We can do impossible things

I’d wager everyone has a rehearsed response to what’s absolutely one of the world’s worst interview questions: “What’s your biggest weakness?” Whenever I’ve gotten it, I take a slow—even pensive—breath and rattle off my line: “I say no to myself too much.”

我敢打赌，每个人对世界上最糟糕的面试问题之一——“你最大的弱点是什么？”——都有一个排练好的回答。每当被问到这个问题时，我都会深吸一口气，甚至带着沉思，然后脱口而出我的台词：“我对自己说‘不’太多了。”

I won’t lie. It’s a bit shameless—a definite humblebrag. I’m a systems thinker: When an idea pops up, I immediately spin up a feasibility assessment in my head. I run lists, plot timelines, and tally budget line items. Sometimes a rough Gantt chart starts to take shape. (I’m a gas at parties, as you can surely tell.)

我不会撒谎。这有点厚颜无耻——绝对是一种“凡尔赛”式的自谦。我是一个系统思考者：当一个想法出现时，我会在脑海中立即进行可行性评估。我列清单、规划时间表、核算预算项目。有时，一个粗略的甘特图就开始成形了。（如你所见，我在派对上绝对是个“冷场王”。）

My brain, throughout my 20-plus-year career as a science and tech journalist, has played host to a near constant tug-of-war between ambition and reality. Learning to find that balance is a big part of what’s helped me survive in this industry and, ultimately, led me here.

在我二十多年的科技记者生涯中，我的大脑一直在雄心与现实之间进行着近乎持续的拉锯战。学会找到这种平衡，是我能在这一行业生存下来，并最终引领我来到这里的重要原因。

This past spring, I had the great privilege of joining the incredible team of journalists behind MIT Technology Review to take the reins of the print magazine. If you’ve been reading along with us for the last handful of issues, you may have noticed a few changes starting to materialize.

今年春天，我有幸加入了《麻省理工科技评论》那支令人难以置信的记者团队，并接管了印刷版杂志。如果你一直在阅读我们最近的几期内容，你可能已经注意到一些变化开始显现。

We’ve brought back a regular roster of lists and infographics (both things that magazines do particularly well). But the biggest change is only just beginning to take shape, which is why Mat Honan, our editor in chief, asked me to hop in to introduce myself—and the issue you’re holding in your hands right now.

我们恢复了定期刊登榜单和信息图表（这两者都是杂志特别擅长的内容）。但最大的变化才刚刚开始成形，这就是为什么我们的主编 Mat Honan 请我来做个自我介绍，并介绍你现在手中拿的这一期杂志。

We’re giving ourselves permission to play around and experiment. To be a little … audacious. Because, practical though I may be, I do still have plenty of ideas. It’s just that I sometimes need a reminder to stop blocking myself and do the thing.

我们正在允许自己去尝试和实验。去变得稍微……大胆一点。因为，尽管我很务实，但我依然有很多想法。只是有时我需要有人提醒我，别再自我设限，直接去做就是了。

That’s the spirit driving this issue in particular. We wanted to end 2026 with a slate of stories that check in on impossible ideas. Why? Because it’s frankly a lot of fun to dream about living on the moon or uploading our brains.

这正是本期杂志的核心精神。我们希望以一系列探讨“不可能的想法”的报道来结束 2026 年。为什么？因为坦率地说，梦想着住在月球上或上传我们的大脑是一件非常有趣的事情。

Because losing sight of ambition is all too easy when it feels as if we’re playing whack-a-mole with the world’s problems. But also because the scientists and engineers who absolutely refuse to give up on even the most daring endeavors—like making synthetic blood or decoding animals’ speech—remind us what this whole technology thing is supposed to do to begin with.

因为当我们感觉像是在玩“打地鼠”游戏一样应对世界上的各种问题时，很容易就会失去雄心。但同时，那些拒绝放弃哪怕是最具挑战性的尝试——比如制造人造血或破译动物语言——的科学家和工程师们，提醒了我们科技最初的使命是什么。

It’s supposed to take cutting-edge research and development and apply it to make life better, safer, healthier, even more joyful. And when we eff up and make things worse (see: forever chemicals, traffic deaths, and AI that encourages potentially dangerous user behavior), we’re supposed to dig back in, assess the damage, and find ways to fix what we’ve broken. Even when unraveling the mess might itself seem impossible.

科技本应利用尖端的研发成果，让生活变得更美好、更安全、更健康，甚至更快乐。而当我们搞砸了并让事情变得更糟时（参见：永久性化学物质、交通事故死亡，以及鼓励潜在危险用户行为的人工智能），我们应该深入研究，评估损害，并找到修复我们所造成破坏的方法。即使解决这些烂摊子本身看起来似乎是不可能的。

Right before I came to MIT Technology Review, I edited a newsletter about individual actions that can help address the climate crisis, which some would call—and have called—a fool’s errand, given the sheer scale of the problem. They might say it’s as implausible as an AI kill switch, practical nuclear fusion, or a superconductor that works at room temperature.

在来到《麻省理工科技评论》之前，我曾编辑过一份关于个人如何应对气候危机的通讯。考虑到问题的规模，有些人会——也确实曾——称之为“徒劳之举”。他们可能会说，这就像人工智能的“紧急停止开关”、实用的核聚变或室温超导体一样不可思议。

But if I learned nothing else from three years spent finding ways for li’l old me (or li’l old you!) to chip away at one of humanity’s biggest existential threats, it’s that focusing on what we can’t do only makes the darkness darker. So yeah, this one’s for the folks who have the audacity to try, and who refuse to let anyone—themselves included—tell them no. I hope you enjoy the ride.

但如果说我在过去三年里寻找方法让渺小的我（或渺小的你！）去一点点化解人类最大的生存威胁之一的过程中学到了什么，那就是：只关注我们做不到的事情只会让黑暗变得更深。所以，是的，这一期是献给那些有勇气去尝试，并且拒绝让任何人——包括他们自己——对自己说“不”的人。希望你享受这段旅程。