We Don’t Trust Scientists to Make Us Better
科學家改良人類 美國人不放心
By Gina Kolata

Americans aren’t very enthusiastic about using science to enhance the human species. Instead, many find it rather creepy.
美國人不太熱中用科學來強化人類。相反的，許多人認為這種想法令人毛骨悚然。

A new survey by the Pew Research Center shows a profound distrust of scientists, a suspicion about claims of progress and a real discomfort with the idea of meddling with human abilities. The survey also opens a window into the public’s views on what it means to be a human being and what values are important.
皮尤研究中心的一項新調查顯示，美國人對科學家有很深的不信任感，對他們宣稱的進步感到懷疑，對於干預人類能力的想法真的很不安。這項調查也打開了一扇窗，讓我們一窺一般大眾對於身為人類意義何在，以及那些價值才重要的看法。

Pew asked about three techniques that might emerge in the future but that are not even close to ready now: using gene editing to protect babies from disease, implanting chips in the brain to improve people’s ability to think, and transfusing synthetic blood that would enhance performance by increasing speed, strength and endurance.
皮尤問了三種未來可能出現，但目前離就緒階段還很遠的科技：利用基因編輯來預防嬰兒生病；把晶片植入腦部改進人們的思考能力；輸入能提高速度、力量和耐力以增強體能的人造血。

The public was unenthusiastic on all counts, even about protecting babies from disease. Most, at least seven out of 10, thought scientists would rush to offer each of the technologies before they had adequately tested or even understood them.
大眾對三者都不熱中，連預防嬰兒生病都不例外。大多數人，至少占十分之七，認為三者中的任何一項，科學家都會在充分測試、甚或了解這些科技之前就急著提供給大眾。

Two-thirds say they would not want the enhancement technologies for themselves. And even though genetic manipulations appear more frightening than a chip or artificial blood, which might be removed, the public finds it slightly more acceptable to change a baby’s genes than to enhance human abilities.
三分之二的受訪者說，他們不要強化他們自己能力的科技。而且儘管操控基因比晶片或人造血更令人害怕，因為後二者也許能移除，但大眾對改變嬰兒基因的接受度，卻比增強人類能力略高。

Religiosity affected attitudes on these issues. The more religious people said they were, the less likely they were to want genetic alterations of babies or technologies to enhance adults. The differences were especially pronounced between evangelical Protestants and people who said they were atheists or agnostics.
宗教信仰影響對這些議題的態度。自認宗教信仰愈虔誠的人，愈沒有改變嬰兒的基因或用科技強化成年人的需要。福音教派新教徒和自稱為無神論者或不可知論者之間的差別特別明顯。

For example, 63 percent of evangelical Protestants said gene editing to protect babies from serious diseases was meddling with nature. In contrast, 81 percent of atheists and 80 percent of agnostics said it was not fundamentally different from other ways humans have tried to better themselves.
例如，63%的福音教派新教徒說，以編輯基因來預防嬰兒重大疾病是干涉自然。相反地，81%的無神論者和80%的不可知論者說，這與人類試圖改進自己的其他方式，基本上沒有不同。

Cary Funk, an associate director at Pew and lead researcher for the survey, said she was surprised by the extent of the public’s worries. “These are appealing ideas: being healthier, improved minds, improved bodies,” she said. And she was surprised that the public seemed nearly equally worried about all three of the technologies. After all, she said, “these are three different kinds of technologies, for different purposes.”
皮尤中心副主任、這項調查的首席研究員凱莉．方克說，她很訝異一般大眾憂慮如此之深。她說：「這是些很討好的想法：更健康、更好的頭腦、更好的身體。」而且她很訝異大眾對這三種科技憂慮程度幾乎一樣。她說，畢竟，「這是三種不同的科技，用途也不同。」

The survey queried a nationally representative sample of 4,700 adults, supplemented by discussions with six focus groups.
這項調查以具有全國代表性的4700名成年人為詢問樣本，佐以與6個焦點團體的討論。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/upshot/building-a-better-human-with-science-the-public-says-no-thanks.html

2016-08-14．聯合報．D2．紐約時報賞析．田思怡譯

說文解字看新聞 田思怡

用科學來改變人類，總有倫理道德上的顧慮（ethics concerns），例如複製人（human cloning）或生化人（cyborg），生化人也稱為改造人。

本文提到三種強化人類的方法，類似生化人的概念，包括基因編輯（gene editing）、植入晶片（chip implant）和人造血（synthetic blood或artificial blood）。

雖然這三種科技都還沒實現，但已令人害怕，從皮尤的民調可以證實。有宗教信仰的人（religious people）更不能接受用科技來強化人類（using technologies to enhance human abilities），認為是干涉自然（meddling with nature）。meddle這個字有管閒事的意思，meddle with有胡搞的意思。

