每天都有各式各樣的新發明，在影響著人們的生活，有的只是小小的創意，博人一笑，而有的發明，則可能改變人們未來的生活方式。2016年又有哪些重要的新發明？一起來看看。

Every year, TIME selects the best inventions that are making the world better, smarter and—in some cases—a little more fun. Here's which ones made this year's unranked list.
每年《時代》周刊都會選出讓世界變得更美好、更智能或者更有趣的最佳發明。以下是今年入選榜單的科技發明。排名不分先后。

The Levitating Lightbulb
磁懸浮燈泡 Flyte

Flyte is a lightbulb that relies on electromagnetism to levitate and spin, and on resonant inductive coupling—a technical term for wireless power transmission—to shine. Flyte has sold so well since its official January launch that the company is planning to introduce a whole ecosystem of floating products, including a planter, Lyfe, which debuted in June.
Flyte是一種利用電磁場和諧振感應耦合技術讓燈泡懸浮并旋轉的燈泡。諧振感應耦合常用于無線電力傳輸。Flyte從一月上市以來一直賣得很好，因此該公司計劃推出一整個系列的懸浮產品。六月份該公司還推出了懸浮盆景 Lyfe。

The Folding Bike Helmet
可折疊自行車頭盔 Morpher

People refuse to wear a helmet because they’re thick and bulky. Morpher, a bike helmet made from interweaved plastics that is just as strong as its traditional counterparts (it meets general safety requirements in both the US and Europe), but flexible enough to fold almost totally flat, making it easier to transport. Morpher has raised almost $300,000 on Indiegogo and may be available for sale in stores in future.
傳統的自行車頭盔比較笨重，許多人不喜歡戴。但是 Morpher 這款頭盔是用互相交織纏繞的塑料做的，它和傳統頭盔一樣牢固，但質地更輕，達到了美國和歐洲的一般安全標準。更妙的是，它可以被折疊成扁平狀，易于攜帶和運輸。這款頭盔在眾籌平臺Indiegogo 上籌集了近30萬美金，未來可能在實體店銷售。

Shoes That Tie Themselves
會自己系鞋帶的鞋子 HyperAdapt

Almost everyone who sees Back to the Future want a pair of self-lacing shoes. Now, thanks to Nike, the shoe dream is a reality. When wearers press a button near the tongue, the HyperAdapt 1.0s automatically tighten and loosen around their foot. Simplified shoe fastening could give athletes an edge during competition, and it’s especially useful for people with impaired motor function.
幾乎每個看過電影《回到未來》的人都想要一雙能自動系鞋帶的鞋子。現在，耐克幫你實現了這個愿望。耐克研發出了一鍵系鞋帶的鞋子——HyperAdapt 1.0。只要按一下鞋舌上的一個按鈕，鞋帶就會自動系好和解開。這種簡化系鞋帶步驟的鞋子能助力運動員發揮，還可以幫助運動機能受損者。

Soccer Fields That Fit Anywhere
隨處可“建”的足球場

The Khlong Toei district in the heart of Bangkok is packed tight with buildings and people—which doesn’t leave much room to build new parks, let alone giant rectangular fields on which kids can play soccer. So real estate firm AP Thailand used aerial photography to find what developer Pattaraphurit Rungjaturapat calls “untended areas,” or unusually shaped patches of land that weren’t being used. Then it covered them with concrete, paint and anti-slip materials—all the trimmings of a proper sports venue, without the typical boundaries. The first two fields, which opened earlier this year, are packed with kids as soon as school lets out. This December, AP Thailand plans to open a third.
曼谷中心的空堤縣高樓林立、人口密集，沒有地方建新公園，更別提讓孩子踢球的足球場了。房地產公司AP Thailand 公司用航空攝影技術尋找那些無人問津的場地，然后用混凝土、顏料和防滑材料把這個場地做成沒有標準邊界的運動場。今年早些時候開放的兩個足球場一放學就擠滿了孩子。今年12月，AP Thailand 公司計劃建第三個足球場。

