2021年科技会带来哪些改变

Ride-hailing startup Lyft announced recently that it's making its own self-driving car technology—a move that could help it meet an audacious goal of having autonomous vehicles chauffeur most of its passengers around by 2021.

叫车服务初创公司“来福车”日前宣布开发自动驾驶技术，该公司计划到2021年左右实现由无人车搭载大部分乘客，而开发自动驾驶技术有助于实现这一雄心壮志。

It sounds a bit far-fetched, considering that autonomous cars are still largely in the testing stages, but Lyft is just one of many companies saying that 2021 will be the year that these vehicles finally get out on the roads en masse.

由于无人车现在很大程度上仍处于测试阶段，所以听起来有点不太靠谱。但已有多家企业表示2021年无人车将大规模驶上道路，而来福车只是其中一家。

So, sure, it could happen. And going along with that positive line of thinking—assuming that we will, in fact, have self-driving cars in 2021—we wondered what other technological marvels and milestones await us in that magical year.

因此，这一切当然有可能发生。如果顺着这种乐观的思路继续下去，假设2021年无人车成为现实，那么还有什么技术奇迹或科技突破在这神奇的一年等着我们呢？

The answer was surprising. According to an array of predictions from tech companies and market researchers, plenty of changes are coming.

答案让人大吃一惊。根据科技公司和市场研究人员进行的一系列预测，众多变革即将到来。

Electric cars

电动汽车

When it comes to driving, 2021 won't just be about fancy robot cars; it's expected to be a year in which we'll have more electric vehicles, too. A report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecasts that electric vehicles will make up a little less than 4% of all car sales in the US and 5% of all car sales in Europe that year, up from 1% and 2%, respectively, this year.

谈到驾驶，2021年不仅只是高级无人车的一年，到时电动车也有望更加普及。彭博新能源财经的一份报告预测，2021年电动汽车的销量将占美国汽车总销量的近4%，在欧洲的占比将达到5%，和今年相比分别上升1%和2%。

Virtual reality

虚拟现实

Though virtual reality's first year with some powerful consumer headsets on the market, 2016, wasn't exactly a blockbuster, the technology is expected to be on a lot more faces come 2021. IDC forecasts that shipments of virtual and augmented reality headsets will rise to about 92 million in 2021, which would be close to 10 times as many as shipped out last year.

功能强大的虚拟现实头盔在2016年首次面世后并没有风靡。不过，预计2021年使用这项技术的用户将大幅增加。据国际数据公司预测，2021年虚拟现实和增强现实头盔的出货量将上升到9200万左右，这将是去年出货量的10倍。

Male birth control

男性节育

We raise an eyebrow for this one more than most, but we'll just have to wait and see: a company called Contraline is reportedly working to bring to market a form of reversible male birth control that doesn't require surgery.

男性节育比大多数事情更让人们感到意外，但是我们只需要等待观望：据报道，一家名为Contraline的公司正在努力将一种无需手术即可进行的可逆式男性节育方式推向市场。

Contraline claims it has come up with a “polymer hydrogel” that is implanted in the vas deferens—in just a few minutes with the help of an ultrasound—and is meant to block the passage of sperm for years. In April Contraline announced that it had raised $2.2 million toward its goal and that it aimed to have a product on the market in 2021.

Contraline称，他们研发出一种植入到输精管的“高分子水凝胶”，它可以将精子运输的通道堵塞数年，只需要利用超声波花几分钟即可完成。今年4月，Contraline宣布打算在2021年销售这款产品，并为实现目标筹资220万美元。

Getting online

上网

In 2021, many more of us will be able to weigh in on these amazing new technologies (whether or not they actually came to fruition).

2021年，更多人将可以对以上神奇的新技术发表评论了（不管它们是否真的实现了）。

Networking-equipment maker Cisco forecasts in its Visual Networking Index that the number of people using the Internet will climb from 3.3 billion today to 4.6 billion within four years. That would be more than half the world's population, using the United Nations' estimate of 7.8 billion by 2021.

网络设备制造商思科公司的视觉网络指数预测，4年内互联网用户将从现在的33亿人攀升至46亿人。联合国预估2021年全球人口为78亿，基于这一数字，届时互联网用户将占世界人口的一半以上。

Cheap solar power

廉价太阳能

Clean energy has been getting cheaper for a while now, and in the not-so-distant future of 2021, it is expected to finally become cheaper to use renewable power sources like solar and wind rather than coal in a number of key countries.

现在，清洁能源的价格已经越来越便宜，而在不久之后的2021年，在一些主要国家，太阳能和风能等可再生能源的价格有望低于煤炭。

While solar power—which is pricier than the other big renewable source, wind—is already comparable price-wise to coal in countries such as the US, Italy, and Germany, a recent report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that by 2021, solar power will be cheaper than coal in China, India, Mexico, Brazil, and the UK.

太阳能比风能等其他大型可再生能源要昂贵，虽然在美国、意大利、德国等国家，太阳能的价格已经比煤矿更合理，但彭博新能源财经近日的一份报告预测，到2021年，中国、印度、墨西哥、巴西和英国的太阳能将比煤矿更便宜。

Lab-grown chicken

实验室培养鸡肉

Chicken grown in a laboratory, rather than on a farm, sounds far out, but it may be here in a few years.

鸡肉在实验室培育出来，这听起来遥远，但是几年后可能就成为现实了。

And since it doesn't involve killing any fowl, it may lead to chicken nuggets that even the staunchest animal lover will nibble on.

这样的养殖方式不会杀死任何家禽，生产出的鸡块连最坚定的动物爱好者可能也会食用。

That's the hope of a company called Memphis Meats, which is planning to sell its lab-raised, animal-free chicken by 2021 - an achievement it's already on the way to meeting since it says it has grown pieces of chicken and duck sans animals in its lab.

这一想法来自孟菲斯肉品公司，该公司正在计划于2021年前销售实验室培养的“无鸡鸡肉”，孟菲斯肉品公司已经快要实现这一目标，他们称已经在实验室里培育出没有长成家禽的鸡肉块和鸭肉块。