以下是13年经济学人7月第一篇，共5篇文章，包括7月1号、7月2号和7月6号的三个日期，具体内容大家可以慢慢阅读。
一、文章目录
[2013.07.01] Egypt: Morsi's choice 埃及总统穆尔西的抉择
[2013.07.02] Using maths to explain the universe 用数学解释整个宇宙
[2013.07.06] Transatlantic espionage: The lives of others 窃听风暴
[2013.07.06]Stem-cell therapies: Prometheus unbound干细胞治疗
[2013.07.06] LVMH and Hermès: Hidden predators 路威酩轩vs.爱马仕
[2013.07.12] New film: "Pacific Rim" 新电影：《环太平洋》
[2013.07.13] The Arab spring: Has it failed? 阿拉伯之春失败了吗?
[2013.07.13] Going for growth 亚洲谋求经济发展之道
[2013.07.13] Children’s intellectual development 儿童智力发展
[2013.07.13] The rising dollar: Green and back 美元的复苏和回归
[2013.07.13] Financial data: Seconds out 金融讯息提前外漏
[2013.07.13] Free exchange: Ad scientists 搜索引擎广告效果研究
[2013.07.13] The economy: The haves and the have-nots 富国穷国
[2013.07.20] Glad to be grey 长白头发是好事情?
[2013.07.20] The triumph of low expectations 不失望只因期望少
[2013.07.20]Bandwagon behaviour 从众行为
[2013.07.23] Britain’s recovery: Hold your breath 英伦复苏路漫漫
[2013.07.27]The Great Deceleration 金砖四国经济大减速
二、文章内容
[2013.07.01] Egypt: Morsi's choice 埃及总统穆尔西的抉择
Egypt
Morsi's choice
穆尔西的抉择
Jul 1st 2013, 22:12 by M.R. | CAIRO
WHAT would you do if millions of citizens poured into streets demanding that you go? On television during his election campaign last year, Muhammad Morsi answered without hesitation. First, he said, people would not demonstrate against him because as president he would faithfully represent their will. “But if they do,” he added firmly, “I would be the first to resign.”
如果有几百万民众涌入街头示威要求你下台，你会怎么做?去年穆罕穆德•穆尔西在电视上发表竞选演讲时毫不犹豫地回答了这个问题。他回答道，首先，民众不会示威反对他，因为作为总统，他会切实代表民意。同时，他也坚定地说：“如果民众真的反对我，我会不假思索地辞职。”
But Egypt’s first freely-elected president has not resigned, yet, despite nationwide protests on June 30th that were far bigger than those that brought down his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, two and a half years ago. Not only did the vast crowds bring every major city in Egypt to a standstill, amid an impromptu general strike. In scores of villages and provincial towns, protesters invaded government offices and shut them down by force, as police looked on approvingly. They also invaded, torched and looted the Cairo headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the secretive fraternity that nurtured Mr Morsi and carried him to power. Five of his own ministers resigned, too, the latest in a long string of defections in the 12 months since Mr Morsi took office.
但是，这位埃及第一个民选总统食言了，尽管在六月三十日，全国范围内反对穆尔西的浪潮比两年半前迫使上一任总统穆巴拉克下台的反对声音要猛烈的多。在埃及的各个大城市中，大批民众自发组织罢工，这些城市几乎陷入停滞状态。在很多村镇和省级城市，反对者在警方的默许下冲入政府办公室并强行关闭这些办公场所。他们还闯入穆斯林兄弟会(一个隐秘的兄弟会，培养并扶持穆尔西上台)在开罗的总部，打砸抢烧不所不做。穆尔西自上台以来的十二个月里受到了太多的背叛，而据最新消息，他的五个部长也相继辞职，这无疑为其受到背叛的记录上又添上了浓重的一笔。
As if still more prompting were needed, on July 1st, Egypt’s army issued an ultimatum. If the country’s bickering civilian politicians do not find ways to meet people’s demands within 48 hours, it said, the army will issue its own political road map for them to follow. Given the extreme polarisation of Egypt’s politics, and the accelerating evaporation of the Brotherhood’s constituency, there does not seem to be much incentive for Mr Morsi’s opponents to compromise.
人们好像认为这场冲突需要更多的助推器，于是在七月一日埃及军方对冲突发布了最后通牒。通牒指出，如果那些为小事争吵不断的平民政治家不能在48小时内满足群众的要求，军方将发布自己指导国家发展的政治路线图。考虑到埃及极端两极分化的政策以及迅速减少的穆兄会支持者，想让穆尔西的反对者妥协看来是不可能的。
For hundreds of thousands of Egyptians who came out for a second day of cheerful protests, there was no doubt what the army’s diktat meant: Mr Morsi is finished. Lending further credence to this supposition, a squadron of army helicopters, each trailing a giant Egyptian flag, circled Cairo’s Tahrir Square in a triumphant show of force that was met with roars of approval. The military also paid an unannounced visit to the Nile-side headquarters of Egypt’s state broadcasting system. The officials Mr Morsi had appointed to run Egyptian TV and radio quietly exited.
第二天，数十万埃及民众涌入街道欢呼雀跃，对他们来说，军方的命令无疑意味着穆尔西的统治已经结束。而当拖着巨大埃及国旗的军方直升机队伍盘旋在开罗塔利尔广场上方进行胜利表演时，也赢来了民众的阵阵欢呼声，这也更加证实了民众的猜想。埃及军方还未通知就前往位于尼罗河岸边的埃及广播电视台总部。穆尔西任命的埃及广播电视台官员早已悄悄地被撤换。
Despite the army's insistence that its ultimatum does not amount to a coup, some have already declared its intervention a “soft coup”, not unlike its move, in 2011, to usher Mr Mubarak out of power. The military lingered too long then, during the tumultuous transition before Mr Morsi’s term, earning opprobrium for human rights abuses and general ham-fistedness. But a precipitous slide in Egypt’s economy under civilian rule, accompanied by lawlessness and corruption, has aided in shortening memories. With Mr Morsi’s administration having signally failed to tackle the country’s myriad and deep problems, opposition to it has snowballed over recent weeks into an avalanche.
Opinion polls from before the recent protests gave Mr Morsi an approval rating of around 30%. This has certainly now shrivelled as even fellow Islamists have abandoned a clearly sinking ship. Still, the Muslim Brotherhood has hundreds of thousands of active members, and millions of sympathisers. Containing their unhappiness will be a pressing challenge.
