人類對屍體做的十大怪事(下)

se-Eating Robots

5.食屍機器人

In the summer of 2009, headlines abounded with tales of military robots being designed to ingest human corpses as a power supply. The macabre creation called EATR (Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot) could operate in perpetuity without refueling by consuming any available biomass in the area.

在2009年的夏天, 各大頭條充斥着攝取人類屍體能量作爲電源的軍事機器人已被設計出的故事。這個可怕的發明，名爲EATR(自主式戰術機器人)可以永久性的操作, 並且不會消耗該地區任何可用的生物量。

Cyclone Power Technologies Inc. and Robotic Technology Inc., which are developing the robots, were quick to point out that the "biomass" would not be flesh, human or otherwise, but rather vegetation. Cyclone's CEO Harry Schoell said, "We completely understand the public's concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission. We are focused on demonstrating that our engines can create usable, green power from plentiful, renewable plant matter." Much of the American military concern is located in Middle Eastern deserts not particularly known for their lush vegetation. So it might not hurt to make a few tweaks that would allow the EATR to nibble a corpse or two, despite what the Geneva Conventions might say.

該機器人的創造商，旋風電源技術公司和機器人技術公司，很快就指出"生物量"不會是肉體，人或其他，而是植物。旋風的CEO哈里說，"我們完全理解公衆對有關未來機器人以人類爲食的關注，但這不是我們的使命。我們專注於展示我們的引擎可以從大量的，可再生的植物物質中創造可用的綠色能源。"美國軍方更多的關注的是位於中東沙漠並不爲人知的豐富植被。所以做一些調整，讓EATR咬一兩個屍體無傷大雅，儘管日內瓦公約可能會說什麼。

el Pepys's Kiss

4.塞繆爾·佩皮斯之吻

Samuel Pepys is a name you may recognize from history lessons. He was a member of parliament and naval administrator, but he is best remembered for his exhaustive diary, which gives us an important source on the English Reformation period. However, along with detailing events such as plagues and fires, the diary also offers a glimpse into Pepys's social life, including details of liaisons with his mistress.

塞繆爾·佩皮斯這個名字你可能是從歷史書中聽說的。他是國會議員和海軍管理員, 但他最讓人津津樂道的是他寫的詳盡的日記，這是我們瞭解英國宗教改革時期的一個重要來源。然而, 連同詳細如瘟疫、火災等事件, 日記中也可以一窺佩皮斯的社交生活,包括他和情婦聯繫的細節。

Perhaps the most bizarre entry comes from February 23, 1669, when Pepys and his family visited Westminster Abbey on the occasion of his 36th birthday. It reads in part, "Therefore I now took them to Westminster Abbey, and there did show them all the tombs very finely, having one with us alone, there being other company this day to see the tombs, it being Shrove Tuesday; and here we did see, by particular favour, the body of Queen Katherine of Valois; and I had the upper part of her body in my hands, and I did kiss her mouth, reflecting upon it that I did kiss a Queen, and that this was my birthday, thirty-six years old, that I did first kiss a Queen." Catherine of Valois was the wife of Henry V. She died in 1437 at the age of 35, shortly after childbirth. She'd been dead for over 230 years before Pepys's romantic advances.

也許最奇異的條目來自於1669年2月23日, 佩皮斯36歲生日當日，他和他的家人蔘觀威斯敏斯特教堂。其中寫道,"所以我現在將他們帶到威斯敏斯特大教堂, 並向他們細緻地展示所有的墳墓,有一個與我們一起，陪伴我們看墳墓, 這是懺悔星期二;在這裏, 通過特殊的允許，我們看到瓦盧瓦王朝的皇后凱瑟琳的身體，她身體上半部分在我的手上, 我吻了她的脣,表示我吻一個皇后, 在我36歲生日的這天,我第一次輕吻了皇后。"瓦盧瓦的凱瑟琳是亨利五世的妻子，於1437年分娩後不久去世，時年35歲，在佩皮斯的浪漫舉動之前已經死了超過230年。

h Test Dummies

3.碰撞測試假人

Those of us who grew up in the 1980s probably remember the antics of Vince and Larry, the crash test dummies who taught us the importance of using seat belts. However, only so much can be learned from dummies—the potential for trauma in car crashes can only be truly gauged using real human bodies.

