文章轉(zhuǎn)載自 世紀君 21世紀英文報

可以自我繁殖的活體機器人誕生了！這種“異種機器人”究竟是有機體還是機器人？

This image shows an entirely new form of biological reproduction. IC

Are these robots alive

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Living robots can reproduce on their own in a dish. This is not a science-fiction movie, but the result of a new research. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the US on Nov 29.

活體機器人可以在培養(yǎng)皿中自我繁殖。這不是科幻電影，而是一項新研究結(jié)果，該結(jié)果發(fā)表在11月29日《美國國家科學(xué)院院刊》上。

Xenobots, a type of tiny robot, were first created in 2020, using cells taken from the embryo of an African frog species. Under the right lab conditions, the cells formed small structures that could self-assemble, move in groups and react to their environment. Now, the researchers have found that xenobots can also self-replicate, according to the journal of New Scientist.

2020年，研究團隊用非洲爪蟾胚胎中的細胞，首次創(chuàng)造了一種微型機器人——“異種機器人”。在合適的實驗室條件下，其細胞會形成小型結(jié)構(gòu)，并能夠自我組合，成群活動，并對環(huán)境做出反應(yīng)。據(jù)《新科學(xué)家》雜志報道，現(xiàn)在研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，異種機器人也可以自我復(fù)制。

Xenobots straddle an unusual line. Are they living organisms or robots? They are organisms because they are made of stem cells and can reproduce. But they are also robots because they can move on their own and perform physical labor, co-author Sam Kriegman told The Washington Post.

異種機器人跨越了一條不同尋常的界線。它們是活生生的有機體，還是機器人？異種機器人是有機體，因為機器人由干細胞組成，可以繁殖。但聯(lián)合研究人員山姆·克雷格曼在接受《華盛頓郵報》采訪時表示，異種機器人也是機器人，因為它們可以自行移動，并從事體力勞動。

“People have thought for quite a long time that we’ve worked out all the ways that life can reproduce or replicate. But this is something that’s never been observed before,” co-author Douglas Blackiston, a senior scientist at Tufts University in the US, told Science Daily website.

來自美國塔夫茨大學(xué)的聯(lián)合研究人員、資深科學(xué)家道格拉斯•布萊克斯頓在接受《科學(xué)日報》網(wǎng)站采訪時表示：“很長一段時間以來，人類一直認為我們已經(jīng)找到了繁殖生命或者復(fù)制生命的所有方式。但異種機器人是以前從未注意過的。”

The ability to replicate adds a new layer of potential utility to the robots. Kriegman told The Washington Post that while xenobots are not yet commercially useful, they have the potential to provide a number of services, from cleaning up microplastics in the ocean to safely delivering drugs to a specific spot in a person’s body.

機器人擁有復(fù)制能力，這為其增加了一層潛在的功用�？死赘衤�在接受《華盛頓郵報》采訪時表示，雖然異種機器人還沒用作商業(yè)用途，但其擁有提供一系列服務(wù)的潛力，從清理海洋中的微塑料，到將藥物安全運送到人體內(nèi)的特定位置。

However, the creation of xenobots comes with concerns. Some think more advanced future xenobots, especially ones that live longer and reproduce, could out-compete other species, according to The Conversation, an Australia news media.

然而，異種機器人的誕生也引發(fā)了一些擔(dān)憂。據(jù)澳大利亞新聞媒體The Conversation報道，一些人認為未來更先進的異種機器人，特別是那些壽命更長、繁殖能力更強的機器人，可能會在競爭中勝過其他物種。

The researchers think these risks are manageable. “If you change the amount of sodium in that water to be too high or too low, they’ll die,” Kriegman told The Washington Post. “If there’s a piece of copper in the dish, they’ll all die. It’s an extremely controllable and stoppable and safe system.”

研究人員認為這些風(fēng)險是可控的。“如果你把水中的鈉含量調(diào)得過高或過低，異種機器人就會死亡。”克雷格曼在接受《華盛頓郵報》采訪時表示，“如果培養(yǎng)皿里放上一塊銅，異種機器人就會全部死掉。這是一個非�？煽�、可停止的、安全的系統(tǒng)。”

以上部分內(nèi)容來自《21世紀學(xué)生英文報·高三》766期

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