 1950s were out of this world. Writers, scientists and artists imagined whole cities in space. Some thought that by the early 1990s, Earthlings would live on the moon. Can you imagine sitting under a glass dome, watching Earth rise and set?
How would people grow fruits and vegetables in space? Simple. They’d use hydroponics[水栽法], which was a well-known way to grow plants without soil. How would they heat their buildings? Energy from the sun would supply all their power.
These ideas weren’t so crazy.
Today, many homes on Earth use solar power. Some experimental cars and planes even run on sun power. Astronauts live for months on the International Space Station. Still, do you know anyone who lives on another planet? Probably not. Some people dream about living on Mars. However, the space city of people’s imagination is still many years away.
Up, Up, but Not Away
Some people don’t stop at imagining the future. They start building it. That happened when people wanted better ways to get around. They made models of machines that would change the world. Or so they thought. Take the jetpack[装有喷气式动力装置的背包].
It’s a backpack that carries a small rocket engine.
You put it on, rev[加快转速] it up, and soar[高飞,滑翔].
No need to ask for a ride to school or wait for the bus.
Real life turned out to be more complicated[复杂的]. Doesn’t it always?
Jetpacks couldn’t carry much fuel. So the average trip was maybe half a minute. You can’t get very far in that time. Then there were problems with safety. Jetpack fuel can be dangerous stuff. It heats up to about 700℃. The roaring[轰鸣的] engine can also damage your hearing.
Of course, there are some incredible problem solvers in this world. Someday, a clever inventor may come up with a jetpack that truly takes off. It may be a while, though. So you’d better hold on to your bus pass[公共汽车特价优惠票].
Getting from Here to There
Another invention that flew was the Aerocar[可变为汽车或飞机的一种运输工具]. It was a flying car with folding wings. A silly idea, right? But wait! An Aerocar was built in 1949. In fact, six of them were built over the next ten years. They really worked! Still, the idea never caught on[变得流行]. Maybe Aerocars were too hard to land in the driveway.
How about getting rid of cars altogether? In one science fiction story, people jumped onto moving belts to get around. In the 1950s, that may have sounded crazy. But today, you can see “people movers注” in airports, escalators[自动扶梯] in stores, and even moving sidewalks.
What people really wanted was a smart car. In the 1950s, car companies tried to make cars that drove themselves. No one sat behind the wheel[方向盘]. Instead, someone just pushed a few buttons. The car drove itself. So the whole family could sit in the back seat and play games. Is such a car possible? You can buy a
simpler version today. But it will be a while before a totally automated car hits the streets.
Fast Forward
It’s hard to think of a world without computers. In 1950, only a few computers existed. They were very large the size of a room. Few people imagined that computers would become as widespread as they are today. Hey, you can’t always get it right!
Then scientists invented the integrated circuit[集成电路]. That’s a computer chip[芯片].
The chips made computers smaller and more popular. Of course, there are now millions of computers in the world.
Okay, the future of the fifties has arrived. Think about your future and start dreaming.
Will you get to work with a jetpack? Will you download digital books straight into your brain? Invisibility suits and underwater cities are just two things that may be possible. What else? Think big. Think fantastic! The future is yours to invent!
未来会带来什么?人们总会问起这个问题。有些大胆的思想家也尝试对此做出回答。要想象未来的生活,你必须知道什么事情可能发生,同时你还要有丰富的想象力。
科幻小说是预测未来的一种方式,它是一种将现实科学与幻想糅合在一起的写作方式。多年以来,科幻小说作家、艺术家和工程师对2009年的生活作过许多设想。那么,你的日常生活是否与他们所想象的存在相似之处呢?
