鲜为人知的八个科学常识误区

 　　Animals can predict natural disasters

　　动物能够预知自然灾害

　　There is no evidence that animals possess a mysterious sixth-sense allowing them to predict natural disasters. Their keen senses of smell, hearing, and sharp instincts alone are enough to send them scattering¹ for the hillsides during a hurricane or tsunami². And even so, animals often die during natural disasters, so if they do have some sort of sixth sense, it's not worth much.

　　说动物拥有神秘的第六感，可以预知自然灾害，这是没有根据的。单是敏锐的嗅觉、听觉以及强烈的本能就足以使它们在飓风或海啸来袭时往山坡上四散逃逸。即便如此，动物们还是常常会在自然灾害中丧生。这样看来，即使它们真的有什么第六感的话，那也并不是什么太了不起的东西。

　　The Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure visible from space

　　中国的长城是从太空中用肉眼能看见的唯一人工建筑

　　There are several variations on this folkloric³ statement, and they're all false. Astronauts can spot the Great Wall from low earth orbit, along with plenty of other things like the Giza pyramids and even airport runways. But they can't see the Wall from the Moon.

　　这种在民间广为流传的说法有好几个不同版本，但却都是错的。宇航员可以在近地轨道上看见长城，同时还能看见其他很多建筑，比如吉萨的金字塔，甚至还有飞机跑道。不过，从月球上是无法看见长城的。

　　A dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's

　　狗嘴比人嘴干净

　　Despite a habit of licking things no human would dare, Fido's mouth is often touted⁴ as scientifically more sterile⁵. Truth is, oral bacteria are so species-specific that one can't be considered cleaner than the other, just different.

　　狗有舔东西的习惯，回去舔一些无人敢舔的东西。尽管如此，还是经常有人这样吹嘘：从科学的角度来说，狗嘴里的细菌更少。事实是，口腔里的细菌种类千差万别，你只能说它们各不相同，却不能说谁比谁更干净。

　　Humans use only 10 percent of their brains

　　人类只利用了自身大脑的十分之一

　　This media darling has been around for at least a century. Fortunately, it's just not true. MRI(magnetic resonance⁶ imaging) clearly demonstrates--with fancy colors no less--that humans put most of their cerebral⁷ cortex to good use, even while dozing⁸.

　　这一论断深受各类媒体追捧，少说也已经流传了一个世纪。还好，这不是真的。磁共振成像清楚地显示——这些图像竟然还是五颜六色的呢——人类很好地利用了自身大脑皮层的大部分，即使在打瞌睡的时候也是如此。

　　Adults don't grow new brain cells

　　成年人不会再长新的脑细胞

　　Much of a human's crucial brain development happens during childhood, but it isn't all downhill from there. Studies have shown that neurons continue to grow and change well into the adult years.

　　人类大脑发育的关键时期主要是在儿童时期，但这并不意味着打那以后它就完全走下坡路了。研究表明，进入成年许久以后，人的神经细胞仍然在继续生长和变化。

　　Lightning never strikes the same place twice

　　闪电从来不会两次击中同一个地方

　　In fact lightning favors certain spots, particularly high locations. The Empire State Building is struck about 25 times every year. Ben Franklin grasped the concept long ago and mounted a metal rod atop the roof of his home, then ran a wire to the ground, thereby⁹ inverting¹⁰ the lightning rod.

　　事实上，闪电特别青睐某些特定的地方，尤其是高处。帝国大厦每年会被电击约二十五次。很久以前，本富兰克林就已经认识到了这一点。他在自家屋顶上安了一根金属棒，从上面接了根金属线到地上，有此发明了避雷针。

　　There is no gravity in space

　　太空中没有重力

　　Blame the term "zero-gravity" for this common misconception. Gravity is everywhere, even in space. Astronauts look weightless because they are in continuous freefall towards the Earth, staying aloft because of their horizontal motion. The effect of gravity diminishes with distance, but it never truly goes away. Oh, and while we're at it, it's also untrue that space is a vacuum. There are all kinds of atoms out there, albeit¹¹ sometimes far apart (and this thin gas adds to the collective gravity budget, too!)

　　这一普遍误解的产生得归咎于“失重状态”这个词。重力无处不在，即便是在太空中也不例外。宇航员表明上看起来是失重的，那是因为他们在不停地往地球方向做自由落体运动，而他们在水平方向上的运动又使他们保持着漂浮的状态。重力的作用随着距离的增大而减小，但是不可能完全消失。对了，说到这里，太空也不是真空状态的。太空中有各种各样的原子，只不过有时它们彼此相距甚远而已。(即使是这样稀薄的气体也会使空间的总引力增大！)

　　Chichen soup can cure the common cold

　　鸡汤能治好感冒

　　Cure is a strong word, but science suggests Moms around the world are still right in forcing spoonfuls of chicken soup down their kids' throats. Studies have found that the broth¹² actually contains anti-inflammatory properties that help reduce congestion¹³.

　　说治好有点言过其实了，不过科学研究表明，世界各地的妈妈们喜欢往孩子嘴里灌几勺鸡汤还是挺对的。研究发现，鸡汤里的确含有消炎成分，可以缓解(喉部的)充血症状。

1 scattering   

n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散

参考例句：

• The child felle into a rage and began scattering its toys about. 这孩子突发狂怒，把玩具扔得满地都是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The farmers are scattering seed. 农夫们在播种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

3 folkloric   

adj.民间传说的；民俗的

参考例句：

• In the rush to go folkloric watch out for collision of cultures. 在民俗化的热潮中，要提防不同文化的冲突。
• Lunch blowout beside the pool, accompanied by folkloric dancing (Vanity Fair) . 盛大的午餐在游泳池边进行，还有民族舞蹈助兴（名利场）。

4 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

5 sterile   

adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• This top fits over the bottle and keeps the teat sterile.这个盖子严实地盖在奶瓶上，保持奶嘴无菌。
• The farmers turned the sterile land into high fields.农民们把不毛之地变成了高产田。

6 resonance   

n.洪亮；共鸣；共振

参考例句：

• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments.一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。
• The areas under the two resonance envelopes are unequal.两个共振峰下面的面积是不相等的。

7 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。

8 dozing   

v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡

参考例句：

• The economy shows no signs of faltering. 经济没有衰退的迹象。
• He never falters in his determination. 他的决心从不动摇。

9 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

10 inverting   

v.使倒置，使反转( invert的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She caught the insect by inverting her cup over it. 她用杯子扣住了那只昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He started out inverting 2,000,000, but eventually invested only 200,000. 他们开始打算投资200万，可是后来只有20万。 来自互联网

11 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。

12 broth   

n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等)

参考例句：

• Every cook praises his own broth.厨子总是称赞自己做的汤。
• Just a bit of a mouse's dropping will spoil a whole saucepan of broth.一粒老鼠屎败坏一锅汤。

13 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。