對于很多準備考托福的同學來說，不知道準備得怎么樣呢？今天就和出國留學網的小編一起來了解一下托福閱讀素材：記憶儲存。
Brains and computers
We can remember it for you wholesale
Elon Musk enters the world of brain-computer interfaces人腦與計算機
我們能為你保存大把的記憶
伊隆·馬斯克步入腦機連接的世界
EVER since ENIAC， the first computer that could be operated by a single person， began flashing its ring counters in 1946， human beings and calculating machines have been on a steady march towards tighter integration. Computers entered homes in the 1980s， then migrated onto laps， into pockets and around wrists. In the laboratory， computation has found its way onto molars and into eyeballs. The logical conclusion of all this is that computers will， one day， enter the brain.1946年，第一臺可由單人操作的計算機埃尼阿克（ENIAC）開始展示自己的環(huán)形計數(shù)器。自那時起，人類和“計算的機器”便一直向更緊密的結合穩(wěn)步前進著。計算機在上世紀80年代走入千家萬戶，之后又移步至人們的膝上、口袋里以及腕間。在實驗室里，計算在臼齒上及眼球中派上了用場。由此得出的一個合理結論便是：總有一天，計算機會進入人類的大腦。
This， at least， is the bet behind a company called Neuralink， just started by Elon Musk， a serial technological entrepreneur. Information about Neuralink is sparse， but trademark filings state that it will make invasive devices for treating or diagnosing neurological ailments. Mr Musk clearly has bigger plans， though. He has often tweeted cryptic messages referring to “neural lace”， a science-fictional concept invented by Iain M. Banks， a novelist， that is， in essence， a machine interface woven into the brain.起碼一家名叫Neuralink的公司押下了這一賭注。這家公司剛由開創(chuàng)了一系列科技業(yè)務的企業(yè)家伊隆·馬斯克（Elon Musk）設立。關于該公司的信息寥寥，但其商標申請文件稱公司將打造用于治療及診斷神經系統(tǒng)疾病的侵入性裝置。不過，馬斯克無疑還有更宏偉的計劃。他經常在推特上發(fā)些令人捉摸不透、談及“神經織網”（neural lace）的消息。這一科幻概念是由小說家伊恩·M·班克斯（Iain M. Banks）所構想，從本質上說，就是將機器界面植入人腦。
Although devices that can read and write data to and from the brain as easily as they would to and from a computer remain firmly in the realm of imagination， that has not stopped neuroscientists （and， of course， Mr Musk） from indulging in some speculation. Theodore Berger of the University of Southern California， in Los Angeles， has proposed that brain implants might be used to store and retrieve memories. Dr Berger’s prosthesis would be intended to help those whose brains cannot form long-term memories because they are damaged. But if the idea worked， there seems little reason why those without damage should not and would not want something similar. Mr Musk himself， more ambitiously still， imagines an implant that would let the wearer tap directly into the internet， and all of the computational power available there.雖然能夠自如地在人腦內讀寫數(shù)據（就像在計算機上讀寫數(shù)據那樣）的設備仍然只停留在想象的世界中，但神經科學家們（當然，還有馬斯克）并沒有就此停止去探究某些猜測。洛杉磯南加州大學的西奧多·伯格（Theodore Berger）提出，人腦植入物也許可用來存儲和提取記憶。伯格所說的這種大腦假體將被用于幫助那些腦部因受損而無法形成長期記憶的人。不過，如果這一想法奏效，那些大腦并沒受損的人似乎也并沒什么理由不應該要、也沒理由不想要和這種假體類似的東西。馬斯克本人的想象更為大膽。他覺得可以有這樣一種植入物，讓植入者直接就能使用互聯(lián)網，以及互聯(lián)網提供的所有計算能力。
Of minds and melding
Behind this suggestion lies Mr Musk’s argument， made repeatedly， that human beings need to embrace brain implants to stay relevant in a world which， he believes， will soon be dominated by artificial intelligence. Proposing the artificial augmentation of human intelligence as a response to a boom in artificial intelligence may seem a bit much. But Mr Musk’s new company is not alone. A firm called Kernel is following a similar path.
