如果你在世界的另一边挖一个洞，你会到达哪里

这张地图显示了如果你在世界的另一边挖一个洞，你会到达哪里

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.

这是一个常见的童年幻想:如果你在世界的另一边挖一个洞，你会到达哪里?美国的父母习惯于告诉他们的孩子，他们最终会在中国定居，但事实远非如此。地球是一个球体，所以如果你在北半球开始挖洞，那么你就必须在南半球结束挖洞。中国很遥远，但它也在北半球。所以，如果你是从美国挖的，那么中国可以从一开始就被排除在外。

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.

幸运的是，现在有一个简单的工具，具有科学头脑的父母可以使用，它可以给他们的好奇和勤奋挖掘的孩子一个更准确的答案:对映地图。输入你的位置，它会告诉你在世界的另一边是什么。这个通过数据交互的地图也会给你一个很棒的想法。

"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."

“我认为对极是非常有趣的，因为尽管我们在智力上知道地球是一个大的圆球，但在日常生活中却感觉不到，”这位从事引人入胜的数据研究的科学家和工程师表示。“想想地球上离你所在位置最远的对跖点，这会让它更真实一些。”

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，对于来自北美任何地方的孩子们来说，除了遥远的北纬地区，还有一些坏消息。你最终会正好落在印度洋的中央。事实上，与陆地相比，地球被海洋覆盖得太广了，所以无论你从哪里开始挖掘，你都很有可能发现自己在大洋的另一边。

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.

不过也有一些例外。如果你下定决心要进军中国，你可以从阿根廷开始。新西兰人可以挖到西班牙，而印尼人会发现自己身处亚马逊雨林。你也可以从格陵兰岛挖到南极洲，但对大多数其他地方来说，你的对跖是海洋。

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.

当然，如果你真的想和你的孩子进行科学研究，那么到地球的另一边去挖掘几乎是不可能的。即使这是可能的，你也必须穿过比太阳表面还要热的温度。祝你好运。

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.

人类在地球上挖得最远的地方是科拉超深钻孔，这是俄罗斯西北部一个7.5英里深的钻孔。那是很深的，但它还没有接近于开裂地球薄的大陆地壳。

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，所有这些都不能成为阻止这一努力的理由。你也没有理由要直接挖一个洞下去。通过一些聪明的计划，你可以挖一个迂回曲折的洞，最终到达另一个地方，而不是你的对跖。所以，如果你想去中国，从北美挖个洞到中国还是有可能的。你只需要画一条更复杂的路线。