1、地球自转致使南半球水流旋涡呈逆时针旋转

抽水马桶冲水时，水流会产生一个旋涡流下排水空。有理论称，在北半球，水流旋涡是朝顺时针方向的；而在南半球，则是逆时针旋转的。而之所以出现这种现象，是由于地球自转的缘故。

其实，地球自转的作用很微弱，因此难以影响水流动的方向。你可以在一些盥洗室中轻易地验证这一点，无论是逆时针还是顺时针，水流旋涡的方向取决于水槽的结构，而非南北半球。

Water drains backwards in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Earth's rotation Not only is the Earth's rotation too weak to affect the direction of water flowing in a drain, tests you can easily perform in a few washrooms will show that water whirlpools both ways depending on the sink's structure, not the hemisphere.

2、鸡没有脑袋也能存活

正确！而且鸡在被"斩首"之后绝不只是能"苟延残喘"几分钟而已。事实证明，曾有一只精力充沛的家伙在被斩首后，居然摇摇摆摆、跌跌撞撞地活了整整18个月！鸡没有脑袋也能存活的秘密就在于，被砍头后，鸡的脑干通常会有一部分保存完整，而它可以控制鸡的大部分条件反射。

Chickens can live without a head

True, and not just for a few minutes. A chicken can stagger around without its noggin because the brain stem, often left partiallyintact after a beheading, controls most of its reflexes. One robust fellow lived a full eighteen months. Likely he was a real birdbrain, however.

3、人类的大脑只开发了十分之一

这一被媒体广泛关注的理论已至少存在了1个世纪。但幸运的是，这个理论并不正确。核磁共振图象明确地显示出，即使是在打瞌睡的时候，人们都很好地利用了其大部分的大脑皮层，人脑并没有被荒废。

Humans use only 10 percent of their brains

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

4、太空无重力

这是个普遍的误解，事实上重力无处不在，即使在太空也是如此。宇航员之所以看起来无重力是由于他们处于向地球的持续下落中，而保持高高在上则是由于他们的水平运动所致。重力的影响会随远离而减小，但它绝不会真正地消失殆尽。

There is no gravity in space

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 horizontalmotion. The effect of gravity diminishes with distance, but it never truly goes away.

5、高处落下的一分硬币可致人死亡

从高处落下的一分硬币并非最能体现空气动力学的武器。将硬币的形状和下落时的空气摩擦力结合起来考虑，即使从1250英尺（约合375米）高的纽约帝国大厦上扔下一枚硬币，它所带来的快速冲击力仅仅是让一个不幸的过路者感到一阵刺痛而已。

A penny dropped from the top of a tall building could kill a pedestrian

A penny isn't the most aerodynamic of weapons. A combination of its shape and wind friction means that, tossed even from the 1,250-foot Empire State Building, it would travel fast enough merely to sting an unluckypedestrian.

（国际在线独家资讯 王高山）

本稿件为国际在线专稿，媒体转载请注明稿件来源和译者姓名。