尽管军方一再强调此次的最后通牒不是政变，但某些人认为此次军方对政治的干预就是一场“较为缓和的政变”，和2011年推翻穆巴拉克政府的行动一样。在当时穆尔西政府之前的骚乱过渡期，军方长期留恋权位，导致埃及民众的人权遭到践踏，社会混乱，从而引发民众对军方的强烈不满与抨击。然而在平民政权的统治下，埃及的经济形势急剧下滑，再加上法制的缺失和官员腐败，使得人们暂时忘记了军方的错误。由于穆尔西政府在处理国家大量深层问题时明显表现出的无能，过去的几周内反对派的声音如滚雪球般急剧起来，最终导致雪崩。在最近的抗议冲突之前的民调显示，穆尔西那时的支持率是30%。当然现在他的支持率肯定降低了很多，因为即使是伊斯兰同胞也放弃了他这艘行将沉没的船了。然而，穆兄会仍有十几万积极分子以及几百万怜悯同情者。平抚他们的不满情绪将不会是件容易的事。
Egypt’s military has not revealed what its “road map” might look like. Most analysts expect that, having absorbed lessons from its last intervention, the army may this time both act more forcefully and set a quicker pace. The expectation is that its goal will be a return to civilian rule, under a revised and more inclusive constitution than the one that Mr Morsi hastily forced through last year. But despite the sudden eruption of public enthusiasm for the army, worries do linger. Could it be that now, armed with massive public backing and having dispensed with the Brotherhood, the only civilian party strong enough to challenge them, Egypt’s soldiers may be tempted to stay in power?
埃及军方目前仍没公布其“政治路线图”。大多数分析人士预测，吸取了上次干预的教训，埃及军方这次会更加迅速地实施更严厉的军事打击。目前民众希望军方推动宪法修改，使之与去年穆尔西强推的那部宪法相比更具包容性，并在此基础上恢复文官统治制度。但虽然军方获得了公众意想不到的热情支持，顾虑仍然存在。埃及的士兵们获得了广大群众的支持，打败了穆兄会(唯一能够与军方抗衡的平民团体)，没了约束，埃及军方也许会贪恋权力?
[2013.07.02] Using maths to explain the universe 用数学解释整个宇宙
Quick Study: Leonard Susskind on string theory
快速学习：与伦纳德-萨斯坎德讨论弦理论
Using maths to explain the universe
用数学解释整个宇宙
Jul 2nd 2013, 12:52 by A.B.
LEONARD SUSSKIND is a professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics. He is regarded as one of the fathers of string theory, a somewhat controversial attempt to explain physics using a single mathematical framework.
伦纳德-萨斯坎德是斯坦福大学的理论物理学教授兼斯坦福理论物理研究所的主任.人们认为他是弦理论的开创者之一，该理论试图利用单一的数学框架解释物理学，存在一定的争议。
He is the author of several popular-science books about matters cosmological. His new book, “The Theoretical Minimum”, co-written with George Hrabovsky, an amateur physicist, is a primer for readers who want to know how to think like a physicist.
他撰写了若干本宇宙学的大众科学读物。他的新书《理论最小值》是与业余物理学家乔治-拉博夫斯基合作完成的，读者若想学习如何像物理学家一样思想，这本书可作为入门读物。
Can you outline what we know about string theory?
请你概括一下我们对弦理论的了解?
The most important single thing about string theory is that it’s a highly mathematical theory and the mathematics holds together in a very tight and consistent way. It contains in its basic structure both quantum mechanics and the theory of gravity. That’s big news.
弦理论最重要的一点是，它是一个高度数学化的理论，在整个理论中数学结合的方式非常严密和一致。量子力学和万有引力理论都包含在弦理论的基本结构中。这点非常重要。
Why?
为什么呢?
Basically, from the time of Einstein’s [theory of] general relativity there was no good idea about how quantum mechanics and gravity fit together. They were always at each other’s throat, apparently inconsistent. String theory’s biggest and most important impact is to show that gravity and quantum mechanics can and do fit together. That, more than anything else, has maintained interest in it.
简单来说,爱因斯坦提出广义相对论时，当时并没有能把量子力学和万有引力统一起来的好理论。量子力学和引力总是相互矛盾，明显不能统一。弦理论最大、也是最重要的影响在于,它显示引力和量子力学是可以统一的,并且确实是统一的。这一点比弦理论的其余方面都更引人注目。
String theory presumes the existence of extra spatial dimensions. How do we know they exist?
弦理论假设有更高的空间维度存在.我们怎么知道它们存在?
It must be so because it is so deeply embedded in the mathematics and not easy to explain. I pride myself on being able to explain things to a broad audience, but sometimes you have to say it’s buried in the mathematics. [The theory] just doesn’t work unless you add six more dimensions to the world and we’ll have to leave it at that.
其他维度肯定是存在的,因为它深深根植在数学之中,而且不太容易解释。我对自己向广大观众解释问题的能力引以为豪,但有时必须得说,它就深藏在数学里。除非你给宇宙额外加上6个维度，否则(该理论)根本就不能用,我们只能这样了。
Okay, but why have we been unaware of them until now?
好吧,但为什么直到现在我们才开始意识到它们存在?
Because they’re tiny.
因为它们很小很小。
So, we can’t understand these dimensions because they are too small?
就是说,因为这些维度太小了所以我们无法理解?
Yes.
是的。
And what difference do the dimensions make to the layperson’s understanding of the universe?
这些空间维度和普通人对宇宙的理解有什么区别?
These extra dimensions can be arranged and put together in many different patterns, in a variety of different ways. Not billions, trillions or quintillions of ways, but many more than that. The ways these dimensions are put together into these tiny little spaces determine how particles will behave, what particles will exist, what the constants of nature are—quantities like dark energy or the electric charge of an electron. In string theory all those things are features of the ways that these tiny dimensions are put together. The tiny dimensions are like the DNA of the universe.
这些额外的空间维度能以许多不同的样式排列和组合起来,方法多种多样.十亿,万亿,百万兆种方法都不止,比这还要多得多.这些维度在微小的空间内如何组合，决定了粒子会如何表现，会有什么粒子存在，无量纲物理常数是多少——即暗能量或者电子电荷的量是多少,诸如此类。在弦理论中，这些东西都是微小的空间维度按照一定组合方式后产生的特性。这些微小的维度就像是宇宙的DNA。
Yet there are physicists who don’t think string theory is correct.
但有物理学家认为弦理论是错误的。
Oh, well, I suppose there are! We don’t know if string theory is true.
噢，好吧，我想肯定有!我们也不知道弦理论是不是正确的。
I thought you said the maths stacks up?
我想你之前说过弦理论数学上能自圆其说?
There is a difference between mathematical internal consistency and whether or not it describes nature. We can write mathematical theories that are not the right theory of nature—geometry, for example. There’s Euclid’s geometry; positive curve geometry; the geometry of a sphere. Which is the right geometry of space? They’re all consistent, mathematically uncontradictory. But it’s a different thing to say a mathematical theory is consistent and that it describes the real world.
