To see something on Earth from space, it would have to be pretty big, which the great wall

要想從太空中看到地球上的東西，必須要有相當大的規模，這就是長城。

of China all 5,000 miles of it certainly is. But, it’s only 30 feet across at its widest.

中國的五千英里當然是。但是，它的最寬處只有30英尺寬。

Here’s a photo taken from the International Space station, 200 miles above Earth. Can

這是一張從國際空間站拍攝的照片，距離地球200英里。可以

you spot the great wall amid the mountain tops?

你發現山頂上的長城了嗎？

Here, right? No, that’s a river, the wall is actually here. Even if you guessed the

是這裡吧？不，那是一條河，其實牆在這裡。即使你猜到了

right lines buy pure luck, this photo was taken with a zoom lens, so from the window

右邊的線條買純運氣，這張照片是用變焦鏡頭拍的，所以從窗外看

of the space station it looks more like this – which pretty clearly makes the Great Wall

它看起來更像這樣--這很明顯地使長城

count as ‘not visible.’ As for the man-made part of this misconception

算作'不可見'。至於這個誤解中的人為部分。

our glorious man-made cities blasting light into the void certainly are visible.

我們輝煌的人造城市在虛空中綻放光芒，當然可見。

9) Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. Socially obnoxious? Yes. Gives you arthritis

9）敲擊指關節會導致關節炎。社交上令人討厭？是的。給你帶來關節炎

later in life as karmic punishment? No. 8) People Only Use 10% of their Brain

在以後的生活中作為報應？否 8）人只用了大腦的10%。

If you haven’t seen a medical drama in the past oh, 30 years, you might not be aware

如果你在過去30年裡沒有看過醫療劇，你可能不知道

that doctors now have machines that can see inside peoples’ brains and, contrary to

醫生們現在有了能看到人們大腦內部的機器，而且，與之相反的是，醫生們有了能看到人們大腦內部的機器。

popular, belief 90% of the neurons don’t sit all day around doing nothing.

流行，相信90%的神經元不會整天無所事事地坐著。

While scientists don’t yet know exactly what each part does, they do know that all

雖然科學家們還不知道每個部分的確切作用，但他們知道所有的

the bits matter. So if you think someone could scoop out 90%

位的重要性。所以如果你認為有人能挖出90%的東西

of your brain and you’d still be just fine, then perhaps you really do only use 10% of

你的大腦，你仍然會很好，那麼也許你真的只用10％的

it. 7) Eskimos have Hundreds of words for snow

它。7）愛斯基摩人對雪有上百種說法。

This one is technically correct, but misleading. Some languages, such as German, like to make

這個在技術上是正確的，但有誤導性。有些語言，比如德語，喜歡把它變成

compound words by running several smaller ones together which is why German words are

複合詞是由幾個較小的詞組成的，這就是為什麼德語單詞是

sometimes absurdly long. Inuit languages use compound words as well

有時長得很荒唐。因紐特人的語言也使用複合詞

so rather than say ‘yellow snow’ as you would in English an Inuit speaker combines

所以，因紐特人不會像英語中那樣說 "黃雪"，而是將 "黃雪 "與 "黃雪 "結合起來。

the two words into one, but it’s not really a new word, just a quirk of grammar.

兩個詞合二為一，但這並不是一個新詞，只是文法上的一個怪癖。

So technically Eskimos do have 100s of ways to describe snow… but then so does every

所以從技術上講，愛斯基摩人確實有100種描述雪的方式... ...但每一個人都是如此。

language. 6) You Need 8 Glasses of Water a Day

語。6）你每天需要8杯水

While doubtless some people would benefit from drinking more water and drinking less

毫無疑問，一些人將從多喝水和少喝水中受益。

crap there is no scientific evidence that 8 glasses of water a day is the required amount

廢話，沒有任何科學證據表明每天8杯水是必需的量。

and some evidence that it might be too much. And while we’re talking about water…

和一些證據表明，它可能是太多了。當我們談論水的時候... And while we're talking about water...

