科技动态:机器人能提高人口出生率?

Parents tending to an infant, well, not a human one. This is yotaro, baby robot. He giggles¹, sneezes, and even cries with a running nose, until you touch his warm silicon² skin and calm him down.

家长们喜欢的是孩子，而不是成年的机器人。这是Yotaro，机器人宝宝。它能咯咯笑，打喷嚏，还能像婴儿般涕泪横流，只有你触碰它温润的硅制皮肤，它才会安静下来。

A robot can be human, says yotaro project leader Hiroki Kunimura. But it's great if this robot triggers human emotion so humans want to have their own baby.

Yotaro计划的领导人Hiroki Kunimura说，机器人可以像人类一样。如果Yotaro能激发人们对孩子的喜爱，他们的发明就是物尽其用了。

Yotaro's emotions are a computer program. The images projected, the warm body temperature just warm water, all of these to make him as human-like and baby-like as possible, and get woman's biological clock ticking. The blast to you.

Yotaro的表情是由电脑系统控制的。婴儿脸部投影的画面，如温水般的体温和其他一切使它更像人类，更像婴儿，而这些因素都呼唤着女人内在的母性，而这是无法抵挡的。

Japan has a major population problem, one of the world's lowest birth rates coupled with the fastest ageing population. Japan's government desperate to boost more children is now paying families 150 dollars per month per child until he or she reaches high school. Have more children, make more money, say lawmakers. These university students believe robotic encouragement may work better than the government's stipend³.

日本有着严峻的人口问题，它是世界上新生儿出生率最低的国家，同时又是人口老龄化最快的国家。日本政府急切地鼓励夫妇们生育孩子，政府为每名新生儿每月支付150美元，直到他或她上高中。立法者宣传说，生的越多，福利越多。大学学生们认为，这款机器人对夫妇们抚育孩子的鼓励可能比政府的奖励制度更加有效。

Yotaro changes how I feel about babies, says Madoka Hirai. I am now paying more attention to babies on the street. Yotaro is not a complex robot, and after a few minutes, a tad redundant⁴. But this robot already succeeds at least getting people thinking about babies. The first step they hope, and helping⁵ to solve a serious human dilemma⁶.

Madoka Hirai说，Yotaro改变了我对孩子的看法。我现在会注意在街上玩耍的小孩子。Yotaro不是一个精密的机器，也不是累赘的小孩子，但无论如何它都成功的将人们的注意力吸引到了小孩子的身上。设计者首先的初衷就是改变日本人口的两难局面。

Kyung Lah, CNN, Tsukuba, Japan.

Kyung Lah筑波（日本城市名）报道，CNN新闻。

1 giggles   

n.咯咯的笑( giggle的名词复数 )；傻笑；玩笑；the giggles 止不住的格格笑v.咯咯地笑( giggle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Her nervous giggles annoyed me. 她神经质的傻笑把我惹火了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I had to rush to the loo to avoid an attack of hysterical giggles. 我不得不冲向卫生间，以免遭到别人的疯狂嘲笑。 来自辞典例句

2 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

3 stipend   

n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金

参考例句：

• The company is going to ajust my stipend from this month onwards.从这一个月开始公司将对我的薪金作调整。
• This sum was nearly a third of his total stipend.这笔钱几乎是他全部津贴的三分之一。

4 redundant   

adj.多余的，过剩的；(食物)丰富的；被解雇的

参考例句：

• There are too many redundant words in this book.这本书里多余的词太多。
• Nearly all the redundant worker have been absorbed into other departments.几乎所有冗员，都已调往其他部门任职。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。