一种理论，其数学的内在一致性，和它是否正确描述自然是有区别的。我们可以写出在自然界中不适用的数学理论——比方说，在几何学里，有欧几里得几何;正曲线几何;球面几何。哪一种几何是适用于空间呢?它们全都具有一致性，数学上无懈可击。但某个数学理论具有一致性和它能够描述真实世界完全就是两码事。
How could we find out whether string theory describes nature or not?
我们怎样知道弦理论是否描述自然?
If they can co-exist with each other. If that’s all string theory does then it’s still an enormous conceptual advance.
看二者能否并存。如果弦理论仅仅是和自然并存而已，它概念上仍是一个巨大的进步。
Unless it isn’t true; in which case gravity and quantum mechanics aren’t related.
除非它是错误的;这样的话引力和量子力学就不统一了。
Well, right, but they have to be related because they both exist in the same world.
呃，对，但引力和量子力学必须是统一的，因为它们存在于同一个宇宙。
What is dark energy?
暗能量是什么?
It is the energy of empty space. It’s there just because empty space is there. If you have a box full of particles, each particle has an energy MC2, then you stretch the sides of the box and make it bigger and the energy dilutes, meaning that the energy density goes down. Dark energy doesn’t thin out. You expand the box but the amount of energy per unit volume remains the same.
就是真空的能量。因为真空存在，所以暗能量就存在。如果你有一个装满了粒子的盒子，每个粒子的能量是MC2，然后你把盒子的各个面拉长，扩大它的体积，于是能量被稀释了，意味着能量密度就下降了。但暗能量不会被稀释。你的盒子膨胀了，单位体积的(暗)能量大小仍保持一致。
Does it definitely exist and can you measure it?
暗能量绝对存在吗?可以测量吗?
Yes, it exists. We have measured it by the expansion of the universe. Energy is what causes the universe to expand, and the way that it dilutes as it expands controls how fast it expands and the detailed way in which it expands. There is an absolute 100% confirmation of the idea that dark energy exists.
是的，暗能量是存在的。你可以通过宇宙膨胀来测量。能量是导致宇宙膨胀的原因，而能量是如何稀释的，控制着宇宙膨胀速度的快慢，以及宇宙膨胀的具体方式。暗能量的存在是绝对100%确定的。
Where did it come from and what is it doing?
暗能量从哪来?有什么作用?
Since the birth of quantum mechanics physicists understood that quantum field theory—the basic underlying theory of quantum mechanics, of electrons and photons and all those things—should provide every tiny bit of space with a huge amount of this undiluting kind of energy. That energy should gravitate. They understood that and they did not understand why this source of gravitation didn’t seem to turn the universe into an incredibly rapidly expanding universe that would double in size every ten to the minus 42 seconds.
自从量子力学诞生以来，物理学家就认识到，量子场论——量子力学，电子和光子等微观物体的基础理论——应该为空间的每个微小片段设置大量这类不会稀释的能量。这种能量还应该产生万有引力。他们懂得这一点，但他们不理解的是，为什么这个引力的来源没有迹象要把这个宇宙变成一个急剧膨胀、体积每过10的负42次方秒就会翻倍的宇宙。
The real question was not “what is dark energy?” it was “where is dark energy?” For many years Einstein and others thought that the dark energy must be zero because it was so tiny. Nobody could detect it and it couldn’t be detected in the expansion of the universe. What was most remarkable was when it was discovered that it was not zero, but it was 123 orders of magnitude smaller.
真正的问题不是“什么是暗能量?”，而是“暗能量在哪?”很多年来，爱因斯坦和其他人都认为暗能量一定是0, 因为它是如此之小。过去没有人能探测到它，并且它也无法从宇宙膨胀中探测到。所以当物理学家发现暗能量不是0，而是小123个数量级时，这成为暗能量领域最值得关注的发现。
Is the universe still expanding? If so, how much can it expand and will it eventually implode?
宇宙现在还在膨胀吗?如果是，它能膨胀到什么地步，会不会最终发生内爆?
No, no, no. Before the dark energy was discovered there were three possibilities: that it would implode, that it would continue to expand or that it would expand at an ever decreasing rate. Once the dark energy was discovered and discovered to be positive it was shown that it will continue to expand.
不不不。在发现暗能量之前，人们假设有三种可能：内爆，继续膨胀，或者膨胀的速度不断下降。一旦发现暗能量确实存在，就说明了宇宙还会继续膨胀。
The equations as we know them now do not seem to permit the possibility that it will implode. As it expands the dark energy won’t dilute. It’s vacuum energy. In every bit of volume there is the same amount, but the electrons, protons or neutrons will spread out, so what we can look forward to is a universe that is completely empty.
我们现今所知的公式没有显示出宇宙有内爆的可能性。宇宙不断膨胀，暗能量也不会稀释。它是真空的能量。在每一个空间小片段里，暗能量都是等量的，但电子、质子和中子会扩散开，所以我们可以预见宇宙最终将完全空无一物。
If the universe is expanding there must be something into which it’s expanding?
如果宇宙正在膨胀的话，一定有什么东西容纳了宇宙膨胀出来的部分?
Ah-ha! No. You are a victim of your own neural architecture which doesn’t permit you to imagine anything outside of three dimensions. Even two dimensions. People know they can’t visualise four or five dimensions, but they think they can close their eyes and see two dimensions. But they can’t. When you close your eyes and try to see two dimensions you’ll always see a surface embedded in three dimensions.
啊哈!不对。你被自己的神经结构欺骗了，它让你无法想象任何非三维的东西。甚至二维空间都想象不了。人们知道自己无法想象四维或五维空间，但他们以为只要闭上眼睛，就能见到二维空间。但其实不能。当你闭上眼睛试图看到二维空间时，你看到的永远只是三维空间中的一个平面。
Is there something special about three dimensions? No. There is something special about your neural architecture. You evolved in a world where everything inside your brain is hooked up and geared to be able to see three dimensions and nothing else.
难道说三维空间有什么特别之处吗?不是。特别的是你的神经结构。在这个世界里，生物进化让你大脑中的一切，都是固定专门用来感知三维空间的，再没别的了。
So the universe isn’t something that can be imagined by a human brain?
所以宇宙不是人脑可以想象的东西?
That’s right. That’s why we’re stuck using abstract mathematics for the simple reason that our visualisation abilities evolved in a certain environment that just wasn’t appropriate for understanding quantum mechanics and general relativity, so we have to get our intuitions from abstract mathematics.
没错。这就是为什么我们一概使用抽象的数学研究问题的原因，原因很简单，我们的想象力是在特定的环境中进化而成的，不适合用来理解量子力学和广义相对论，所以我们必须通过抽象数学培养直觉。
So the universe doesn’t have an outside?
所以说宇宙外面什么都没有?
It doesn’t have an outside or an inside. It just has the rubber surface. You have to learn to think of the surface of the balloon as being all there is. It’s all there is.
