22考研外刊阅读《卫报》双语精读版训练--当机器人学会自我繁殖，是否会改变人类对进化的看法？

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小贴士：

上期很多人漏翻、错翻了geographic，做翻译题的时候务必在做完后回头检查自己是否翻译完整了，宁可显得“啰嗦”也不能少词哦～

——大橙子留

上期翻译答案

Because of its geographic importance to their colonial rule, the Romans, through extractive slave labor,builta series of aqueducts to transport water from springs as far as 16 kilometers away.

由于这一地理位置对其殖民统治的重要性，罗马帝国通过压榨奴隶劳动建造了一系列的引水渠，从16公里外运输泉水。

1.extractive: relating to the process of removing or obtaining sth, especially minerals

2.aqueduct: An aqueduct is a long bridge with many arches, which carries a water supply or a canal over a valley

《本期内容》

导读

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当人类开发出具有人类智能水平、能够在具有挑战性的环境中无缝移动和操作的，并且具有强大的自我繁殖能力的机器人，这个社会将会变成什么样子？

双语阅读

Could robots ever reproduce? This, undoubtedly, forms a pillar of “life” as shared by all natural organisms. A team of researchers from the UK and the Netherlands have recently demonstrated a fully automated technology to allow physical robots to repeatedlybreed, evolving their artificial genetic code over time to better adapt to their environment. Arguably, this amounts to artificial evolution. Child robots are created by mixing the digital “DNA” from two parent robots on a computer.

机器人可以繁殖吗?繁殖，毫无疑问是所有自然有机体所共有的构成“生命”的支柱。来自英国和荷兰的研究团队最近公开了一种可以让实体机器人重复繁殖的全自动化技术，并且可以随时间不断进化人工基因编码，让它们更好地适应环境。可以说，这相当于人工进化。计算机上两个父母机器人的电子“DNA”混合，形成了子计算机。

The new design is first sent to a 3D printer that fabricates the body of the robot, then a robotic arm attaches a “brain” loaded with control software inherited from the parents, along with any new components, such as sensors, wheels or joints, selected by this “evolutionary” process. A digital replica of every new robot is also created in a computer simulation.

设计出的新计算机首先会发送到一台3D打印机上，制造出机器人的身体，然后机械臂连接到一个“大脑”上，上面装着从父母机器人继承来的控制软件，再加上由“进化”过程选择的一些新组件，如传感器、轮子或关节等。在计算机模拟过程中也可以创造出每个新机器人的电子复制品。

This enables a novel type of evolution: new generations can be produced from a union of the most successful traits from a virtual “mother” and a physical “father”, combining the benefits of fast but potentially unrealistic simulated evolution with the more accurate assessment of robots in a real physical environment. The new robots therefore inherit traits that represent the best of both types of evolution.

翻译划线句，长按文末小程序码打卡，答案下期公布~因此，新型机器人继承了代表这种进化的两种最佳特征。

While this technology can operate without a humanin the loop, it also allows for collaboration with a human “breeder”: just as humans have been selectively breedingcropssince the dawn of farming, the robot breeder could influence selection of robots with particular traits. One might even imagine breeding farms, producing robots adapted to specific conditions and user requirements. They might be bred for qualities such asbatterylife or carbon footprint, just as we breed plants for drought-resistance or taste.

虽然这项技术可以在无人干预的情况下运行，但它也允许与人类“育种者”与之合作：就像人类自农业诞生以来就有选择性地育种作物一样，机器人育种者可以选择具有特定特征的机器人。你甚至可以把这个过程想成育种农场，生产适应特定条件和特定用户要求的机器人。人们可能为了提高电池寿命或减少碳足迹等特质而繁育它们，就像我们为了提高抗旱能力或口感而培育植物一样。

We are now at a breakthrough moment. While scientists have always been confident that digital evolution could be effective as an optimisation tool, its creativity in producing original and unusual designs that would not have been conceived by a human has been more surprising. The creativity of biological evolution is clearly apparent in the natural world.

我们现在处于一个突破性阶段。虽然科学家们一直相信，数字进化可以作为一种有效的优化工具，但它在产生人类意想不到的新颖别致的设计方面，表现出的创造力更令人惊讶。生物进化的创造性在自然界中是很明显的。

本文节选自：The Guardian（卫报）

发布时间：2021.06.21

作者：Emma Hart

原文标题：Robots may soon be able to reproduce - will this change how we think about evolution?

词汇积累

1.breed

• 英 /briːd/ 美 /briːd/

• n.品种；种类；繁殖

  v.（使）动物繁殖；（为某种目的而）培育（动、植物）；（通过核反应）增殖可裂变物质

  2.crop

• 英 /krɒp/ 美 /krɒp/

• n.产量；农作物；庄稼；平头

  vt.种植；收割；修剪；剪短

  3.battery

• 英 /ˈbætəri/ 美 /ˈbætəri/

• n.电池，蓄电池；殴打；炮位

词组搭配

1.in the loop 在消息圈内；在决策圈内

写作句总结

The new robots therefore inherit traits that represent the best of both types of evolution.

结构: The new … therefore inherit traits that represent the best of ….

新兴…继承了代表最好的…的特征

例句: The new products therefore inherit traits that represent the best of modern industrialization.

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