《时代》周刊评出2014年度最佳发明

Hoverboards, intelligent space craft, edible food wrappers, and much much more— Welcome to TIME’s annual round-up of the best inventions making the world better, smarter and—in some cases—a little more fun.

欢迎来到《时代周刊》年终最佳发明汇总，这里有悬浮滑板，智能航天器，可食用的食物包装以及其他更多的发明，这些发明让我们的生活更美好、更智能、甚至有时候变得更有趣。

1. The Real-Life Hoverboard

现实版磁悬滑板

The hoverboard—a type of skateboard that levitates like a magic carpet—had been a pipe dream since its fictional debut in 1989’sBack to the Future Part II. Now California-based tech firm Hendo has built the real thing.

悬浮滑板——一种像魔毯一样悬浮在空中的滑板——自从在1989年的科幻影片《回到未来2》中出现以来就一直让人可望而不可即。现在美国加州技术公司Hendo已造出了实物。

Hondo’s hoverboard can float only an inch or so above the ground, and even then only over conductive material like copper or aluminum. Just 10 are being made to order (so far). And battery life is 15 minutes—barely enough time to zoom past your enemies à la Marty McFly. But the technology that powers it could be revolutionary. Hendo founders Jill and Greg Henderson plan to develop magnetic “hovering” tech to stabilize buildings during earthquakes, protect valuable works of art and more. “The hoverboard is the first step to bringing this technology to the world,” says Greg.

Hendo公司的悬浮滑板只能离地大约一英寸(2.54厘米)，即使这么低的高度也必须是在导电材料如铜质或铝质的表面才行。目前为止，Hendo公司只定制了10台。电池的续航时间为15分钟——这点时间勉强够从敌人à la Marty McFly身边快速逃离。Hendo公司创始人吉尔和格雷格•亨德森计划对磁“悬浮”技术进行开发，以达到在地震中稳定建筑物以及保护价值连城的艺术品等目的。格雷格称：“悬浮滑板是把这项技术推向世界的第一步。”

2. The Supersmart Spacecraft

超智能太空船

Nobody gets Mars right on the first try. The U.S. didn’t, Russia didn’t, the Europeans didn’t. But on Sept.24, India did. Building the craft cost India just $74million, less than the budget for the film Gravity. It portends great things for the country’s space program—and for science in general.

印度空间研究组织研制的“曼加里安”号火星探测器。还没有人第一次尝试就能到达火星的。美国没有，俄罗斯没有，欧洲也没有。但9月24日，印度却做到了。制造该探测器只花了印度7400万美元，还不及电影《地心引力》的预算。这对于印度航天计划以及整个科学界具有重要的象征意义。