2010考研英语真题来源报刊阅读100篇20.docVIP

2010考研英语真题来源报刊阅读100篇20 A robot in the kitchen Matt Mason has seen the future-and its fun. As director of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, Mason likes thinking about how machines can make our lives easier by taking over the tasks we hate, like mopping, scrubbing and cleaning. When it comes to the kitchen, hes confident that within just a few decades, robots will ruledoing most of the burdensome work and freeing us to sit back and relax. Right now we think of the kitchen as a place for chores, says Mason.But maybe were in the process of discovering it as a place we can enjoy. So unless you really, really love to clean, you wont have to. The revolution has already begun. Recently, iRobot, the company that gave us the Roomba vacuum, unveiled Scooba-a robot that vacuums, wetscrubs and dries floors all at once. The robotic floor cleaners of the future could take many different forms, explains Dan Kara, president of Robotics Trends, which tracks developments in automation. He envisions a floor-cleaning system thats built into the wall and blows debris to a part of the room where its sucked up by a vacuum. Then the system sprays the floor with a soapy solution, and its mopped up by an arm with a sponge attached. This is sheer speculation, of course, Kara admits, but you could program it to come on at 3 a.m., and it would just wetmop the floor for you. More than just fun, future kitchens will be environmentally friendly. Bruce Beihoff, director of Corporate Innovation and Technology at Whirl-pool, foresees appliance systems that recycle the energy lost from your oven to heat the kitchen, your water, even the entire home.We have things like this running in our labs today, he says. Even your sink water could be reused, sanitized and recycled through a filter. And a green kitchen means more green in your pocket. New culinary technologies will help you go from Chef Boring to Chef Brilliant. The best cooks know that an evenly heated skillet is crucial to t