超能力將為常人所用？

提起超人、超能力，相信很多人都會兩眼發光，因為這兩個詞里面隱含的神秘力量著實讓人神往，以至于這類題材的漫畫和電影經久不衰。如今，世界科技發展日新月異，我們眼中不可思議的超能力，很多已經不再是“Mission Impossible”。到底科技如何將superpower為常人所用，并且用得其所呢？Come and join our discussion.

October Topic

Host: One does not need a degree in 1)psychology to understand this 2)equation. You and I go to superhero movies because we’d like to have superpowers. But， can science give them to us and how soon， damn it? This weekend’s ultra-3)blockbuster The Dark Knight expected to shatter box office records. The wind beneath Batman’s wings， the Joker， portrayed with reportedly 5)menacing perfection by the late

6)Heath Ledger.

While Batman’s flying 7)prowess is man-made， as opposed to， say， Superman’s， mankind is still a long way from either of these， though it is inching closer. The good old 8)jet pack， around since the ’50s， will soon boast a model with nine minutes of continuous flight time at 83 miles an hour. Wow.

As for super strength， AKA the Incredible Hulk， forget the 9)steroids， think more along the lines of Iron Man， real-life exo skeletons， which can 10)amplify strength 20 times. They’re being developed for the military and 11)Roger Clemens.

There’s also the 12)regenerative capability of some superheroes， enviable indeed， but few things

13)fascinate us more than this: invisibility. Scientists have made a bit of progress even with that， though they are still a universe away from Harry Potter’s 14)cloak.

Let’s bring in theoretical physicist and the author of Physics of the Impossible， Dr. Michio Kaku. Thank you for your time tonight， sir.

Kaku: Glad to be on this show.

Host: 15)Presumably， invisibility， that last one， would be the most desired superpower because， obviously， you could use it to sneak in and steal the secrets of any other superpower. Where are we on invisibility?

Kaku: Two years ago， we physicists made an astonishing breakthrough at Duke University. Proof of 16)principle was demonstrated in a laboratory. We can take an object and shine 17)microwave radiation at it， which then wraps around the object， reforms at the other end， making the object inside invisible to microwave radiation. And last year at Cal Tech and also in Germany， laser light was also shown to be bendable in this way.

So Harry Potter， watch out.

And look， the Pentagon is funding this research. They’re not stupid. They see the 18)enormous possibilities of a technology， still decades away， that can bend light around an object， making Harry Potter invisible inside.

Host: Wow. All right， now flying， translated as the jet pack. I guess you would share this conclusion with me: that’s the biggest disappointment of this whole last century. I saw a guy at a jet pack—with a jet pack at the 1964 World’s Fair. And in that time since then， we’re still only up to a nine-minute ride.

Kaku: That’s right. The 19)Nazis were the first ones to create a usable jet pack. It worked for about 30 seconds using

20)hydrogen peroxide. And things have been pretty much the same for 50 years. But eventually， we hope to use super magnets. If we have room temperature super magnets， one day we may be able to float on magnetism， just like we can make trains float on air today using magnetism.

Host: All right. Super strength， what is the 21)premise—the premise of the exo skeleton suit? Sounds 22)extraordinarily 23)intriguing. How does it roughly work?

Kaku: Well， you put on a skeleton of metal. Every time you move your hands， it senses the motion， magnifies it. And 24)NASA is quite interested in this. In outer space， our

25)astronauts have to make repairs and， of course， they’re limited by the strength of their muscles. So NASA is very interested. The military is interested. You would put on， literally， a metal skeleton that senses all your motion and magnifies it by a factor of 20. At the University of California at Berkeley， they have already developed a 26)prototype Iron Man-type exo skeleton.

Host: Wow. All right， X-ray vision. Obviously we have access to X-ray vision， but unfortunately you have to go to work at the airport for the Transportation and Security Administration. Correct?

Kaku: We have X-ray vision just like in Superman comics. We have a 27)light bulb that emits X-rays， not just ordinary light. It 28)illuminates a room with X-rays. They 29)bounce off the wall. They bounce off things. And they go right into a camera which then photographs it， giving you pictures that are almost identical to the pictures that we’re used to seeing in the comic books. So， that’s a technology that’s here today.

Host: Wow!

