Scientists Say 'Living Robots' Can Now Reproduce

 科学家宣布“活的机器人”现在已经能够繁殖了

        Scientists have announced that xenobots, the world's first "living robots," can now reproduce（繁殖）.

        科学家宣布xenobot——世界上第一个“活的机器人”，现在已经能够繁殖了。

        Xenobots are made from the stem cells（干细胞） of the African clawed frog（非洲爪蛙） — or the Xenopus laevis（非洲爪蟾）, which is where they get their name.

        Xenobot 由非洲爪蛙或者非洲爪蟾的干细胞制作的，这是xenobot这个名字的由来。

        To create them, a team of scientists at the University of Vermont used a supercomputer to design a blueprint（蓝图）, which was assembled（装配） by biologists at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

        为了创造他们，佛蒙特大学的科学家团队使用超级电脑设计了一张蓝图，它被来自马萨诸塞州的塔夫斯大学的生物学家组装。

        They separated stem cells from frog embryos（胚胎） into single cells, and left them to incubate（培养）. Then, under a microscope, the cells were cut and joined to match the computer designs, creating an entirely new organism.

        他们从青蛙胚胎的干细胞中分离出单细胞，培养它们。然后，在显微镜下它们被切割并连接起来以匹配计算机的设计，从而创造一个完整的、新的有机体。

        Less than a millimeter wide and spherical（球形的） in shape, xenobots can be "programmed" to complete tasks similarly to robots. They can move around by themselves, heal themselves if they get hurt, and have even shown evidence of keeping memory.

        不到一毫米的球体——xenobot，它能被编程去像机器人那样完成任务。它们能自己移动，如果它们受伤了，它们能自己修复，甚至已经展现出能保存记忆的证据。

        Now, working together with Harvard University, the researchers have discovered that these xenobots can reproduce in a way that has been seen in molecules, but never before in plants or animals.

        在于哈佛大学的合作中，研究人员发现这些xenobot已经能够以分子的形式繁殖，这从未在植物或动物中出现过。

        Within five days of being brought together, xenobots form spheres of about 3,000 cells. While observing this, the team noticed that different clusters（集群） of cells appeared to work together by pushing loose cells together into new clusters, eventually forming new xenobots.

        在它们聚在一起的五天里，xenobot形成了大约有3,000个细胞的球体。当研究人员进行观察时，这个团队注意到不同的细胞群似乎通过把松散的细胞聚集在一起形成了新的集群。

        These new xenobots were smaller than the originals, and in only one out of five trials were the "children" able to produce a further generation of their own.

        这些新的集权比原来的要小，在五次实验中只有一个“孩子”能够生育出下一代。

        To improve the effectiveness of the xenobots' reproduction, scientists used artificial intelligence to experiment with different body shapes. They found that a shape resembling（像） Pac-Man was the best at gathering cells into new clusters.

       为了提高xenobot的繁殖效率，科学家使用人工智能去实验不同的身体形状。他们发现像吃豆人的形状是最容易聚集细胞形成新集群的形状。

        The new shape resulted in spherical "child" xenobots that were not only able to make more xenobots themselves — they were so large that a total of up to（总计达到……） four generations of children could be made.

        这个新的形状创造的球形子代不仅能制造更多的xenobot，而且它们的体积之大以至于能够产生四个子代。

        Xenobots do not yet have any practical application, but the researchers hope they could one day be used to fix electrical circuits（电路） or clean up microplastics in the oceans.

        Xenobot尚且还没有任何实际应用，但是这些研究人员们希望它们某一天能够被用来修复电路，或者用来清理海洋中的微型塑料。