The Ultimate Alarm Clock
聰明鬧鐘 Hello Sense

It's hard to believe that an alarm clock could not only be beautiful but also improve your sleep. That it could gauge the temperature, humidity, light and even air quality in your bedroom to help you engineer a perfect sleep environment. That it could monitor your sleep cycles and wake you when you’re least likely to feel groggy—all thanks to simple voice commands.
鬧鐘還能改善人的睡眠，而且顏值還挺高？Hello Sense就是這樣的一款鬧鐘。它能夠監控臥室中的溫度、濕度、光線甚至空氣質量，幫助你營造一個完美的睡眠環境。此外，它還能監控你的睡眠周期，在合適的時候叫你起床，你只需說句話向它發出指令就可以了。

Dishes That Work Around Cognitive Decline
最穩餐具 Eatwell Assistive Tableware

It is hard for Alzheimer’s patients to use silverware without spilling. Eatwell Assistive Tableware is a dining set designed to make mealtime easier for people with Alzheimer’s and other diseases that affect brain and body function. The tableware uses bright colors to help people distinguish their plates from their food and putting wide rubber bases on the cups to prevent spills.
一些患有認知衰退的老年人在吃飯的時候常常把菜肴撒得到處都是。Eatwell Assistive Tableware這款餐具為那些患有阿爾茲海默癥以及其他認知功能衰退的老人帶來了福音。它的顏色非常鮮艷，可以幫助他們更好地區分盤子和食物。在餐具底部還帶有吸盤，防止杯盤傾倒。

The All-Purpose Shelter
超便捷房屋 Better Shelter

Last year, Ikea helped launch Better Shelter, a line of temporary houses—equipped with features like door locks and solar-panels—that could be shipped flat and assembled in under four hours. But now that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has helped send more than 16,000 of these units all over the world, they’ve taken on a life of their own. Refugees and aid agencies are turning Better Shelter structures into hospitals, reception areas and more. In Greece and on its border with Macedonia, the shelters are being linked together and used as early-childhood-development centers. Now designers are trying to revamp the Better Shelters to allow for even more flexibility.
去年宜家推出了臨時帳篷 Better Shelter，里面有門鎖和太陽能板，在4小時內就可以平郵到家并安裝完畢。自從聯合國難民署派送了16000套 Better Shelter 后，這種臨時房屋就迅速流行起來。許多難民和救援機構用它組裝成了醫院、接待室和其他臨時建筑。在希臘和馬其頓的交界處，臨時帳篷被連在一起，做成了幼兒園。一些設計師也在想方設法把 Better Shelter 變得更具靈活性。

Sweet Potatoes That Could Save Lives
救人無數的橙色土豆

In sub-Saharan Africa, vitamin A deficiency afflicts more than 43 million children under age 6, leaving them vulnerable to blindness, malaria and more. Plant scientists from HarvestPlus and the CIP are helping countries grow their own solutions—in the form of sweet potatoes. The key is biofortification, or cross-breeding locally grown sweet potatoes with versions rich in vitamin A, so that over time the crops naturally get better at addressing the deficiency. Plant scientists have also bred them to be more resistant to droughts and viruses. This year, the orange-fleshed sweet potatoes won the World Food Prize and have been seen as “a healthy crop for all.”
在撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲，有四千三百萬名六歲以下的兒童由于維生素 A 缺乏，容易患上失明、瘧疾等疾病。國際馬鈴薯中心和 Harvestplus 通過生物強化技術（將具有特定功能的微生物引入傳統生物處理系統）和雜交技術培育出富含維生素A的甜土豆，同時針對不同地區需要對其進行了抗干旱和抗病毒等優化。這種橙色甜土豆今年獲得了世界糧食獎，被譽為“全人類的健康作物”。

英文來源：時代周刊
中文來源：愛微幫
編審：丹妮