十月話題

主持人：一個人不需要獲得心理學學位，就能理解這樣一個方程式。因為喜歡超能力，所以我們都去看超級英雄電影。但是，科學能賦予我們超能力嗎，該死，還要等多久？本周末的重頭戲《黑暗騎士》預期會刷新票房紀錄。蝙蝠俠翼下的風，邪惡的小丑，據說已故的希斯·萊杰把這個熒幕惡魔的角色詮釋得淋漓盡致。

盡管，相對于超人來說，蝙蝠俠矯健英勇的飛行技能是人造的，但人類與其中一種超能力的距離還遠得很——雖然已經在一步步地靠近了。上世紀50年代就已出現的良好的老式噴氣飛行背包，轉眼將被吹噓成以每小時83英里的速度持續飛行9分鐘的典

范。哇。

至于超強力量方面，為人所知的有綠巨人——現在不考慮激素了——更多的是向鋼鐵俠靠攏，研究現實生活中能把力量放大20倍的外骨骼。這種技術現正被研究用于軍事領域和羅杰·克萊門斯身上。

還有些超級英雄有再生能力，的確令人羨慕，但對我們而言沒有什么比隱形更吸引人。科學家們在這方面的研究有所進展，但這與哈利·波特的斗篷還相去甚遠。

讓我們來介紹一位理論物理學家，《不可能的物理學》一書的作者——加來道雄博士。感謝您今晚抽時間參與我們的節目，

先生。

加來：很高興能夠參加這個節目。

主持人：剛才所提到的隱形能力，可能是人們最想得到的一種超能力。因為，很明顯你能利用這種能力潛入并盜取任何一種超能力的秘密。我們的隱形超能力研究進展如何？

加來：兩年前，物理學家在杜克大學取得了驚人的突破。我們在實驗室里發現了這一原理的證據。我們拿出一個物體，對它進行微波輻射，微波輻射把這個物體包圍了起來，然后在物體的另一端重聚，使得在微波輻射之內的物體實現了隱形。去年，在加州理工學院以及在德國，鐳射光線也同樣地呈現出可彎曲性。

因此，哈利·波特，你要小心了。

美國國防部五角大樓正在資助該項研究。他們才不傻呢。盡管這項研究還有數十年的漫漫長路要走，他們看中的正是該項技術成功的極大可能性，它能使光線彎曲，繞過物體，讓哈利·波特隱形。

主持人：哇。好的，現在說說飛行能力，代名詞是噴氣飛行背包。我想您跟我會有同感：這是整個上世紀最讓人失望的事。我曾在1964年世界博覽會上見過一個家伙坐在噴氣飛行背包上。從那以后，直到現在我們才僅僅等到了這個9分鐘行程。

加來：沒錯。納粹黨人創造了第一個可供使用的噴氣飛行背包。它利用過氧化氫運行了30秒。50年過去了，這種情況似乎也沒改變多少。我們最終寄望于使用超強磁鐵。要是我們擁有常溫下的超強磁鐵，總有一天我們能夠漂浮在磁力上，就像現今我們利用磁力讓火車懸浮在空氣中一樣。

主持人：對。超強力量，這個設想的前提又是什么呢？外骨骼套裝的提法聽起來讓人格外好奇。它的基本運作原理是怎樣的呢？

加來：呃，你穿上一副金屬骨骼。每次當你移動手臂，它感應到一個動作，把這個動作放大。美國國家航空航天局對此特別感興趣。在外太空，我們的宇航員必不可少得做一些修理工作，但他們受限于肌肉的力量。因此，國家航空航天局和軍方對此都特別感興趣。穿上金屬骨骼以后，它能感應你所有的動作并把它放大20倍。加利福尼亞大學伯克利分校已經研制出了以鋼鐵俠為原型的外骨骼。

主持人：哇。好的，現在輪到X光視線了。很明顯我們已經能使用X光視線，但很遺憾，你不得不去機場為交通安全管理部門工作才有機會使用。對嗎？

加來：就像超人漫畫里描繪的那樣，我們已經可以使用X光視線了。我們已經研制出了一種燈泡，能發出X光，而不是普通的光。它用X光照亮了整個房間。X光碰到了墻反彈開去，碰到了物體也反彈開去。然后進入了捕捉它影像的攝像機，然后成像，幾乎跟我們慣常在漫畫書里看到的影像一模一樣。那是現今已經取得成功的一項技術。

主持人：嘩——！