美国国家公共电台 NPR Flying Taxis. Seriously?

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Two words for you - flying taxis. That's right. In the not-so-distant future, you'll open your ride-hailing app. And next to car, SUV and bicycle, you'll see this option - flying car. At least, that's according to the optimists¹ at the South by Southwest conference. Here's NPR's Aarti Shahani.

AARTI SHAHANI, BYLINE²: You might be the passenger who hails a taxi and heads to the rooftop, where, at the helipad, your ride is waiting. It might look like a minivan with wings and four seats or more like a gigantic drone. Either way, it won't fly itself any time soon. One seat will be reserved for the driver pilot.

CAREY CANNON³: If air taxis are going to be what everybody wants them to be, you know, in thousands at a city, for example, you won't be able to find enough conventional pilots.

SHAHANI: Carey Cannon, a chief engineer at Bell - we're in a crowded pavilion at South by Southwest, the annual tech, music, film convention in Austin. Cannon has set up a virtual reality simulation of what it feels like to drive one of these small, flying vehicles of the future.

CANNON: OK. I'll walk you through it a little bit. She's just about to go.

SHAHANI: He puts a headset on me and something like a joystick in my hand. I slip into a gamer chair, only I'm more than a gamer. I'm a trainer for Bell's computer software.

CANNON: All right. Now go ahead and roll the thumb wheel up to give it some power.

SHAHANI: How I and others drive will become data, training data for the artificial intelligence that'll take over much of the job. My VR flying taxi lifts off into the Las Vegas skyline.

CANNON: You're just following the green dots as they go.

SHAHANI: All right.

CANNON: (Laughter).

SHAHANI: Oh.

The dream of flying cars is at least as old as the automobile⁴ itself. Bell, which makes attack helicopters for the U.S. Navy, is working on this new project with another high-profile partner - Uber Technologies. Boeing and Airbus also have prototypes of these flying cars in the works. Uber has become the face of the aerial mobility⁵ movement as it has the most public campaign touting⁶ their work so far. Elon Musk⁷ says he'll get us to Mars. Uber says they'll get a millennial⁸ from San Francisco to San Jose in 15 minutes flat. And their timeline for this flying taxi that does not yet exist - 2023. I moderated a panel at South By.

By way of show of hands, how many of you believe it?

Half the audience buys that remarkable⁹ goal. When I asked if it'll happen within a decade...

Everyone, pretty much.

Jaiwon Shin with NASA, also an Uber partner, was on the panel. While he thinks Uber is being a touch bullish - he put the timeline further out to the mid-2020s - Shin gives his thesis for why it's close.

JAIWON SHIN: Convergence of many different technologies are maturing to the level that now aviation can benefit to put these things together.

SHAHANI: The batteries that power electric cars can power flight. Companies can stockpile and pull data and build artificial intelligence to take over air traffic control, manage the thousands of drones and taxis in the air. Also, his partner Uber is really well-connected to politicians and regulators. Shin says to move quickly, it'll take technologists and policymakers coordinating¹⁰.

SHIN: If one segment is lagging behind, this is not going to happen.

SHAHANI: When we build the whiz-bangy (ph) future, it's good practice to pause and consider the downsides. That's what South by Southwest attendee Cheryl Garabet did when she stepped up to the mic. Right now, in major cities, people in bumper-to-bumper traffic or riding the subway have to see each other. With flying cars, the haves can escape to the air and leave the have-nots forgotten in their potholes¹¹.

CHERYL GARABET: I think of a very dystopian - all of us with money flying around, you know, looking down at the poor homeless, who have no options in that regard. Like, how can cities prepare so that there's not this awful dystopian future for all of us with flying vehicles?

SHAHANI: A strong dose of skepticism to balance the techno-optimism - while no flying taxi exists yet, Uber has dared to estimate the near-term cost. That San Francisco to San Jose trip - $43.

Aarti Shahani, NPR News, Austin.

(SOUNDBITE OF SNARKY PUPPY'S "BLING BLING")

1 optimists   

n.乐观主义者( optimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even optimists admit the outlook to be poor. 甚至乐观的人都认为前景不好。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Optimists reckon house prices will move up with inflation this year. 乐观人士认为今年的房价将会随通货膨胀而上涨。 来自辞典例句

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

4 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

5 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

6 touting   

v.兜售( tout的现在分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• He's been touting his novel around publishers for years. 他几年来一直到处找出版商兜售自己的小说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Technology industry leaders are touting cars as a hot area for growth. 科技产业领袖吹捧为增长热点地区的汽车。 来自互联网

7 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

8 millennial   

一千年的，千福年的

参考例句：

• Both Russia and America looked to the future to fulfill their millennial expectations. 俄国和美国都把实现他们黄金时代的希望寄托于未来。
• The millennial generation is celebrating the global commons every day, apparently unmindful of Hardin's warning. 千禧一代显然对哈丁的警告不以为然，每天都在颂扬全球“公地”。

9 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

10 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

11 potholes   

n.壶穴( pothole的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Potholes are also home to tiny desert animals. 洞穴也是弱小动物的家。 来自互联网
• If you're going to enjoy the good times, you've certainly got to deal with some potholes. 如果要享受甜美的胜利果实，当然要应付这些战绩不佳的指责压力。 来自互联网