5) Tap Water is Bad but Bottled Water is Good If you live in a paradise free from Government

5）自來水不好，但瓶裝水很好 如果你生活在一個沒有政府的天堂裡

regulations like, say, Somalia, then you might have good reason to prefer bottled water over

監管，比如說，索馬里，那麼你可能有充分的理由選擇瓶裝水而不是

tap. But modern, functioning countries have something called health regulations which

水龍頭。但是，現代的、運作良好的國家都有一種叫做衛生法規的東西，這就是

cover both kinds of water. Also, water is extremely dense making transporting

覆蓋兩種水。而且，水的密度極大，使得運輸

it from those pristine mountain tops and glaciers enormously expensive which is why bottled

從那些原始的山頂和冰川中提取的，價格非常昂貴，這也是為什麼瓶裝的。

water companies don’t bother. ‘Bottled’ water is often just local tap

自來水公司不屑一顧。'瓶裝'水往往只是當地的自來水。

water with a fancy label and an enormous markup. 4) Gum takes seven years to pass through your

水的花哨標籤和巨大的標價。4）口香糖需要七年時間才能通過你的

digestive system. This is pretty easy to disprove yourself but

消化系統。這是很容易推翻自己，但

it’s understandable why most people don’t try the experiment.

這就可以理解為什麼大多數人都不去嘗試這個實驗了。

3) Blood in Your Veins is Blue The idea here is that the blood in veins is

3）血管裡的血是藍色的 這裡的意思是說，血管裡的血是

blue and it only turns red when exposed to the oxygen in the air.

藍色，只有在接觸到空氣中的氧氣時才會變成紅色。

Thinking this isn’t unreasonable, after all your veins look blue and medical diagrams

認為這不是沒有道理的，畢竟你的血管看起來是藍色的，醫學圖譜

show arteries as red and veins as blue, but it’s the same mistake as thinking that mountain

顯示動脈是紅色的，靜脈是藍色的，但它是同樣的錯誤，認為，山的

dew is green because it’s in a green bottle. Pour it out and you discover that Mountain

露水是綠色的，因為它是在一個綠色的瓶子。把它倒出來，你會發現，山

Dew is really piss yellow, which is probably the reason it’s in a green bottle to begin

露水真的是尿黃色的，這可能是原因 它在一個綠色的瓶子開始。

with. The next time you get blood withdrawn from

與。下一次你被抽血的時候

a veins take a look. What color it is? Red. How much oxygen is inside a good syringe?

一條血管看看。這是什麼顏色？紅色的一個好的注射器裡面有多少氧氣？

None. Unless you’re a Horseshoe crab or Plavalaguna

沒有。除非你是馬蹄蟹或普拉瓦拉古納蟹

you’re blood isn’t blue. 2) Fan Death

你的血不是藍色的。2）粉絲死亡

This misconception is a specialty of South Korea. Here the belief is that if you spend

這種誤解是韓國的特產。在這裡，人們認為，如果你花

too much time with a rotating fan in a confined space, it will use up all your oxygen and

在一個密閉的空間裡，與旋轉的風扇相處時間過長，會耗盡你所有的氧氣，而且會影響你的生活。

you’ll asphyxiate to death. Exactly how the fan made of lifeless, anaerobic

你會窒息而死的。確切地說，風扇是由無生命的、無氧的

plastic, competes for your oxygen is unclear, but hilariously South Korean fan manufacturers

塑膠，競爭你的氧氣是不清楚的，但搞笑的是，韓國風扇製造商

– who surely must know better – include timers on fans to prevent them from running

- 誰肯定知道更多--在風扇上加裝定時器，以防止它們運行。

too long. 1) People Swallow 8 Spiders a Year While Sleeping

太長。1）人們在睡覺時一年吞下8只蜘蛛。

Supposedly while you’re in bed, helplessly unconscious with your gob wide open, each

據說當你躺在床上，無助地張著嘴昏迷不醒的時候，每次

year eight spiders find their way into your mouth and you reflexively swallow them.

年八的蜘蛛找到了進入你嘴裡的路，你反射性地吞下它們。

This is plainly ridiculous: spiders love warm, moist places so eight is far too low an estimate.

這簡直是荒謬的：蜘蛛喜歡溫暖潮溼的地方，所以八點的估計太低了。