宇宙没有“里面”和“外面”之分。它只有一个橡皮表面。你必须学会把整个宇宙看成一个气球的表面。除此之外什么都没有。
The Theoretical Minimum: What You Need to Know to Start Doing Physics. By Leonard Susskind and George Hrabovsky. Basic Books; 256 pages; $26.99. Allen Lane; £20. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk
《理论最小值：在开始研究物理之前你应该懂得什么》。作者： 伦纳德-萨斯坎德 和 乔治-拉博夫斯基。
[2013.07.06] Transatlantic espionage: The lives of others 窃听风暴
【导读】 “棱镜”门后的深思……
Transatlantic espionage
横跨大西洋的谍战
The lives of others
窃听风暴
European governments should not kick up a fuss about American spying. They have too much to lose
欧洲国家政府不应为了“棱镜”门而大吵大闹。因为他们将损失惨重
Jul 6th 2013 | From the print edition
NOBODY likes to be spied on, especially by their allies, so it is hardly surprising that Europeans are angry about American espionage operations conducted against them, on their territory. These include spying on the European Union embassy in Washington, DC (with a bug in the fax machine), and on the governments of France, Germany and other countries, as well as the collection of large amounts of electronic data—in Germany’s case half a billion phone calls, e-mails and text messages every month. In a country where Gestapo and Stasi crimes still leave dark shadows, and privacy rights have near-religious significance, that causes outrage (see article).
没人喜欢被监控，更不要说被自己的盟友监控了。所以，当欧洲国家发现，美国人在对他们实施监控、还是在自己的地盘上时，会火冒三丈就不足为奇了。美国不仅监控了欧盟驻华盛顿大使馆(在其传真机内植入窃听器)、法德等其他国家政府，还搜集了大量电子数据——就德国而言，其电话、邮件、信息的被监控量每月达五亿。在德国，盖世太保(Gestapo)【1】和斯塔西(Stasi)【2】曾犯下许多罪行，人们心头的阴影还没消散，加之隐私权的神圣性在这里堪比宗教，美国的窃听行为可谓激起了民愤(另见文)。
Many Europeans see in the disclosure further evidence of American arrogance and unaccountability—just another episode in a story that includes an illegal war in Iraq, drone strikes, “extraordinary rendition”, waterboarding and secret prisons. Some European politicians want a punitive response. One idea is to suspend agreements on sharing financial and other data between intelligence and law-enforcement agencies. Another is to halt talks on a big new transatlantic trade deal. A third is to offer asylum to Edward Snowden, the source of the leaks about his former employer, America’s National Security Agency. He is now marooned at a Moscow airport.
在许多欧洲人看来，此次“棱镜”门曝光乃美国人傲慢自大、行事鬼祟的又一明证。当人们目睹了发生在伊拉克的非法战争、无人机空袭【3】、“非常规引渡”【4】、水刑【5】、秘密监狱【6】等美国的一系列恶行之后，窃听事件只不过是故事的又一个插曲而已。某些欧洲政客希望对此采取惩罚性对策。第一种方法是，中止情报局、执法机构间的包括金融数据在内的信息共享协议。第二种，暂停跨大西洋的大型自由贸易新协议谈判。第三种，为爱德华•斯诺登(Edward Snowden)提供庇护。正是他对外披露了美国国家安全局(也就是他的前雇主)的秘密文件。目前，斯诺登仍困在莫斯科的一家机场中。
But any of these grandstanding approaches would be a mistake. One reason is hypocrisy. France has formidable foreign-intelligence services that spy on America, for economic and political advantage. Much of the intelligence that America gathers—especially in counter-terrorism—is shared with European countries. And much of the American activity in Europe happens in partnership with local agencies, even in Germany. Some of this co-operation may be of borderline legality in the countries concerned. Its disclosure may be embarrassing for politicians there. But that is hardly America’s fault.
但是，这些高调的处理方法可能都错了。原因之一——虚伪。法国的外国情报系统极为强大，令人生畏，它为了经济、政治上的利益，也在监视美国。美国搜集的大部分情报都是与欧洲国家共享的，尤其在反恐方面。而且美国在欧洲的大部分行动，如果没有当地机构的合作是完成不了的，即便在德国也不例外。就相关国家而言，其中的部分合作是否合法可能还无法确定。其间种种一旦曝光，那些国家的政客可能就会因此深陷囧地。不过，这可算不上是美国的错。
A second reason is self-interest. America’s security umbrella allows European countries to feel safe from, for instance, the possibility of future Russian aggression while spending little on defence. But Europeans cannot take such protection for granted. In many American eyes, Europeans are already wobbly, tiresome free-riders who do not police their Islamist extremists properly, breach sanctions, flirt with dictatorships and leak secrets to the Russians and Chinese. America’s armed forces are already draining away from Europe because of Barack Obama’s “pivot” to Asia and a shortage of cash. The last tanks left in April. A petulant European response to the spy row risks speeding the pull-out.
原因之二——自私自利。在美国的安全网保护之下，欧洲国家只需花费少量的国防开支，就可以高枕无忧，比如，不用担心俄国可能会在将来大举进犯。但欧洲国家不能把这种保护看作理所当然的。在许多美国人眼中，欧洲国家早已是个摇摆不定、招人厌的“蹭饭一族”形象——他们没有妥善地治理本国的伊斯兰极端主义者，他们违背制裁、和独裁者暗中勾结，向俄国、中国泄漏机密。美国的武装力量已经从欧洲逐渐消失了，因为巴拉克•奥巴马的“战略轴心”转向了亚洲，而且美国缺乏资金。四月份的时候，最后一批坦克撤离了。欧洲要是这么任性地处理窃听风波，可能会加速美方撤离。
Europe also has most to gain from a transatlantic trade deal. It desperately needs the extra economic growth an agreement would bring (see article). America wants it too—but it is already enjoying a moderate economic revival of the sort the Europeans would kill for, and is also involved in negotiating a similar, transpacific pact, on which it can focus its efforts if the spying row makes dealing with the Europeans too difficult.
而且，跨大西洋自由贸易协议一旦达成，欧洲将成为最大的收益方。它急需这笔协议推动经济发展、带来额外增长(另见文)。美国也需要，但它的经济已经处于温和的复苏状态，而这样的增长速度正是欧洲竭力想达到的。而且美国也正筹备商议一个类似的跨太平洋协议，这样一来，如果窃听风波严重影响到了它和欧洲国家的谈判，它还可以调整重心，转移到跨太平洋协议上来。
It won’t stop the snooping
窃听活动不会就此停息
Finally, there is the pointlessness of the threat. Even if European governments did cut intelligence links with the Americans, that would not stop the spying. America would continue to conduct operations against all but a handful of truly close allies, such as Canada and Britain. Better to work alongside the Americans, than to treat them as enemies.