人腦與融合
馬斯克反復提及、用以支撐這一想法的論據是：他認為人工智能很快將主導這個世界，人類需要欣然接納腦植入物才不至于變得無足輕重。利用人為手段來增強人類智能，以此來應對人工智能的蓬勃發(fā)展，這似乎有點過火。不過馬斯克的新公司并不是獨一份。一家名叫Kernel的公司也走上了類似的道路。
To start with， Kernel’s engineers hope to build devices for the treatment of neurological conditions such as strokes and Alzheimer’s disease. Ultimately， however， they want to create cognition-enhancing implants that anyone might care to buy. Kernel was founded in October 2016 by Bryan Johnson， an entrepreneur who， like Mr Musk， got rich by processing payments online （PayPal， which Mr Musk helped found， bought Braintree， Mr Johnson’s company， in 2013）. Mr Johnson put $100m of his own money into Kernel， stating that “unlocking our brain is the most significant and consequential opportunity in history.”Kernel的工程師希望首先能打造出用于治療中風及阿爾茨海默癥等神經系統(tǒng)疾病的設備。不過，他們最終想創(chuàng)造的是能夠強化認知能力、任何人也許都想買的植入物。Kernel由企業(yè)家布萊恩·約翰遜（Bryan Johnson）于2016年10月創(chuàng)立。和馬斯克一樣，他也是因提供在線支付的處理服務而致富（馬斯克參與創(chuàng)辦的Paypal在2013年收購了約翰遜的公司Braintree）。約翰遜自掏腰包向Kernel投入一億美元，并稱“解開我們大腦的秘密是有史以來最為重要、意義最為重大的一個機會。”
In some ways， Mr Johnson and Mr Musk are merely the new boys in what is quite an old field. The first brain implants， carried out in the 1970s， were prosthetic visual systems， though they did not work well. Cochlear implants， to restore hearing， have done much better. Hundreds of thousands of people now have them—though， strictly speaking， they talk to auditory nerves rather than to the brain directly， which simplifies the task. For some people， the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease can be kept in check by electrodes the diameter of a strand of spaghetti inserted deep into the brain. And one of the latest ideas in the field is to read and interpret brain activity， in order to restore movement to the limbs of the paralysed.從某些方面來看，約翰遜和馬斯克僅僅是新步入一片久經耕耘的領域的毛頭小伙。最早的腦植入物是人工視覺系統(tǒng)，于上世紀70年代植入人腦，不過效果并不太好。用于恢復聽力的人工耳蝸表現(xiàn)則要好得多。如今已有幾十萬人植入了人工耳蝸——不過嚴格說來，它們并不是直接同大腦對話，而是連接聽覺神經，這使任務得以簡化。在有些人那里，將一根意面粗細的電極植入其大腦深處，便可抑制帕金森氏癥的某些癥狀。該領域最新的想法之一是讀取并解讀大腦的活動，以使癱瘓之人的四肢恢復活動能力。
In one important way， however， Kernel and Neuralink are different from previous efforts. Though aimed initially at medical applications， they also explicitly nod to the possible non-medical uses of this kind of implant technology. In February Mr Musk said that he thought “meaningful” interfaces between the brain and computation were five years away. The creation of Neuralink suggests that he， like Mr Johnson， is putting his money where his mouth is.不過，Kernel和Neuralink在一個重要的方面有別于前人的工作。雖然它們最初的計劃是將這類植入技術應用于醫(yī)療，但也明確表示可能將它們應用于醫(yī)療之外的目的。馬斯克在2月稱，他認為要實現(xiàn)人腦和計算機之間“有意義”的連接需要五年的時間。Neuralink的創(chuàng)立表明他和約翰遜一樣，是個會為自己倡導的東西投資的人。
Most neuroscientists would， it must be acknowledged， regard all this as heroically optimistic. In a review of the field， published in January in Nature Reviews Materials， Polina Anikeeva and her colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology （MIT） wrote that， although Moore’s Law and the miniaturisation of electronics have brought devices down to a size where their insertion into the brain can be considered， big challenges lie ahead.必須得承認，多數(shù)神經科學家都會認為這些計劃樂觀中卻也透著逞強。在發(fā)表于1月《自然綜述：材料》（Nature Reviews Materials）上的一篇對該領域的綜述中，麻省理工學院的波琳娜·安尼基娃（Polina Anikeeva）及其同事寫道，雖然摩爾定律及電子元件的微型化已使各種裝置縮小到可以考慮將之置入大腦的程度，但未來仍存在著重大挑戰(zhàn)。
The brain’s complexity， and researchers’ present lack of understanding of how that organ’s component cells work together to do what they do， makes designing interfaces between brain and machine hard. But， even were it simple in principle， the rigid， silicon-based tools of modern computing do not mesh easily with the squishy soft-tissue of biology. Implants often generate scars around themselves. And the surgery needed to put them in place carries risks of its own.由于人腦的復雜性，以及研究人員目前對組成人腦的細胞協(xié)同工作的原理理解得并不充分，要設計人機接口并不容易。不過，就算這在理論上變得簡單易行，要讓硬質的現(xiàn)代化計算硅片跟生物學中黏濕的軟組織相融合也不會很容易。植入物經常會對周圍的組織造成創(chuàng)傷，將它們放入相應位置的手術本身也存在風險。