最近俄國的禁藥醜聞（doping scandal）已使俄國田徑選手被禁止參加里約奧運，服用增強體能的藥物都被禁賽，若如文中提到的，輸入人造血來增強體能（transfusing synthetic blood to enhance performance），那麼人類就不必舉辦奧運了。

Technologists Take On Urban Smog
除霾塔 中國救星？
By Braden Phillips

Rather than the screens, sensors, microchips and Big Data typically employed by Smart City designers, Daan Roosegaarde works with a more fanciful tool kit: smog-eating machines, light-emitting plankton and solar-sensitive paint.
一般智慧城市設計師用的是螢幕、感應器、微晶片與大數據，達恩．魯塞加德用的卻是更新奇的一套工具：食霧霾機、發光浮游生物，以及陽光敏化油漆。

“When we talk about innovation today, it’s screen-based, but Smart City is not about another app or microchip,” said Roosegaarde, whose design firm, Studio Roosegaarde, is based in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. “Big Data is important, but things can go wrong if we only focus on technology and forget to connect with people and to connect people with their environment.”
魯塞加德說：「當我們談到今日的創新時，多以螢幕為基礎，但智慧城市卻跟另一個應用程式或是微晶片無關。大數據雖然重要，但是如果我們只關注科技，卻忘了與人連結，以及將人們和他們的環境連結，可能就會出差錯。」他的設計公司魯塞加德工作室總部設在荷蘭的鹿特丹。

It is that sort of philosophy that led Roosegaarde and his partners to create the Smog Free Tower, the world’s first outdoor air cleaner. Just 23 feet tall, it looks like a miniature chrome-latticed skyscraper. But inside, a powerful vacuum uses ionization technology to suck up smog, filter out the dangerous particles and release purified air. Roosegaarde contends that in 36 hours it can eliminate 70 to 80 percent of the impurities in the air from an area the size of a football stadium.
正是在這種理念引導下，魯塞加德先生跟他的合作夥伴創造出世界上首個戶外空氣清淨機－除霾塔。只有23呎高的除霾塔看起來像個迷你版鉻合金框架摩天大樓，但內部是個功能強大的真空吸塵器，利用電離技術吸取霧霾，並濾除危險粒子，釋放淨化過的空氣。魯塞加德聲稱，除霾塔可在36個小時之內，將一個足球場大小區域內空氣中的雜質清除70%至80%。

The tower was co-designed by Roosegaarde and various experts, then tested in Rotterdam. But now it is about to take on a much bigger challenge: China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection recently commissioned Roosegaarde to temporarily install the tower at a public location in Beijing in September to see how well it performs in the catastrophically smoggy air that is choking China’s largest cities. It will then go on a sort of smog-fighting tour, with related educational events, to four other Chinese cities over the next year.
這座除霾塔由魯塞加德與多位專家共同設計，之後在鹿特丹進行了測試，但如今它即將接受一項更大的挑戰：中國環保部最近委託魯塞加德9月在北京的一個公共場所暫時性安裝除霾塔，看看它在淨化令中國一些最大城市窒息的災難性霧霾方面表現如何。然後，它在未來一年裡將去到中國另四座城市，繼續進行抗霾之旅，並舉辦相關教育活動。

Neither the Chinese nor Roosegaarde are under the illusion that the tower will make any real difference in China’s overall air quality.
中國和魯塞加德都沒有心存幻想，期待這座除霾塔對中國整體空氣品質起到實質作用。

Liu Guozheng, deputy director of the China Forum of Environmental Journalists, a part of the environment ministry, said the Chinese would have to undertake a much more ambitious effort to get at the roots of smog. “However, the role of the Smog Free Tower as a warning sign is still very significant,” he said. “It is a reminder of our mission and responsibility to fight against smog issues.”
環保部旗下的環境新聞工作者協會副主席劉國正表示，中國必須以遠比這個更具雄心的努力來對付霧霾問題的根源。他說：「不過，除霾塔作為警告標誌的角色仍深具意義。它提醒了我們對抗霧霾問題的任務與責任。」

Ma Jun, an environmental activist in Beijing, echoed that view, calling the Smog Free Tower project a form of “performance art” aimed at raising awareness about air pollution. But Roosegaarde considers it a first step.
北京環保活動人士馬軍呼應此一觀點，把除霾塔計畫稱為旨在提高空氣汙染意識的一種「行為藝術」。不過，魯塞加德認為這是跨出了第一步。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/us/a-23-foot-tall-air-purifier-gets-a-tryout-in-smoggy-beijing.html

紐約時報中文版翻譯：
http://cn.nytimes.com/china/20160721/a-23-foot-tall-air-purifier-gets-a-tryout-in-smoggy-beijing/zh-hant/

2016-08-14．聯合報．D2．紐約時報賞析．陳韋廷譯