未来生活四大终极幻想

Food 食物

Lab-grown Meat Feeds the World

Cultured meat， in vitro meat， or any other name， whatever we call it， we have to get used to it. Because meat produced in a lab could be the future of nutrition.

The scientists who are developing test-tube meat （and chicken） say it is an important way to keep up with the worlds growing appetite for protein while simultaneously reducing meat productions environmental impact like land requirements and CO2 emissions.

There are only about 30 scientists working on cultured meat globally， and they all agree the stuff will take a while to get to grocers shelves. The biggest hurdle to commercialization （besides the obvious “ick” factor） is lack of funding for research—though money is trickling in from unconventional sources. A scientist in Netherlands received 300，000 euros from an anonymous donor to produce a lab-burger.

人造肉类养活全世界

培养肉、试管肉，或者其他任何名称，不管怎么叫，我们都得习惯它。因为，实验室培育的食用肉可能将成为人类未来的营养食品。

研究试管肉（包括鸡肉）的科学家们指出，我们一方面要满足人类对蛋白质日益增长的需求，同时还要降低猪肉生产所造成的用地需求、二氧化碳排放等环境影响，要想实现这些目的，这种方法至关重要。

当下，全球仅有大约30名科学家正在研究人工培养肉；他们一致认为，人工培养肉上市还需要一段时间。虽然有非传统型渠道为这项研究提供资金，但研究经费不足仍是人造肉实现商业化的最大障碍（当然，“令人恶心”也是另一个显而易见的障碍）。荷兰的一位科学家获得了30万欧元的匿名捐赠，用于生产实验室汉堡。

Education 教育

Schools Learn From Businesses

A more market-minded approach is coming to a K-12 classroom near you. It may start with teachers， who will move up the educational equivalent of a corporate ladder. Forget tenure， educators would depend on their intelligence to reach “master teacher” level. The idea already exists in many New York schools， where theyre called “mentor teachers.” “Its not just meant to prune lousy teachers， but also to make them more effective，” says a professor at UC Berkeleys graduate school of education.Testing will become more centralized —and potentially more important， state assessment exams will give way to national ones， and skills-based testing could fast-track careers. “Credentials based on rigorous certification exams will be more valuable in the job market than acollege degree，” adds another professor of the education nonprofit Khan Academy. And corporations， frustrated by the skills gap of high school grads， may open schools of their own. Wal-Mart High， anyone？

教学机构全面学习企业

我们身边的中小学及学前教育的学校将会采取更具市场意识的教育方式。首先是教师，他们需要遵守与企业类似的晋升制度来获得升职。教龄不再是教育工作者能否达到“特级教师”级别的衡量标准，取而代之的是资质。纽约的许多学校已经将这个理念付诸实施。在那里，教师被称为“教学导师”。加州大学伯克利分校教育研究院的一名教授说：“当然，这不仅意味着要淘汰不称职的教师，而且还要提高教师的工作效率。”考试将变得更加集中——甚至会变得更加重要，州级评估考试将给国家考试让路，而且以考核技能为主的测试将成为实现职业规划的快速通道。“与大学学位相比，通过严格的资格认证考试获得的证书在就业市场上将具有更高的价值，”非盈利教育机构可汗学院的另一名教授补充道。除此之外，由于高中毕业生并未掌握技术，企业有可能创办自己的学校。比如沃尔玛高中，有人报名吗？

Medicine 医学

A Map of the Brain Leads to Cures

The key to curing many diseases may come only when scientists fully understand the human brain， “the complex machine” that hasnt been completely investigated.

Scientists will spend the next decade trying to map the mind， zooming in on single neurons （thebrain has billions） to study each ones genetic information， shape， and electrical signals. Using tiny robotic tools such as an “auto patcher” — developed by MITs Edward Boyden and Georgia Techs Craig Forest—researchers will be able to turn off individual cells and plot patterns with its neighbors. The robot can check neurons much faster than humans， who need extensive training to do the process manually.

Diagnosing the breakdowns within a neuron will allow for targeted gene therapy. As the process gets cheaper and less invasive， more patients will have access to treatment from such advanced tools. Among the first neurological disorders physicians can tackle when the brain is mapped？

大脑成像技术开辟医疗新境界

许多疾病要想治愈，或许要等到科学家完全了解了人类大脑之后才有可能。但目前这个“复杂的机器”仍存在诸多未解之谜。

未来十年，科学家们将尝试绘制大脑图像，放大单个神经元（大脑共有数十亿个神经元），用于研究每个神经元的基因信息、形状和电子信号。利用微型机器人工具，如由麻省理工学院的爱德华·博伊登和佐治亚理工学院克雷格·弗雷斯特共同研发的“自动补丁”，研究人员有望关闭单个细胞，并借助相邻细胞来重新绘制图形。人类需要在接受大量培训后才能手动检查神经细胞，相比之下，机器人的速度却要快得多。

诊断单个神经元的障碍使定向基因疗法成为可能。随着这种疗法成本下降，侵入性降低，越来越多的病人将有机会接受这种借助高科技工具的治疗。如果大脑成像技术取得成功，第一批可治愈的神经障碍疾病会是哪些呢？

Banking 银行业

Big U. S. Banks Get Even Bigger

Looking at them now， licking self-inflicted wounds from the financial crisis， it seems hard to believe that Americas big banks could be even bigger and stronger a decade from now. But thats the scenario many industry analysts envision.Once the euro crisis clears and America fixes its mortgage mess， giants like J. P. Morgan will enter a new era of expansion. Yes， new regulations will impose higher costs and reduce once-lucrative trading profits， resulting in far slower growth for the largest banks. But those regulations will also make it tougher for others to challenge their top positions. Investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley wont be able to use the levels of leverage they once did to boost revenue-generating trading operations， making them prey for the megabanks.Think of tomorrows banks as highly regulated public utilities： Theyll hold lots of capital， eke outprofits， and hire managers who shun risk. Welcome to the big and boring future of banking.

美国银行巨头进一步扩张

美国的大型银行自作自受，眼下正舔舐着金融危机带来的创伤。眼前的情形很难让我们相信，在未来的十年内，美国的大型银行将进一步扩大规模和势力。但是，这确实是行业分析师们预见到的情形。等到欧元危机平息，美国解决抵押市场的混乱状态之后，摩根大通银行等大型银行将进入扩张的新时代。诚然，新出台的法规将增加它们的成本，压缩一度十分丰厚的营业利润，从而导致这些最大型银行的增长放缓。但是，这些法规也使其他银行无力挑战这些行业巨头的地位。高盛投资银行和摩根士丹利等投资银行将无法故技重施，继续利用杠杆比率来刺激产生收入的交易，最终，它们将沦为银行业巨头的猎物。其实，我们不妨把未来的银行想象成受到政府高度监管的公用事业：它们将持有大量的资金，勉强维持盈利，并且会聘用经理人来回避风险。如果果真如此，未来的银行将会进入庞大但缺乏生机的新阶段。