在1980年代長大的人可能還記得文斯和拉里的滑稽, 碰撞測試假人使我們知道安全帶的重要性。然而, 從假人身上也只能學到這些——車禍給人們帶來的潛在創傷只有使用真正的人類的身體才能衡量。

Cadaver research has been going on for decades, although automakers try to downplay their use. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in conjunction with funding from automakers like Ford, conducts cadaver tests every year. Everything from seat belts to safety glass was first tested on cadavers, which could then be given X-rays and autopsies to determine exactly how flesh would respond in just such an incident. Those with a squeamish bent will be pleased to learn that cadaver testing has declined significantly in recent years. The safety systems in most automobiles are about as good as they're going to get, and most tests these days are done virtually using computer models.

屍體的研究已經持續了幾十年,雖然汽車製造商試圖淡化其使用。美國國家公路交通安全管理局同提供資金的汽車製造商如福特等, 每年進行屍體測試。從安全帶到安全玻璃都是首次用屍體來測試, 測試給出的x光片和驗屍報告可以確定人的肉體在這樣的事故中如何反應。屍體測試近年來大幅下降，對有潔癖的人來說是件好事。近來的大多數測試幾乎都是使用計算機模型，而大多數汽車的安全系統大都能達到預期效果, 。

Extra Leg

2.一條多餘的腿

The 1995 bombing of Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal building was a devastating terrorist attack that killed at least 168 people. Among the dead was 21-year-old Lakesha Levy, a member of the Air Force who was at the building to pick up a Social Security card. After Levy's body was buried, a severed leg was found in the rubble of the building. FBI tests found that the decomposed leg belonged to a black woman. A footprint determined that it belonged to Levy, even though she'd been buried with two legs.

1995年發生在俄克拉荷馬州阿爾弗雷德·p·默拉聯邦大樓的爆炸案是一次毀滅性的恐怖襲擊, 造成了至少168人死亡。21歲的死者利維克莎, 是空軍的一員，當時正在大樓中撿一張社會保障卡。利維的屍體被埋葬後,在建築物的廢墟中發現了一隻斷了的腿。聯邦調查局測試發現這條腿屬於一個黑人婦女。一個腳印確定它是屬於利維的, 儘管她被埋藏時是兩條腿的。

Her body was subsequently exhumed, but officials were unable to determine just where this mystery leg came from. The body's DNA had been destroyed by the embalming process. According to Oklahoma medical examiner Fred Jordan, "We don't have a body to match it to. It's something we haven't figured out yet."

她的屍體被挖掘出來之後，官員仍無法確定這個未知失主的腿是從哪裏來的，人體的DNA已被防腐處理破壞。據俄克拉何馬州法醫弗雷德·喬丹所說，"我們沒有一個屍體和它匹配。這件事情我們還沒有想通了呢。"

Oldest Man In Japan

1.日本最老的人

Japan's kodokushi, or lonely deaths, are senior citizens who die and go undiscovered for long periods of time. This happens frequently in Japan, which has the most elderly population in the world. Perhaps the body to go longest undiscovered belonged to Sogen Kato, born on July 22, 1899.

日本的kodokushi，或者說孤獨死者，是死去很久沒有被發現的老年人。這在日本是經常發生的，因爲他們的老年人口是世界上最多的。也許死去未被發現時間最久的是Sogen 加藤，生於1899年7月22日。

In 2010, officials tried to contact Kato, wishing to honor him for his extreme longevity. His family rejected their advances, offering various excuses, including that Kato had become brain dead or that he was undergoing the Buddhist process of sokushinbutsu, or self-mummification, starving himself to death on the path to orities persisted in trying to contact Kato. Police eventually broke into his home, discovering his mummified corpse lying in bed. Newspapers in the room indicated that Kato had likely died around November 1978, meaning that his body had been there for 32 years. Unlike the kodokushi, Kato's family knew full well what had occurred but continued to collect his pension long after he had died. His daughter and granddaughter were charged with Kato case caused the Japanese government to launch a nationwide investigation to discover whether many of the country's supposed centenarians are indeed still alive.

2010年，政府官員試圖聯繫加藤，希望表彰他的長壽。但是加藤的家人推遲了他們的進展，以各種理由拒絕，包括加藤已經腦死亡，他經歷佛教的過程成爲sokushinbutsu，或自我風乾成木乃伊，或絕食已達到開悟。政府人員一直試圖聯繫加藤。警方最終闖入他家，發現他已木乃伊化的屍體躺在牀上。在房間裏的報紙表示，加藤很可能在1978年11月去世，這意味着他的屍體在那裏已經有32年了。和kodokushi不同的是，加藤的家人完全知道發生了什麼，在他死後但仍繼續領取他的退休金。他的女兒和孫女被指控犯詐騙罪。加藤案件引起了日本政府在全國範圍內開展調查，以確認該國的許多的百歲老人是否確實還活着。

翻譯：喬夢月 來源：前十網