最后要说的是，此时相挟，毫无意义。就算欧洲国家政府切断与美方的情报线，窃听活动也不会就此停息。除英国和加拿大等少数心腹盟友，美国会继续对所有人实施监控。与其把美国当做敌人，还不如和它并肩作战。
None of this changes America’s need to discipline its spies for its own sake. As this newspaper made clear when the Snowden scandal broke, Americans need a much clearer idea of what is being done in their name. But Europe has most to lose from a transatlantic row. So why start one?
就算是为了自己，美国也该好好整顿一下情报部门了——这一点是一切都无法改变的。正如本报在斯诺登丑闻被爆时明确所说，美国需要更清楚地弄明白，(间谍)正以美国的名义在干些什么。但欧洲如果因这起跨大西洋窃听案而和美国闹僵，将会是最大失败者。所以，又何必呢?
From the print edition: Leaders
译者注：
【1】盖世太保(Gestapo)
是德语“国家秘密警察”(Geheime Staats Polizei)的缩写Gestapo的音译。
它在成立之初是一个秘密警察组织，后加入大量党卫队人员，一起实施“最终解决方案”，屠杀无辜。
随着纳粹政权的需要盖世太保发展成为无所不在、无所不为的恐怖统治机构。
【2】斯塔西(Stasi)
是民德“国家安全部”(Ministerium für Staatssicherheit)的缩写
该团是一支有效的用以镇压可能的谋反或动乱的政治上可靠的国家安全部队。
【3】无人机空袭
美无人机空袭 巴塔"老二"疑丧命
美国自2004年开始在巴基斯坦境内实施无人机空袭，声称目的为打击武装人员。
美国无人机空袭导致大量巴基斯坦平民丧生，遭到巴方强烈谴责。
联合国一个调查小组今年3月秘密访问巴基斯坦，初步认定美国无人机空袭侵犯巴方主权。
【4】非常规引渡
意大利总统赦免涉嫌“非常规引渡”案前美军官
意大利总统纳波利塔诺4月5日日发表声明宣布，赦免涉嫌在意大利境内绑架并秘密引渡一名恐怖分子嫌疑人的前美国空军军官约瑟夫·罗马诺。
声明说，总统做出赦免决定是希望可以继续维持意大利和美国之间“坚固”的盟友关系，特别是在安全事务方面。
声明还说，这是首个在意大利被宣判有罪的美国军官，总统希望可以为这桩没有先例的案件找到解决方案。
【5】水刑
美国中情局为寻拉登信使动用183次水刑
水刑指审讯人员用布或纸张盖住审讯对象脸部并向上浇水，或把审讯对象头部浸入水中，模拟溺水时的窒息感觉。
“9·11”事件后，时任美国总统布什授权中情局酷刑审讯。
中情局2004年暂停酷刑拷问，总统奥巴马2009年上任后正式禁止这类做法。
【6】秘密监狱
美中情局黑狱获54国相助 人权组织吁关秘密监狱
设在美国纽约的人权组织“开放社会司法倡议”发布报告，指认至少54个国家暗中向美国中央情报局“非常规引渡”行动提供帮助。
这一行动涉及中情局在美国以外地区的绑架、羁押和酷刑。
译者：_易雪_
[2013.07.06]Stem-cell therapies: Prometheus unbound干细胞治疗
Stem-cell therapies
干细胞治疗
Prometheus unbound
普罗米修斯自由了
Researchers have yet to realise the old dream of regenerating organs. But they are getting closer
亘古以来，器官再生便是人类的夙愿。如今研究人员虽然还未真正实现，但成功的脚步已经越来越近
Jul 6th 2013 |From the print edition
1 PROMETHEUS, a Titan bound to a rock by Zeus, endured the daily torture of an eagle feasting on his liver, only to have the organ regrow each night. Compared with this spectacle, a video on the website of Nature this week seems decidedly dull. It shows a collection of pink dots consolidating into a darker central glob.
在希腊神话之中，提坦(Titan)普罗米修斯(Prometheus)被宙斯(Zeus)束缚在一块巨石之上，白天忍受着老鹰啄食他的肝脏，夜晚他的肝脏却又总会再次生长。与生动的故事情节相比，本周《自然》(Nature)网站上的一段视频就显得如此枯燥。这段视频向世人展示了无数粉红色的小点向中心聚拢，成为一个颜色更深的团状物的过程。
2 But something titanic is indeed happening. The pink dots are stem cells, and the video shows the development of a liver bud, something which can go on to look and act like a liver. Takanori Takebe and Hideki Taniguchi of Yokohama City University, in Japan, who made the video, have created working human-liver tissue.
但这正是普罗米修斯自由的曙光。那些粉红色的小点就是干细胞，而视频显示的正是肝芽生长的过程，并且这个肝芽可以进一步发育为，无论是外表还是功能都与肝脏类似的组织。日本横滨市立大学(Yokohama City University)的武部孝则(Takanori Takebe)和谷口英机(Hideki Taniguchi)拍摄了这段视频，这次他们培养出了具有功能性的人类肝脏组织。
3 Researchers have long dreamed that stem cells might be used to repair or replace damaged tissue, an aspiration known as regenerative medicine. Embryonic stem cells, in particular, are “pluripotent”, meaning they are able to become any other type of cell. And it is now possible to induce pluripotency in cells that have not come from embryos, thus circumventing the ethical minefield previously associated with obtaining them.
研究人员长期以来都设想干细胞能够用来修复或替换受损组织，该研究领域则被冠名为再生医学。“多能的”胚胎干细胞被再生医学家们寄予厚望，所谓“多能”就意味着这些干细胞可以分化出多种其他类型的细胞。现在的技术已经可以在非胚胎细胞中诱导细胞的多能性，这样就可以绕过之前直接使用胚胎细胞时所引发的伦理争议。
4 Last year Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University won a Nobel prize for the invention of induced pluripotency. He had shown how four signal proteins can reprogram adult cells into a pluripotent state. Beside dealing with the ethical problems of embryonic cells, Dr Yamanaka’s induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells allow—at least in theory—a treatment to be created from a patient’s own body. This would have his own genetic make up and would thus not attract the attention of his immune system. Realising such treatments has been fiendishly difficult. But Dr Takebe’s paper inNature is one of several signs that the Promethean dream is slowly coming to life.
