《那些古怪又讓人憂心的問題》第143期:中子子彈(7)
Thanks to the water, you're able to wave your hand around the bullet without any difficulty! The bullet is pulling you toward it, but it's pulling the water just as hard. Water (like meat) is virtually incompressible, even at these pressures, so nothing critical gets crushed.
However, you may not quite be able to touch the bullet. When your fingers get a few millimeters away, the powerful gravity means that buoyancy plays a gigantic role. If your hand is slightly less dense than the water, it won't be able to penetrate that last millimeter. If it's slightly more dense, it will be sucked down.
然而即使這樣你還是不太能“摸”子彈。當你的手指頭離子彈只有幾毫米時，強大的引力意味着浮力在發揮關鍵作用。如果你的手密度比水的略小，那麼你就沒法用手穿透最後那幾毫米。如果你的手的密度比水略大，那就會被直接牢牢吸到子彈表面。This is where the vodka and salt come in. If you find the bullet tugging on your fingertips as you reach in, it means your fingers aren't buoyant enough. Mix in some salt to make the water denser. If you find your fingertips sliding on an invisible surface at the edge of the bullet, make the water less dense by adding vodka.
這時候就該用上鹽和伏特加了。如果你感覺當你伸手靠近時子彈在拉你的手，這意味着你的手受到的浮力還不夠大。倒入一點鹽可以讓水的密度變大。如果你發現手指頭只能沿着子彈表面一層看不見的屏障移動，那麼你就需要倒入一些伏特加把水稀釋。
If you got the balance just right, you could touch the bullet and live to tell about it.
如果你能恰到好處地掌握平衡，你就能真切地摸到子彈，並活着向別人講述這個故事。Maybe.
也許吧。Alternative plan
另一種方法Sound too risky to you? No problem. This whole plan-the bullet, the water, the salt, the vodka-doubles as instructions for making the most difficult mixed drink in the history of beverages: the Neutron Star.
上面那種方法聽上去還是太過冒險？沒問題，這整個計劃——子彈、水、鹽、伏特加——還能兼職充當指南，告訴你如何調配飲料界有史以來最難製作的雞尾酒：中子之星。So grab a straw and take a drink.
所以，找一根吸管來開始喝吧。. . . and remember: If someone drops a cherry into your Neutron Star, and it sinks to the bottom, don't try to fish it out. It's gone.
……同時記住：如果有人朝你的中子星飲料裏扔了一顆櫻桃，而它沉到了底部，那麼不要試圖把它再拿出來。它永遠都出不來了。1 The Pauli exclusion principle keeps electrons from getting too close to each other. This effect is one of the main reasons that your laptop doesn't fall through your lap.
1． 泡利不相容原理限制了電子之間不能過於靠近，這個效應也是爲什麼筆記本電腦不會穿透你的膝蓋掉到地上的主要原因之一。2 It's possible there's a category of objects heavier than neutron stars - but not quite heavy enough to become black holes - called “strange stars.”
2． 可能有些物體比中子星更重，但還沒有重到能夠成爲黑洞，它們被稱爲“奇異星”。3 A magical, unbreakable gun that you could hold without your arm being torn off. Don't worry, that part comes later!
3． 要一把神奇的金身不破的手槍，可以拿着而不會把你的胳膊扯下來。別擔心，掉胳膊什麼的後面纔會講到！4 . . . unless Kyp Durron uses the Force to drag it back up.
4． 除非凱普•度隆（《星球大戰》中角色）用原力把它挖出來。5 When you pull your arm out, watch for symptoms of decompression sickness due to nitrogen bubbles in the blood vessels in your hand.
5． 當你把胳膊從水裏拉出來的時候，小心由於血液中的氮氣氣泡而產生的減壓症。WEIRD (AND WORRYING) QUESTIONS FROM THE WHAT IF? INBOX, #12
那些古怪而又讓人憂心的問題合集十二Q. What if I swallow a tick that has Lyme disease? Will my stomach acid kill the tick and the borreliosis, or would I get Lyme disease from the inside out?
Q．如果我吞下一隻攜帶萊姆病病毒的蝨子會怎麼樣？胃酸能夠殺死蝨子和萊姆病毒嗎？還是說我會從內到外染上萊姆病？——Christopher Vogel
——克里斯托弗•福格爾Q. Assuming a relatively uniform resonant frequency in a passenger jet, how many cats, meowing at what resonant frequency of said jet, would be required to “bring it down”?
Q．假設一架客機的共振頻率相對恆定，那麼需要多少隻貓咪以什麼頻率一起喵喵叫才能使這架飛機墜毀呢？——Brittany
——布里塔妮
