如果你在世界的另一邊挖一個(gè)洞，你會(huì)到達(dá)哪里

這張地圖顯示了如果你在世界的另一邊挖一個(gè)洞，你會(huì)到達(dá)哪里

It's a common childhood fantasy: What if you dug a hole to the other side of the world, where would you end up? Parents in America are in the habit of telling their kids that they'd end up in China, but that's actually rather far from the truth. Earth is a sphere, so if you start digging in the Northern Hemisphere, then you've got to end up in the Southern Hemisphere. China is far away, but it's also in the Northern Hemisphere. So if you're digging from America, then China can be ruled out from the get-go.

這是一個(gè)常見(jiàn)的童年幻想:如果你在世界的另一邊挖一個(gè)洞，你會(huì)到達(dá)哪里?美國(guó)的父母習(xí)慣于告訴他們的孩子，他們最終會(huì)在中國(guó)定居，但事實(shí)遠(yuǎn)非如此。地球是一個(gè)球體，所以如果你在北半球開(kāi)始挖洞，那么你就必須在南半球結(jié)束挖洞。中國(guó)很遙遠(yuǎn)，但它也在北半球。所以，如果你是從美國(guó)挖的，那么中國(guó)可以從一開(kāi)始就被排除在外。

Digging a hole to China? Chile or Argentina would be a good place to start. (Photo: Engaging Data)

Luckily, there's now a simple tool that scientific-minded parents can use that can give them a more accurate answer to their curious and industrious digging children: an antipodes map. Enter in your location, and it will tell you what's on the opposite side of the world . This interactive map by Engaging Data will also give you a great idea.

幸運(yùn)的是，現(xiàn)在有一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的工具，具有科學(xué)頭腦的父母可以使用，它可以給他們的好奇和勤奮挖掘的孩子一個(gè)更準(zhǔn)確的答案:對(duì)映地圖。輸入你的位置，它會(huì)告訴你在世界的另一邊是什么。這個(gè)通過(guò)數(shù)據(jù)交互的地圖也會(huì)給你一個(gè)很棒的想法。

"I think antipodes are really interesting because while we intellectually know the Earth is a big round ball, it doesn’t really feel like it when we are going about our daily lives," says the scientist and engineer behind Engaging Data. "And thinking about antipodes, the furthest point away from your location on Earth, makes it a little bit more real."

“我認(rèn)為對(duì)極是非常有趣的，因?yàn)楸M管我們?cè)谥橇ι现赖厍蚴且粋€(gè)大的圓球，但在日常生活中卻感覺(jué)不到，”這位從事引人入勝的數(shù)據(jù)研究的科學(xué)家和工程師表示。“想想地球上離你所在位置最遠(yuǎn)的對(duì)跖點(diǎn)，這會(huì)讓它更真實(shí)一些。”

There's some bad news for kids digging from pretty much anywhere in North America aside from the far north latitudes, however. You're going to end up smack-dab in the middle of the Indian Ocean. In fact, because the Earth is so extensively covered in ocean compared to land, chances are fairly strong that no matter where you start digging, you'll find yourself in an ocean on the other side.

然而，對(duì)于來(lái)自北美任何地方的孩子們來(lái)說(shuō)，除了遙遠(yuǎn)的北緯地區(qū)，還有一些壞消息。你最終會(huì)正好落在印度洋的中央。事實(shí)上，與陸地相比，地球被海洋覆蓋得太廣了，所以無(wú)論你從哪里開(kāi)始挖掘，你都很有可能發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在大洋的另一邊。

If you live in Madrid, Spain, then Weber, New Zealand, is on the other side of the world (Photo: EngagingData)

There are some exceptions, though. If you're dead-set on digging to China, you can do so from Argentina. New Zealanders can dig themselves to Spain, and folks in Indonesia will find themselves in the Amazon rainforest. You can also dig yourself from Greenland to Antarctica, but for most other places, your antipode will be an ocean.

不過(guò)也有一些例外。如果你下定決心要進(jìn)軍中國(guó)，你可以從阿根廷開(kāi)始。新西蘭人可以挖到西班牙，而印尼人會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己身處亞馬遜雨林。你也可以從格陵蘭島挖到南極洲，但對(duì)大多數(shù)其他地方來(lái)說(shuō)，你的對(duì)跖是海洋。

Of course, if you really want to get scientific with your kids, digging to the other side of the planet is pretty much an engineering impossibility. Even if it were possible, you'd have to pass through temperatures that are actually hotter than the surface of the sun. So good luck with that.

當(dāng)然，如果你真的想和你的孩子進(jìn)行科學(xué)研究，那么到地球的另一邊去挖掘幾乎是不可能的。即使這是可能的，你也必須穿過(guò)比太陽(yáng)表面還要熱的溫度。祝你好運(yùn)。

The furthest that humans have ever dug into the Earth is at the Kola Superdeep Borehole, a 7.5 mile-deep drill hole in northwestern Russia. That's deep, but it still doesn't come close to cracking the Earth's thin continental crust.

人類在地球上挖得最遠(yuǎn)的地方是科拉超深鉆孔，這是俄羅斯西北部一個(gè)7.5英里深的鉆孔。那是很深的，但它還沒(méi)有接近于開(kāi)裂地球薄的大陸地殼。

None of this is any reason to discourage the effort, however. There's also no reason you have to dig a hole straight down. With some clever planning, you could dig a hole that twists and turns and ends up somewhere else other than your antipode. So it's still possible to dig a hole to China from North America, if that's where you want to go. You just need to map out a more complicated route.

然而，所有這些都不能成為阻止這一努力的理由。你也沒(méi)有理由要直接挖一個(gè)洞下去。通過(guò)一些聰明的計(jì)劃，你可以挖一個(gè)迂回曲折的洞，最終到達(dá)另一個(gè)地方，而不是你的對(duì)跖。所以，如果你想去中國(guó)，從北美挖個(gè)洞到中國(guó)還是有可能的。你只需要畫(huà)一條更復(fù)雜的路線。