11. Gender-neutral pronouns came to North America

　　11. 中性别人称代词

　　Vancouver's school board introduced the gender neutral pronouns "xe," "xem," and "xyr," in an effort to accommodate students for whom gender-specific pronouns doesn't fit or is considered inappropriate. The move is similar to measures enacted in Sweden and Germany.

　　温哥华学校的师生们现在在需要用到人称代词的时候，已经开始用"xe","xem","xyr"这些能够避免性别干扰或歧视的新词了。德国和瑞典也在使用。

　　12. An orangutan became a legally recognized person

　　12. 猩猩的人权

　　In an important precedent that could influence law elsewhere, a 29-year-old Sumatran orangutan held at an Argentinian zoo was granted the right of habeas corpus, or bodily autonomy. As noted by AFADA lawyer Paul Buompadre, "This opens the way not only for other Great Apes, but also for other sentient beings which are unfairly and arbitrarily deprived of their liberty in zoos, circuses, water parks and scientific laboratories." Sandra will be released from the zoo and transfered to a sanctuary.

　　这可能是影响我们法律的一项重要案例：阿根廷动物园内一只29岁的苏门答腊猩猩在法律上被认定为拥有人身保护权。律师保罗称：“这开创了先例，不只是类人猿，其他所有有感情的生物，无论在动物园、栖息地或实验室，只要被不平等对待或被任意剥夺自由，都可以参考这项案例。”这位名为桑德拉的苏门答腊猩猩目前已经从动物园中释放并转移至避难所。

　　13. Self-guiding sniper bullets became a reality

　　13. 子弹拐弯

　　The DARPA-funded system, called EXACTO, features a .50-caliber sniper round that can be optically guided to a target with a laser. Incredibly, the bullet can hit a target up to 1.2 miles (1.9 km) away.

　　这个名为EXACTO的系统，由美国国防部高级研究计划局资助，狙击手可以使用激光引导来改变.50口径的子弹方向，这颗子弹能够命中1.2英里(1.9公里)之外的目标。

　　14. A proto-cyber war erupted between the U.S. and N. Korea

　　14. 网络战

　　It all started because of a very silly movie, but the consequences — and potential implications — are anything but. The Sony Hacks were directly linked to North Korea (an accusation that's still being contested), resulting in the temporary cancellation of The Interview's theatrical release. Shortly afterward, North Korea's entire Internet was taken down, allegedly by the United States. The world thus caught its first glimpse of what a cyber war might actually look like.

　　最近美国和朝鲜打了一场网络战。战争的起因是一部搞笑电影，但结果并不搞笑。索尼被黑，黑客源直接指向朝鲜(后者极力否认)，而且索尼临时取消了该电影的首映。之后朝鲜的网络又集体瘫痪，据传是美国所为…这一系列事件似乎让大家看到了未来网络战的样子。

　　15. Humanity landed a robot on a comet

　　15. 机器人登陆彗星

　　We've sent robotic probes to planets, but we've never done anything quite like this before.

　　机器探测器登陆行星已不是什么新鲜事，可登陆彗星这可还是头一次。

　　Philae's harrowing landing on Comet 67P in early November wasn't perfect, but the mission is being hailed as a wild success. In addition to some incredible images, we're learning about organic compounds on the comet and weird water that's potentially upending our theories of where our oceans came from.

　　虽然菲莱11月份初登陆彗星67P的过程并不完美，但它所完成的任务证明了这一壮举的成功。除了传回一些人们从没见过的图像，菲莱还帮助人们了解到，彗星上存在有机成分以及一些很奇怪的水。这些发现很可能会终结目前的海洋起源说。

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（责任编辑：何莹莹）