日本京都大学(Kyoto University)的山中伸弥(Shinya Yamanaka)由于成功诱导细胞的多能性而于去年荣获诺贝尔奖。他公开发表了借助四种信号蛋白，重组成人细胞并使其具有多能性的实验过程。除了成功躲开了胚胎细胞的伦理问题，山中博士发明的诱导多能干细胞(induced pluripotent stem cell，简称iPS细胞)，使得再生医学(至少在理论上)可以从患者体内提取细胞进行再生治疗。这样就可以取得患者自身的基因组合，避免了患者免疫系统的排异反应。要真正实现这种干细胞治疗仍然困难重重，但是武部博士发表于《自然》的论文则是人类又一次向解放普罗米修斯迈出了坚实的一步。
Budding hope
星星之火
5 Clinical trials of pluripotent cells are already happening, though they hark back to the days when only cells derived from embryos were available. An American firm called Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) is using them to treat macular degeneration, a cause of blindness. Last year it reported promising results in two patients and Gary Rabin, the firm’s boss, says tests continue.
多能细胞的临床试验其实早已开始进行，只是这种多能细胞还是由胚胎干细胞所培养(这在当时也是唯一可用的技术)。美国先进细胞技术公司(Advanced Cell Technology，简称ACT)正运用多能细胞治疗可能致盲的黄斑变性。去年该公司报告了两例有望好转的临床病患，公司老总加里•拉宾(Gary Rabin)也表示，试验仍会继续。
6 Even if this specific approach works, though, it is likely to be overtaken by iPS technology. The Japanese, not surprisingly, are in the lead. Soon, the country’s health ministry is expected to approve the first clinical trial of iPS cells, also for macular degeneration. But ACT is not far behind. It hopes to begin a trial of platelets (blood-cell fragments involved in clotting) made from iPS cells. And other firms want to treat everything from Parkinson’s disease to glaucoma to multiple sclerosis.
不过，即使这一临床试验终获成功，也有可能会被iPS技术所取代。日本在iPS技术方面无疑领先于世界其他各国。该国卫生部应该不久便会批准iPS细胞的第一例临床试验，同样也是治疗黄斑变性。然而ACT也并未脱离战队，该公司希望开始一项iPS细胞培养血小板(参与凝血过程的血液细胞碎片)的试验。还有些公司则希望透过iPS技术治疗其他疾病，包括帕金森病、青光眼、多发性硬化等。
7 Academia is pushing ahead as well. Inspired by Dr Yamanaka’s work, people are looking for other shortcuts to pluripotency. Marius Wernig of Stanford University, for instance, has worked out how to use three proteins to turn connective-tissue cells into neurons. Deepak Srivastava of the University of California, San Francisco, meanwhile, has shown how to convert connective tissue into heart cells.
学术界则正在进一步地研究iPS技术。受到山中教授研究成果的启发，人们纷纷开始探究诱导细胞多能性更为便捷的其他途径。斯坦福大学(Stanford University)的马吕斯•维米格(Marius Wernig)就发现了使用三种蛋白质，将结缔组织细胞转化为神经细胞的方法。加州大学旧金山分校(University of California, San Francisco)的迪帕克•司里瓦斯德瓦(Srivastava)则发表了将结缔组织转化为心肌细胞的过程。
8 Other research is going beyond simple cell cultures. In 2011 Yoshiki Sasai of the RIKEN Centre for Developmental Biology, in Kobe, showed how mouse embryonic stem cells, if mixed with a few appropriate growth factors, quickly form a three-dimensional cluster made of the precursor cells to neurons. This cluster then turns into something resembling the back of an eye. Last year Dr Sasai repeated the trick with human cells.
还有一些研究就没有局限于简单的细胞培养领域。左使良树(Yoshiki Sasai)任职于神户(Kobe)的理化研究所发育生物学中心(RIKEN Centre for Developmental Biology)。他于2011年发表论文，阐述了老鼠胚胎干细胞在给予一些适当的生长因子后，快速形成一个三维立体簇集物的过程。而这种簇集物由多种细胞构成(包括前体细胞和神经细胞等)，并进而发育成一种类似于眼底结构的组织。去年左使博士使用人类细胞再次重复了这一实验过程。
9 The dream is to make a complex organ from scratch. With this in mind researchers at Wake Forest University in North Carolina have used a three-dimensional printer to produce an artificial kidney using immature kidney cells. But if such organs are to work in people, they will need blood vessels to deliver oxygen and nutrients.
人们的梦想就是从无到有地创造出一个复杂的器官。为了实现这个梦想，北卡罗来纳州(North Carolina)维克森林大学(Wake Forest University)的研究员们使用三维打印技术，用不成熟的肾脏细胞做出了一个人造肾脏。不过要让这样的肾脏在人体内正常工作，其中还是缺少了用于输送氧气和营养物质的血管。
10 The way to do that might, paradoxically, be for scientists to do less. Instead of making the whole organ in a laboratory, they might create a less-developed form, as Dr Sasai did with his proto-retina, and then leave the rest of the work to the body.
如果真要实现这个梦想，科学家可能用不着在肾脏中再造血管——这听起来可能有些自相矛盾——他们其实不必在实验室中造出完整的人体器官。科学家可以先造出还没发育完全的器官试样(如同左使博士培养出视网膜试样一般)，然后在活体体内完成剩下的研究工作。
11 This is what Dr Takebe has done with his liver buds. He coaxed some iPS cells into becoming liver endodermal cells. (The endoderm is one of the three cell layers of which the youngest sort of embryo is composed, and is the layer from which the liver develops.) He then cultured them with two other cell types: endothelial cells, which make up the inner linings of blood vessels, that were derived from umbilical cord; and mesenchymal stem cells, derived from bone marrow, which can differentiate into several kinds of cells, though not as many as pluripotent cells.
武部博士的肝芽生长研究正是遵照这样的器官再造思路而完成的。他小心地将一些iPS细胞导入合适的肝脏内胚层细胞。(内胚层是三层细胞层中，构成最原始胚胎、也是形成肝脏组织的那一层。)然后将这些肝脏内胚层细胞与其他两种细胞一起培养。一种是取自脐带的内皮细胞，这种细胞构成了血管内层;另一种细胞是取自骨髓的间充质干细胞，这种细胞可以分化成多种细胞类型(但种类没有多能细胞那么多)。
12 Cultures without mesenchymal stem cells failed to form a cluster. Those without endothelial cells failed to create a network of blood vessels. But together, the three types of cell, with little additional prodding, formed a bud within two days.
实验证明，如果培养过程中缺少间充质干细胞，就不会形成簇集物;而如果没有内皮细胞，就无法形成血管网络。只有将肝脏内胚层细胞与这两者结合，并配合少量的其他刺激，才最终能在两天内形成肝芽。
13 At six days this bud was expressing genes known to be early markers of the liver. And when Dr Takebe implanted such buds into the brains of mice whose immune systems had been disabled to prevent rejection (he chose the brain because it is easy to fit the cranium with a tiny clear plate, so that you can see what is going on), he observed that they connected with the mouse’s blood system within two days.
