【推荐1】Scientists believe they are close to developing a cancer vaccine. Already, the vaccine has proved effective on mice, and has successfully stopped the growth of all cancer tumors(肿瘤).Scientists plan to begin trials this year and see whether it is safe and could produce an active immune(免疫的)response in humans.

The gene-based vaccine appears to wake up the body’s immune system by encouraging it to attack cancer tumors in our bodies. Through gene technology, genes are taught to recognize cancer cells through a protein that only exists on the surface of tumors. “When you use genes as a weapon, your immune system is actually a blueprint for the ‘ wanted poster’ of the enemy and will distinguish cancer cells from normal cells,“ Professor Alan Kingsman, from Oxford Biomedica which has developed the vaccine, said.

He also points out that the vaccine will train immune system to attack tumors in the same way as it attacks normal infections. “The cancer vaccine could produce the desired antigen(抗原)that could be recognized by immune system. So the vaccine gets immune system to recognize those tumor cells as dangerous and sweep them out in much the same way as it destroys viruses and bacteria when we get an infection.”

“You have to understand cancer is a genetic disease. Cancer treatments are facing great challenges but we couldn’t find a way out. That’s probably because we haven’t reached the core of the issue: genes. Ultimately the fundamental change of our cures will come from targeting cancer cells at genetic level. So this gene-based vaccine probably is the future, “ Dr. Richard Sullivan, from the Cancer Research Programme, said.

Though working on the vaccine remains at an early stage, plans to begin clinical trials on humans are scheduled to be carried out soon. The Oxford company is hoping that the vaccine will prove as successful in humans as it has in mice.Still. it’s worth noting that many promising cancer trials end in failure. It may be several years before we know if the cancer vaccine really do live up to its fame.

【推荐3】Recently, a company called SkyDrive gave a test of its new flying car, the SD-03. The small car flew at an altitude of around 6 feet around up to four minutes. The SD-03 is powered by batteries and has 8 motors, which lift it straight off the ground. Since flying cars don't use runways, they need to be able to take off and land by going straight up or down. Its breakthrough was that a pilot was on board. Tomohiro Fukuzawa, who leads SkyDrive, said, "Of the world's more than 100 flying car projects, only a handful has succeeded with a person on board."

The world's leading companies are investing (投资) heavily to work on more advanced flying cars of their own. That includes airplane makers like Airbus and Boeing, car makers like Toyota, Hyundai, and Porsche, and ride services like Uber. Some governments, including Japan's, are supporting the idea, hoping that in the future, flying cars will be useful for short trips like taxi rides in cities. Flying cars could also save time in emergencies, and help reach some places that can't be reached by road.

However, controlling a flying car is so complex that most people won't be able to do it. Even SkyDrive's test flight was kept stable by an automatic (自动的) computer system, and a backup team stood ready to control the car from the ground. Besides, safety is a major problem. What happens when a motor fails? That's a reason why the SD-03 has eight motors-as backups. All realities have led many companies to take a wait-and-see approach to developing flying cars. But people who believe in flying cars point out that cars and airplanes faced lots of challenges at first, too and that with time, many of the big problems were settled eventually.

Mr. Fukuzawa wants SkyDrive to be able to fly two passengers on trips of up to 3 miles by 2023. By 2050, he hopes people will be able to fly anywhere inside Tokyo in just 10 minutes. ''I think flying cars will become normal in the near future, " he says.