There may， though， be alternative approaches. One such is being tested by a group at Florida International University， in Miami， led by Sakhrat Khizroev. Dr Khizroev and his team use magnetoelectric particles so tiny that they can interact with the electric field generated by an individual nerve cell. The team inject these particles， tens of billions at a time， into a vein in a rat’s tail， then drag them into the animal’s brain using magnets. Each particle produces an electric field when stimulated by an external magnetic field. This may， in principle， permit a researcher to use such a particle to influence the electrical states of nearby nerve cells—and thus， in essence， reprogram them. How that would be done in practice， though， is obscure.不過，或許還有其他的辦法。邁阿密佛羅里達國際大學（Florida International University）的薩克拉特·齊茲洛夫博士（Sakhrat Khizroev）所領導的團隊便在測試其中的一種。他們使用的磁電粒子十分微小，能夠與單個神經細胞產生的電場相互作用。該團隊將數(shù)百億這種粒子一次性注射進小鼠尾部的血管中，然后用磁鐵將它們引至小鼠的大腦。每個粒子都會在外部磁場的刺激下產生電場。這在理論上或許可令研究人員利用這種粒子來影響附近神經細胞的電位狀態(tài)——實質上就是重新編排這些細胞。但這在實踐中能如何實現(xiàn)就不得而知了。
Another approach， being pioneered by Jose Carmena of the University of California， Berkeley， and his colleagues， uses devices the size of a grain of rice to convert ultrasonic energy beamed towards them into electricity that can stimulate nerve or muscle cells. Ultrasound travels through the body， so can power and control such devices without wires.加州大學伯克利分校的何塞·卡梅納（Jose Carmena）及其同事正在開創(chuàng)另外一種替代辦法。他們所使用的裝置有一粒米那么大，可將射向它們的超聲波能量轉化為電能來刺激神經或肌肉細胞。超聲波能穿透身體，因而無需電線就可驅動和控制這種裝置。
Both Dr Khizroev’s technique and Dr Carmena’s are less invasive than the current standard brain interface， a patch of needlelike electrodes known as a Utah array that is plugged into the brain’s surface. This is far too blunt an instrument to send any but the crudest signals into a brain. But， regardless of the precise approach taken to hardware， another problem the field faces is that no one understands the mechanism behind the natural equivalent of software—the way the brain encodes information. Such interfaces as do exist have to be trained， rather than instructed what to do. Instruction would be possible only if brain signals were properly understood.齊茲洛夫和卡梅納所采用技術的創(chuàng)傷都小于目前常見的那種腦界面，即一個布滿針狀電極的小塊，名為猶他電極陣列（Utah array），使用時插入大腦表層。它只能向大腦發(fā)送最粗糙的信號，遠不是一個有效的方法。不過，不管硬件采取的是何種方法，該領域都還面臨著另外一個問題：沒有人了解軟件的天然對等物的工作機制，即大腦是如何進行信息編碼的。現(xiàn)有的這種接口只能接受訓練，而不能遵循指令行事。只有在大腦信號能被正確理解的情況下才能有效地發(fā)布指令。
It is not yet clear which technological routes Mr Musk’s and Mr Johnson’s commercial efforts will take， though Kernel recently bought Kendall Research Systems， a spin-off from MIT that builds devices which use light， rather than electricity， to stimulate the brain. But the two firms’ shared underlying premise—that medical purposes might lead to more consumer-orientated applications—does seem a sensible way to do things.目前尚不清楚馬斯克和約翰遜的商業(yè)運作會采用何種技術路線，不過Kernel最近收購了從麻省理工學院剝離出來的Kendall Research Systems。該公司制造的裝置利用光而不是電來刺激大腦。但這兩家公司共同的假設——醫(yī)療上的用途也許會指向以消費者為導向的應用——似乎確實是一個明智的行事方法。
It is not yet clear which technological routes Mr Musk’s and Mr Johnson’s commercial efforts will take， though Kernel recently bought Kendall Research Systems， a spin-off from MIT that builds devices which use light， rather than electricity， to stimulate the brain. But the two firms’ shared underlying premise—that medical purposes might lead to more consumer-orientated applications—does seem a sensible way to do things. 人們明白醫(yī)療手術會有風險。不過只要態(tài)度真誠，人們或許會容忍在非醫(yī)療目的的情況下對人體進行實驗，而這種實驗通常在非醫(yī)療目的的情況下是不被允許的。這樣的話，Neuralink、Kernel以及隨后出現(xiàn)的公司就能增強自身的專門技能，在將來也許可將這些技能轉化成更為廣泛的應用。
As for Mr Musk himself， Neuralink brings to five the number of ambitious technology companies in which he is involved. The others are Tesla （electric cars， batteries and solar power）， which in late March attracted an investment from Tencent， a Chinese tech giant； SpaceX （rocketry）； the Boring Company （tunnelling）； and Hyperloop （vacuum trains）. It is hard to discern the connections between these ideas. But， in Mr Musk’s mind， they are presumably already laced together. 對馬斯克本人而言，有了Neuralink，與他有關的雄心勃勃的科技公司數(shù)量就變成了五個。其他四個分別是：生產電動汽車、電池及太陽能的特斯拉，3月底剛吸引了中國科技巨頭騰訊的投資；從事火箭研究的SpaceX；專事挖掘隧道的Boring Company；采用懸浮真空列車的超回路列車（Hyperloop）。要識別這些創(chuàng)意之間的關聯(lián)很難，不過，在馬斯克的腦袋里，它們想必已經交織在一起了。