赏心悦目的家庭机器人
20世纪50年代,雷・布拉德伯里写了一本叫《火星纪事》的书,其中描述了一间会说话的房子。墙壁里面会发出声音,提醒人们几点起床,今天是谁的生日以及如何穿衣打扮等等。
在布拉德伯里的未来屋里,每一种家务都由一个专门的机器人负责,比如一个负责做饭,一个负责摆桌子,还有负责洗碗的。像老鼠一样的小机器人四处跑,给地板吸尘。
布拉德伯里的一些预测在今天成为了现实。现在,许多地方都有机器人负责不同的工作。它们给地板吸尘、煮菜做饭,甚至还能制造汽车和探索外太空。
布拉德伯里不是唯一一个设想过未来住宅的人。在上世纪50年代,迪士尼就开发了一个名为“明日世界”的主题公园。一间“智能”屋真的可以自己运作。如今,许多住宅都有自动控制温度和音响系统的装置。你可能也有一个能在几分钟之内就做好一顿饭的微波炉呢。
太空城市
在上世纪50年代,一些对未来的预测甚至延伸到了地球之外。不少作家、科学家和艺术家都想象过人类在太空建造整座城市。有些人认为,到了20世纪90年代初,地球人将会在月球上生活。你能想象坐在一个玻璃罩下欣赏地球升起落下的情景吗?
在太空里,人们如何种植水果和蔬菜呢?很简单,他们可以利用水栽法,这是一种众所周知的无土栽培方法。人们又如何为建筑物供暖呢?来自太阳的能量将为他们提供全部动力。
这些想法并不算异想天开。今天,地球上许多住宅都已经在使用太阳能。一些实验汽车和飞机甚至以太阳能作为驱动。宇航员可以在国际空间站上连续生活几个月。可是,你认识在其他行星上生活的人吗?或许没有吧。有人梦想在火星居住。然而,人们想象中的太空城市要到许多年后才能实现。
升高,升高,不乱跑
有些人不止步于想象未来,他们开始动手建造未来。这出现在人们想寻找更好的迁移方式的时候。他们制造出将会改变世界的机器模型――至少他们是这么想的。以背喷式飞行器为例,它是一种装有小型火箭发动机的背包。你背上它,启动装置,然后就可以冲上云霄了。再也不需要搭顺风车到学校或者苦苦等待公交车了。然而现实生活总是更复杂一些,不是吗?
背喷式飞行器无法装载很多燃料,因此一般只能飞行半分钟左右。在这么短的时间内,你不可能飞多远。此外还有安全方面的问题。背喷式飞行器的燃料可能很危险,它燃烧时温度可达700℃,而飞行时咆啸的发动机还可能损害你的听力。
当然,世界上总有很棒的问题终结者。终有一天,一位发明家或许能够制造出一种可以真正飞起来的背喷式飞行器。不过可能还要等上一阵子哦。所以,最好还是乖乖带上你的公交车卡吧。
从这里到那里
另外一种会飞的发明是空中汽车,也就是一种带有折叠翼的飞行汽车。真是一个幼稚的想法,不是吗?不过,稍等一下!1949年,确实有人制造出一辆空中汽车。实际上,在那以后的十年里,人们还制造出六辆空中汽车。它们真的可以飞哦!但是这个创意还是没能风靡起来。或许是因为空中汽车在普通车道上降落太困难了吧。
那么,完全摆脱汽车的主意又如何?有一个科幻故事里提到人们跳上移动带出行。在上世纪50年代,这个想法听起来可能很疯狂。但在今天,你会发现机场有“大众运输工具”,商店有自动扶梯,甚至出现了移动人行道。
人们真正想要的是一辆智能汽车。上世纪50年代,汽车公司尝试制造能够自动驾驶的汽车。方向盘后面没有坐人;相反,只要按几下按钮,这些车子便会自己驾驶,一家人就可以在后座尽情玩游戏。是否可能制造出这样的车子呢?今天,你可以买到它的简化版。不过,要等到一辆完全自动驾驶的汽车真正上路,恐怕还有一段时间。
飞速向前
很难想象一个没有电脑的世界。1950年,世界上只有几台电脑。它们体积庞大,足足有一个房间那么大。很少人会想到电脑会像今天这样遍布世界。嘿,智者千虑,必有一失!
随后,科学家发明了集成电路。这是一种电脑芯片,这些晶片缩小了电脑的体积,使之更受欢迎。当然,现在世界上已经有成千上万台电脑了。
好了,上世纪50年代的未来现在已经成为现实。想想你自己的未来,开始天马行空地想象一下。你会背着背喷式飞行器去上班吗?你会把电子书直接下载到大脑里面吗?有两件可能实现的事情,那就是隐身衣和水下城市。还有什么呢?眼光放远些,放胆去想!未来由你创造!
注:“people mover”指在两个固定地点之间迅速运送行人的交通工具,如自动人行道或单轨铁路。