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万万没想到!七个让你惊呼“厉害了”的冷知识

2017-10-04来源:和谐英语

Sitting too close to the TV won't harm your eyes more
坐得离电视太近更伤眼睛?多虑啦!

While watching a lot of TV can cause eye fatigue and potentially harm your vision, sitting too close doesn't make much of a difference, if any. However, this myth was true back before the 1950s, when companies made televisions that emitted dangerous levels of radiation...up to 100,000 times more than what federal officials deemed safe.
虽然整天沉迷电视确实会导致眼疲劳并且可能损伤你的视力,但坐得离电视近一点并不会对眼睛危害更大。但是,这个在江湖上的传说在20世纪50年代之前的确是真的,因为当时生产的电视机会放射出大量危险级别的辐射——远比美国联邦官员们所声称的安全放射量高出10万倍。

There's no such thing as an alpha wolf
头狼??不存在的~

A wildlife biologist by the name of L. David Mech published a book based on his observations of wolves in the wild. In it, he mentioned that he noticed "alpha wolves" leading small packs, and the popularity of the book made that term a common one. However, what Mech observed was actually just wolf parents and their grown cubs, so the concept of an "alpha wolf" as we know it is almost entirely wrong. Mech has tried to take his book out of print, and even wrote a paper correcting it.
野生动物学家L. David Mech曾经在观察野狼的基础上出过一本书。在书中,他提到每一支狼小队都由一两只“头狼”引导着。这一说法随着这本书的大卖而火了。但事实上,Mech观察到的只是带着它们的幼崽的狼父母而已,所以我们所知道的“头狼”的概念几乎是完全不存在的。意识到了自己误导后的Mech曾试图停止翻印书籍,甚至写了一篇论文来进行纠错。

Doing sit-ups doesn't burn stomach fat
帮你减掉肚子上的赘肉?仰卧起坐:“臣妾做不到啊!”

Many people think that stomach exercises will help burn off stomach fat, but all it does is strengthen your abdominal muscles. In order to burn off fat, you have to do some form of exercise and healthy eating. And no, there's no way to specifically target belly fat before other areas of your body.
许多人以为腰腹锻炼可以燃烧掉肚子上的脂肪,实际上,它们只是锻炼了你的腹肌而已。如果想要减脂的话,你得将锻炼和健康饮食搭配着来。而且,并没有办法让你肚子上的脂肪比你身体其他部位的先减掉哦!

The forbidden fruit in the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible is never mentioned to be an apple
谁说亚当和夏娃偷吃的禁果是苹果了?《圣经》不背这口锅!

The book of Genesis mentions that the fruit came from a tree, but it doesn't say what kind of fruit, or what kind of tree. Apples started being associated with the story around the 12th century, possibly because of a Latin pun wherein the word "malus" means both "apple" and "evil."
《创世纪》中提到这个水果是从一棵树上采下来的,但从来没有说过这是一个什么果、什么树。苹果是12世纪左右才掺和进来的,可能是因为在一个拉丁文双关语里面,"malus"同时具有“苹果”和“邪恶”的意思吧!

(提到苹果,貌似砸中牛顿的那只苹果也有待继续考证哦)

Lemmings don't run off cliffs
愚蠢的人类想多了,旅鼠并不会成群结队跳下悬崖

你们小时候有没有这样一个神秘而有着悲壮色彩的故事?旅鼠的种群数量一旦大于某个临界值,其中的一部分就会像受到了某种召唤一样,自动集结起来浩浩荡荡地开始一次大迁徙,直到来到一处悬崖边统统跳下去被团灭!

The myth about lemmings committing suicide by running off cliffs came about from the 1950s nature documentary White Wilderness, produced by Disney. The filmmakers faked the scene in question (and allegedly actually threw lemmings off a cliff) in order to make it seem like they were willfully committing suicide.
关于旅鼠自杀的神秘传说来源于20世纪50年代迪士尼拍摄的一部自然纪录片《白色旷野》。影片拍摄者们伪造了现场(据说他们确实把旅鼠扔下了悬崖)来让画面看起来像是旅鼠们自主结束了自己的生命。

Carrots aren't better for your eyesight than any other vegetable with beta carotene
胡萝卜有益于你的视力是因为其中含有β-胡萝卜素,但它的效果并没有比其他含有β-胡萝卜素的食物更好

If you listened to your mom, you would think that carrots give you superpowered vision or something. The truth is that carrots contain beta carotene, which helps your body produce vitamin A, which does nourish your eyes. But there are plenty of other foods (such as sweet potatoes or goat liver) that also contain beta carotene, and vitamin A only helps keep your eyes healthy, not make them superhuman.
如果你听妈妈的话,你或许会觉得吃胡萝卜会带给你如鹰眼般的超能力。事实是,胡萝卜含有能帮助你的身体更好地吸收维他命A的β-胡萝卜素,它们确实滋养了你的眼睛。但是除此之外还有许多食物都含有β-胡萝卜素(比如甘薯,和羊肝),而且维他命A只会让你的眼睛更健康,而不是真的就让你变成鹰眼。

The Great Wall of China is not the only man-made object visible from space; in fact, it's barely visible at all
从外太空望向地球,长城并不是唯一能够看见的人造建筑。事实上,它压根儿就看不见啊!

If you're in a very low orbit and you use some kind of scope or zoom in with a camera, then sure, you can probably just barely make out the Great Wall from space. But you could also see the Great Pyramid or a bunch of other large structures, too...and seeing any of them from a higher orbit with the naked eye is probably impossible.
假如你飞在一个比较低的轨道上,装备某种望远镜或者用相机放大,那么你确实可能勉模模糊糊地从外太空分辨出长城。但是与此同时,你也能看见埃及金字塔和一帮其它的大型建筑……当你飞到更高的轨道上之后,这些东西就在裸眼视界里完全消失了。