2018.10.28

Essays（随笔）reveal(揭露，透露) (that)Stephen Hawking predicted race（种族） of 'superhumans' 
论文透露史蒂芬·霍金关于“超级人类”族群的预测

The late（已故的） physicist and author Prof Stephen Hawking has caused controversy（争议） by suggesting (that)a new race of superhumans could develop from wealthy people choosing to edit their and their children's DNA. 
已故物理学家兼作家史蒂芬·霍金教授提出，富人会选择修改他们自身和子女的 DNA, 从而创造出一个新的超级人类族群，这一论调引发了争议。(edit DNA 编辑DNA)

Hawking, the author of A Brief History of Time, who died in March, made the predictions in a collection(一批) of articles and essays.
《时间简史》的作者霍金于今年三月离世，他在一系列的著述和论文中做出了这些预测。

"I am sure that during this century, people will discover how to modify（修改，改进） both intelligence and instincts（本能） such as aggression（侵略性，攻击性）," he wrote.
“我肯定，在本世纪内，人们会发现改进智力和诸如攻击性这类本能的方法。”他写道。

"Laws will probably be passed against genetic engineering （基因工程）with humans. But some people won't be able to resist the temptation（诱惑） to improve human characteristics（特性）, such as memory, resistance to disease（疾病） and length of life."
“（立法机构）可能会通过相关法律，禁止人类相关的基因工程。但是（它）能够改善记忆力，抗病力和寿命这样的人类属性，有些人并不能拒绝这样的诱惑。”

Hawking raised the prospect（前景，可能性） that breakthroughs（突破） in genetics will make it attractive （有吸引力）for people to try to improve themselves, with implications（暗示，可能的后果） for "unimproved humans".
霍金提出了这样一种可能性，遗传学方面的突破会吸引人们试着去改进自己，“未改进的人类”则会因此遭受后果。

"Once such superhumans appear, there will be significant（严重的，重大的） political problems with unimproved humans, who won't be able to compete," he wrote. "Presumably（想必，可能）, they will die out, or become unimportant. Instead（取而代之）, there will be a race of self-designing beings who are improving at an ever-increasing rate."
“一旦这样的超级人类诞生，未改进的人类将面临严重的权力问题，因为他们竞争起来毫无胜算。”他写道。“他们可能会灭绝，或者变得无关紧要。取而代之的，会是一个自我设计的生物构成的种族，他们会以越来越快的速度改善自身。”

However, questions have been raised （提出）about whether（是否） parents would risk using such techniques for（因为） fear that the enhancements（提高） would have side-effects.
但是，也有人质疑父母是否会冒险使用这些技术，因为他们担心这样的改良可能会有副作用。

The astronomer（天文学家） Lord Rees, who was a friend of Hawking at Cambridge University but often disagreed with his peer（年龄地位，匹敌的人）, noted a sperm（精子） bank in California offering only "elite（精英）" sperm, including from Nobel prize winners, had closed due to lack of demand（无人问津）.
天文学家里斯男爵是霍金在剑桥大学的朋友，但两人的观点常常相左。男爵提到加利福尼亚州的一个精子库只提供“杰出”精子，包括诺贝尔奖得主的精子，但因为无人问津而关门大吉了。

—————  文章来源 / 卫报