到了第六天，肝芽开始表达一些在肝脏早期形成阶段具有标志性的基因。随后，武部博士将这些肝芽结构植入一些丧失免疫能力的老鼠的脑中，这样老鼠就不会对肝芽组织形成排斥反应。(选择脑部的原因是因为在头颅上植入一块透明的小塑料板较为容易，这样就能看清脑内组织的生长过程。)武部博士发现，两天内肝芽结构就与这些老鼠脑中的血液循环系统相互融合了。
14 After two months the buds not only looked like liver, they acted like it. They produced liver-specific proteins. And if Dr Takebe transplanted them to their host’s abdominal cavity, having first caused the animal’s real liver to fail, they often kept the mouse alive when an animal without the transplant would have died.
两个月后，肝芽结构除了看上去像肝脏外，也具有了肝脏的生理功能——他们产生出了肝脏独有的蛋白质。然后武部博士又将这些肝芽结构移植到了相应老鼠的腹腔中，起初肝芽结构会破坏老鼠体内自身的肝脏，但是接着很多老鼠并没有死亡(这些老鼠本就患有肝脏疾病，不进行肝脏移植的话不可能存活)。
15 Translating this work into a way of growing new livers for people whose old ones have stopped working will take time. But it is a big step forward. After years of promise, regenerative medicine may be coming close to delivering.
诚然，要将这个过程(新肝脏生长替换丧失功能性的受损肝脏)在人类身上临床试验仍需时日。但在老鼠体内的实验已是继往开来的重要一步。在人们年复一年的期盼中，再生医疗终会有实现梦想的那一天。
[2013.07.06] LVMH and Hermès: Hidden predators 路威酩轩vs.爱马仕
LVMH and Hermès
路威酩轩与爱马仕的较量
Hidden predators
隐形的捕食者
Most countries no longer let firms build up unseen stakes
多数国家不再放任公司秘密增持股份
Jul 6th 2013 | PARIS |From the print edition
1 A SWOOP was always a possibility. LVMH, maker of Louis Vuitton bags, Moët et Chandon champagne and much more, is the world leader in luxury goods and known for swallowing smaller firms. Hermès provides the cognoscenti with leather goods, silk scarves and ties, and is just such a smaller firm.
在商业社会，弱肉强食时刻可能发生。作为路易威登手袋、酩悦香槟等众多知名品牌的缔造者，酩悦•轩尼诗-路易•威登集团(LVMH,以下简称“路威酩轩集团”或“路威酩轩”)除了在奢侈品行业处于国际领军地位外，还因吞并较小的竞争对手而出名。这一次，路威酩轩将眼光瞄准了为高品位客户提供皮具、丝巾和领带的爱马仕(Hermès)公司。
2 But it was nonetheless a shock when, on October 27th 2010, LVMH announced that it owned 17.1% of Hermès’s shares, even though market rules usually require notification when a stake as small as 5% is acquired. Hermès cried foul. Courts and regulators responded; and on July 1st the sanctions committee of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), the market regulator, imposed an €8m ($10.4m) fine, the biggest in its history. LVMH had failed to disclose its stake at several points when it should have done, it said, and committed some accounting irregularities too.
尽管市场交易规则通常要求持股人在持股比例达5%以上时就应对外进行公告，但令人震惊的是2010年10月27日路威酩轩集团突然宣布持有爱马仕公司17.1%的股权。法院及监管部门对爱马仕公司的抗议作出了回应;而7月1日，法国金融市场管理局制裁委员会作为市场监管部门，对路威酩轩处以了史上最重的罚款——800万欧元(相当于1040万美元)。制裁委员会认为路威酩轩集团未能在规则规定的几个时点履行披露义务，同时还存在会计违规行为。
3 The tale, as recounted by the AMF, began in the early 2000s, when LVMH acquired 4.9% of Hermès outright. In 2008 two indirectly controlled LVMH subsidiaries, in Luxembourg and Hong Kong, entered into cash-settled equity swaps with three French banks. The contracts allowed the group to bet on the future price of Hermès shares without actually owning them. Because LVMH’s swaps were to be settled in cash, the rules of the day did not require disclosure. But in June 2010 two of the banks agreed to settle in shares (the third did so later). LVMH should have revealed its holding then, the AMF argues.
根据金融市场管理局所述，事情可以追溯到本世纪的头几年，当时路威酩轩总共收购了爱马仕公司4.9%的股份。2008年，路威酩轩集团通过分设在卢森堡和香港的两个间接子公司，与三家法国银行达成了以现金交割的股权互换交易。该交易协议允许路威酩轩集团在未实际持有爱马仕股份的情况下对其未来股价走势投注。由于路威酩轩的互换交易约定到期以现金交割，故根据当时的监管规定无需对外披露。但在2010年6月，其中两家银行同意以爱马仕的股份进行交割(第三家银行随后也同意了)。金融市场管理局认为，路威酩轩集团在该时点本应当披露其持股情况。
4 LVMH is appealing against the decision, which will hurt its reputation more than its pocketbook. In fact, it may not be too unhappy. The fine is less than the €10m maximum. And the AMF says that no single action by LVMH broke the rules; it was the concatenation of deals that indicated preparation of a financial transaction and that required disclosure.
路威酩轩集团针对金融监管局的裁决提起了上诉。相较于经济损失，裁决给路威酩轩造成的负面影响将主要在声誉方面。事实上，可能路威酩轩也不会因此过于烦恼。一来，路威酩轩集团所受罚金不到规定的1000万欧元最高罚款额。二来，根据金融市场管理局的认定，路易威登所从事的各项交易行为单独来看并未违反披露规则;只是将各交易联系起来则显示路威酩轩集团正在筹备一项金融交易，这项交易本身按规定需要进行披露。
5 The case harks back to an earlier era when firms routinely snuck up on unsuspecting targets under cover of derivative darkness. Children’s Investment Fund Management surprised CSX, an American rail company, in 2007; Schaeffler Group crept up on its tyre-making rival, Continental, in 2008. Most spectacularly, Porsche built up a nearly 75% stake in Volkswagen (VW) in part through undisclosed derivatives; when its interest was revealed in October 2008, VW’s share price quintupled as short-sellers rushed to cover their bets.
上述案例不禁令人想起早些时候公司进行并购的套路——利用衍生品披露方面的漏洞作为掩护，在毫无防备的目标公司股权中设下埋伏。例如，2007年英国对冲基金儿童投资基金(Children’s Investment Fund Management)正是利用上述手法令美国铁路公司CSX措手不及;2008年德国舍弗勒集团(Schaeffler Group)也是用此方式悄悄包围了其轮胎制造竞争对手德国大陆集团(Continental)。其中最受关注的案例，当属保时捷公司(Porsche) 部分通过未披露的衍生品交易，增持大众汽车(Volkswagen )股份至将近75%;当2008年10月保时捷对大众的收购意向公开后，大量做空投资者为完成对赌交割抢购大众汽车的股票，致其股价翻了5倍。
6 Even before the financial crisis, countries were beginning to rewrite the rules to stop this happening. Of the big countries Britain’s regime is perhaps the strictest, but Germany, the Netherlands, France (as of 2012) and Switzerland all now require prompt disclosure of relatively small equity stakes, including exposure through derivatives. (America is the laggard: the Securities and Exchange Commission has been considering reform proposals for a long time.) The lawsuits linger, however. A clutch of investors have lined up against Porsche; the first substantive hearing in the biggest of these cases may start in October. And the AMF may not have had the final word on LVMH: Hermès filed a criminal complaint in September 2012 alleging market manipulation and insider trading.
