生化電子人亮相 有真人七八成功能

The term "bionic man" was the stuff of science fiction in the 1970s, when a popular TV show called "The Six Million Dollar Man" chronicled the adventures of Steve Austin, a former astronaut whose body was rebuilt using artificial parts after he nearly died.
“生化人”這個概念來自於20世紀70年代的一部名爲《六百萬美金的男人》（又名《無敵金剛》）的科幻小說。書中描述了前宇航員史蒂夫·奧斯汀在瀕死之際，被醫生們用人造組織移植救活的冒險故事。

Now, a team of engineers has assembled a robot using artificial organs, limbs and other body parts that comes tantalizingly close to a true "bionic man." For real, this time.
如今，有一個工程師團隊用人造器官、人造四肢等等組裝了一個電子人。這個機器人與科幻小說中的生化人極其相似足以亂真。這次它不是出現在書裏，而是在現實生活中。

The artificial "man" is the subject of a Smithsonian Channel documentary that airs Sunday, Oct. 20 at 9 p.m. Called "The Incredible Bionic Man," it chronicles engineers' attempt to assemble a functioning body using artificial parts that range from a working kidney and circulation system to cochlear and retina implants.
美國史密森尼美國博物館電視臺專門爲這個人造“人”製作了一集紀錄片，名爲《不可思議的生化人》，紀錄片將於10月20日晚上9點播出。在這部紀錄片裏，我們將看到工程師們是如何利用各種人造組織，例如活動的腎臟、循環系統、乃至移植的耳蝸和視網膜來組裝起一副正常運轉的身體。

The parts hail from 17 manufacturers around the world. This is the first time they've been assembled together, says Richard Walker, managing director of Shadow Robot Co. and the lead roboticist on the project.
影子機器人有限公司總經理、生化人項目的首席機器人專家理查德·沃克稱，這些人造組織是由全球17個製造商分別製作的。這是第一次將所有的組建組合爲一。

"(It's) an attempt to showcase just how far medical science has gotten," he says.
他說，“我們的目標是展示醫學科學的新進展。”

The robot making appearances in the U.S. for the first time this week. Having crossed the Atlantic tucked inside two metal trunks — and after a brief holdup in customs — the bionic man will strut his stuff at the New York Comic Con festival on Friday.
這個生化電子人將於本週在美國第一次對公衆露面。爲了方便運輸到大洋彼岸，機器人被拆分成各個組件裝在兩個金屬行李箱裏——過安檢的時候還耽擱了一會兒——它將在這週五的紐約動漫節上閃亮登場。

Walker says the robot has about 60 to 70 percent of the function of a human. It stands six-and-a-half feet tall and can step, sit and stand with the help of a Rex walking machine that's used by people who've lost the ability to walk due to a spinal injury. It also has a functioning heart that, using an electronic pump, beats and circulates artificial blood, which carries oxygen just like human blood. An artificial, implantable kidney, meanwhile, replaces the function of a modern-day dialysis unit.
沃克稱這個電子人具有六七成的人類機體功能。它身高6.5英尺（約1.98米），可以在雷克斯步行機輔助下行走、坐下、起立。雷克斯步行機一直用於輔助那些應脊椎受傷而無法行走的人類。它還有一顆活動的心臟，在電子泵的作用下跳動、完成身體的血液循環。它的人造血液也像人血一樣攜帶氧氣。科學家們還給它移植了一顆人造腎臟，取代了當下慣用的透析組建。

Although the parts used in the robot work, many of them are a long way from being used in humans. The kidney, for example, is only a prototype. And there are some key parts missing: there's no digestive system, liver, or skin. And, of course, no brain.
雖然這些人造組建成功的實現了一些人類的機體功能，但要將它們運用到人體上還任重道遠。比如，機器人身上的人造腎器還只是一個模型。而且還有一些關鍵組織缺失：沒有消化系統、肝臟或皮膚。而且顯然沒有腦組織。

The bionic man was modeled after Bertolt Meyer, a 36-year-old social psychologist at the University of Zurich who was born without his lower left arm and wears a bionic prosthesis. The man's face was created based on a 3D scan of Meyer's face.
這個生化電子人是以36歲的蘇黎世大學社會心理學家貝托爾特·邁耶爲原型製作的。這位心理學家出生時沒有左小臂，因而佩戴了一副智能仿生臂。生化人的臉部是通過對邁耶進行面部3D掃描而製作的。

"We wanted to showcase that the technology can provide aesthetic prostheses for people who have lost parts of their faces, for example, their nose, due to an accident or due to, for example, cancer," Meyer says.
邁耶稱，“我們希望展示的是，科技可以爲那些由於意外事故或者癌症等等而失去面部組織——比如鼻部——的人提供美觀的假體移植。”

Meyer says he initially felt a sense of unease when he saw the robot for the first time.
邁耶說，當他第一次看到這個生化電子人的時候感覺不太好。

"I thought it was rather revolting to be honest," he says. "It was quite a shock to see a face that closely resembles what I see in the mirror every morning on this kind of dystopian looking machine."
“說實話可能很不相宜,"他說，“在這種人造烏托邦式模樣的電子人身上，看到自己每天早上都在鏡子裏看到的臉，我確實非常震驚。”

He has since warmed up to it, especially after the "man" was outfitted with some clothes from the U.K. department store Harrods.
但以後邁耶很快和機器人熟識起來，特別是電子人穿上了英國著名百貨公司哈羅茲的品牌服裝之後。

And the cost? As it turns out, this bionic man comes cheaper than his $6-million-dollar sci-fi cousin. While the parts used in the experiment were donated, their value is about $1 million.
這個生化電子人身價如何？它比《六百萬美金的男人》中的生化人要便宜。由於項目實驗所用的人造組建都是捐獻的，其價值共計約一百萬美元左右。