《时代》周刊评出2014年度最佳发明

23. Wrappers You Can Eat

可食用的包装

“Edible wrapper” sounds like an oxymoron—unless you’re WikiFoods founder David Edwards, who has devised a way to encase yogurt, cheese, ice cream and more in shells strong enough to hold their shape (in water, heat and cold) until you take your first bite. The secret lies in science: Each shell is made of particles of dried fruit or other natural substances that are tiny enough to be electrically attracted to one another; they are combined with calcium and sugar to strengthen the form. “可食用的包装”听起来自相矛盾——除非你是WikiFoods公司首席执行官戴维•爱德华兹。他发明一种(在遇水、遇热和遇冷时)保持不变形的外壳，可以把酸奶、奶酪、冰激凌及其他食物装入其中，在你张口咬开之前不会变形。这其中的奥秘来自科学：每个外壳都用水果干或其他天然物质的颗粒制成，这些颗粒小得足以因为带电不同而相互吸引：它们又与钙和糖混合起来，以加固外壳。

24. Screens that Showcase Digital Art

数字艺术展示屏

“There are so many artists” making beautiful works on and for computers, says digital artist Jake Levine, referencing the burgeoning Tumblr community (among others). But putting that art on physical walls has been nearly impossible. Levine’s Electric Objects, which has raised almost $3 million in funding, aims to change that. The sleek, 22-by-13-in. flatscreens are wired specifically to display art. Their brightness dims in tandem with sunlight, and their matte finish blocks glare so they resemble actual paintings. And a companion smartphone app lets users switch what is displayed on a whim.

数字艺术家杰克•莱文说，“有如此多的画家”在电脑上或在为电脑创作美丽的作品，他指的是日益红火的Tumblr等网上社区。但把这种艺术挂到墙上却一直几乎是不可能的。莱文的Eletric Objects公司旨在改变这一现状。该公司生产的光滑的平板显示屏规格为22×13英寸，内置了网络连接，可用来显示画作。它们的亮度可与阳光同步变化，表面的磨砂处理可消除反光，从而营造油画般的质感。配套的手机应用使用户可随意切换显示的内容。

25. Action Figures that Empower Girls

让女孩变得强大的动作玩偶

Studies have shown that girls’ career ambitions can be heavily influenced by their playthings. But when moms Dawn Nadeau and Julie Kerwin started searching for female action figures that were athletic and empowering—as opposed to dolls like Barbie, most of which cannot even bend their limbs—they were dismayed to find … none. So using funds they raised on Kickstarter—$162,906 to be exact, more than quadruple their goal—they designed and commissioned a firm to build their IAmElemental series of action figures, meant to portray women as heroes with strong personalities. Each figure embodies a different “element” of heroism, like persistence or honesty. “The idea that girls could save the world—that’s a very powerful fantasy,” says Nadeau.

研究显示，女孩的职业抱负在很大程度上会受到玩具的影响。然而，当唐•纳多和朱莉•克尔温两位母亲开始寻找与芭比娃娃截然相反的健壮、强势的女性动作玩偶时，她们却沮丧地一无所获。于是，她们筹集了16.2万多美元，设计了自己的“我是强者”系列动作玩偶并委托一家企业生产，这些玩偶意在把女性塑造为具有强势性格的英雄。每款玩偶都代表一种不同的“英雄主义”要素，例如恒心或诚实。纳多说：“女孩可以拯救世界的概念是一种非常有力的想象。”

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）