早在金融危机发生前，各国就开始修订规则以杜绝上述行为的发生。在几个大国中，英国的监管体制恐怕是最为严格的，但德国、荷兰、法国(自2012年起)和瑞士目前都要求在持股(包括通过衍生品形成的风险敞口)比例相对较低的时候就应立刻进行披露。(美国在这方面比较落后：美国证券交易委员会长期以来一直在酝酿改革方案)。然而，相关诉讼的进程远未结束。投资者们纷纷对保时捷提起诉讼;其中最大的案件10月才会进行初次实体审理。而且法国金融市场管理局对路威酩轩的裁决恐怕也并非一锤定音：爱马仕公司已于2012年9月以市场操纵和内幕交易为名，对路威酩轩集团提起了刑事自诉。
[2013.07.12] New film: "Pacific Rim" 新电影：《环太平洋》
New film: "Pacific Rim"
新电影：《环太平洋》
Odiously destructive
令人厌恶的破坏场面
Jul 12th 2013, 14:17 by N.B.
CINEMA'S year of mass destruction continues. The recent Superman reboot, “Man Of Steel”, was rightly criticised for laying waste to towns and cities in the name of family entertainment. Several more of 2013’s blockbusters, including such supposedly child-friendly fare as “GI Joe: Retaliation”, have toppled skyscrapers as casually as if they were skittles. Now comes “Pacific Rim”, an apocalyptic giant-robots v giant-aliens slugfest which treats civilisation to a dozen earthquakes’ worth of damage.
电影院里，今年又是毁天灭地的一年。有人批评最近重拍的超人电影《钢铁之躯》是“以家庭娱乐的名义毁坏城市和城镇”，这话非常中肯。在2013年的另外几部大片里，一幢幢摩天大楼就保龄球瓶一样，谈笑间倾倒坍塌，就连据说是适合儿童观看的《特种部队：全面反击》也不能免俗。现在《环太平洋》来了!这部讲述末世背景下巨型机甲与巨大异形聚众斗殴的电影，用来招待人类文明的可是相当于十几次地震的破坏。
What’s particularly disappointing is that the film is co-written and directed by Guillermo Del Toro, the Mexican director behind such acclaimed haunting, atmospheric fantasies as “The Devil’s Backbone” and “Pan’s Labyrinth”. Like Tim Burton, Mr Del Toro has always been better at envisioning weird creatures than at telling resonant stories, but in “Pacific Rim” he cares less than ever about anything that isn’t a computer-generated monster.
该片之所以特别令人失望，是因为担任导演和部分编剧的是吉列莫•德尔托罗。这位墨西哥导演曾执导过一批鬼魅缠绵、大气磅礴的奇幻电影，广受好评，例如《鬼童院》和《潘神的迷宫》。与蒂姆•伯顿一样，一直以来，德尔托罗都更擅长想象各种奇怪的生物，而不是通过叙事让观众产生共鸣，但在《环太平洋》这部电影中，除开电脑制作出的怪兽，任何其他东西都不如他过去的作品来得用心。
The film is set in the near future. A gateway between universes has opened at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and gargantuan, Godzilla-like fiends called Kaiju keep popping through and wading towards major metropolises. The human race’s response to these attacks is to aim a nuclear arsenal at the gateway, ready to fire whenever another Kaiju makes an appearance. Actually, no, that would be too rational. According to the logic-free script, co-written by Mr Del Toro and Travis Beacham, humans have instead decided to build mountain-sized combat robots called Jaegers, which are operated by two-man teams of pilots in Iron Man armour. Any resemblance to “Transformers” and “Independence Day”, or indeed to “Iron Man” and “Godzilla”, is purely co-incidental.
影片的背景是不远的未来。太平洋海底打开了一个空间传送门，被称为“怪兽(kaiju)”的类似哥斯拉的巨型恶魔不断从中冒出，朝着世界主要的大都市跋涉。面对进击的怪兽，人类的应对方式是用核武器对准传送门，做好一见到怪兽现身就来上一发核弹的准备。说错了，事实上，对于这部影片来说这样的情节太过理性了。根据德尔托罗和特拉维斯•比彻姆合作写就的毫无逻辑的剧本，人类决定建造有山那么高的格斗机器人，名曰“机甲猎人(Jaegers)”，依靠两位穿着钢铁侠盔甲的驾驶员操纵。本片若与《变形金刚》、《独立日》、《钢铁侠》、《哥斯拉》有任何雷同之处，纯属偶然。
The strangest aspect of the film is that the story—the arrival of the aliens, the construction of the war machines—is all consigned to a montage before the opening titles. By the time the film gets underway, the Jaeger v Kaiju bouts have been going on for decades, which means that there’s precious little plot left for the remaining two hours. Oddly, there are almost no heroics, no rescues, no overcoming of obstacles or solving of problems. Instead, various gruff military types played by Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam and other not-quite-stars stand around in their gloomy headquarters, where they debate the bewilderingly petty issue of who Mr Hunnam’s new co-pilot should be. None of these characters has any more personality than their mechanical buddies, and the world’s civilian population is all but ignored—until, that is, it is time for it to be decimated by grappling Kaiju and Jaegers.
最奇怪地方在于，影片的剧情——外星人到来、建造战争机器等等——在片头字幕出现之前，已经用蒙太奇手法统统交代完了。等到电影正式开始的时候，机甲猎人与怪兽已经交手几十年了——这意味着影片还剩两个小时，而剧情已经所剩无几了。诡异的是，英雄壮举、营救平民、克服挫折、解决难题等元素，在影片情节中几乎毫不存在。反观人物方面，德瑞斯•艾尔巴、查理•汉纳姆和其他不算明星的演员扮演了各色不苟言笑的军人类型角色，只会站在阴暗的总部里,争论一些让人摸不着头脑的琐碎问题,比如应该让谁来当汉纳姆的新副驾驶等等。这些角色中没有一个人比他们的机器伙伴多一点人情味，并且整个世界文明的人口都被省略了——除非轮到他们卷入怪兽和机甲猎人的缠斗、惨遭灭顶之灾的时候。
Of course, these overgrown fight scenes are the film’s raison d’etre. If you are keen to see two colossi punching each other in slow motion,
