从你的脚下挖洞，穿过地心，会到达地球另一端的什么地方？你是否也想过这个问题？

世界各地的孩子都知道，如果他们能在地球上挖一个足够长的地洞，就能到达另一个国家。英国的孩子们认为自己会挖到澳大利亚，美国的孩子则觉得自己会挖到中国。但是，真的是这样吗？

有人研发了一张互动对跖地图，地图显示，世界上人口最稠密区的对跖点在海洋里。在这张互动对跖地图上，你可以找到地球上任意一点的对跖点位置。

名词解释：

对跖点（antipodes）：位于地球直径两端的点互为对跖点，在地球两端遥遥相望，时差12小时。两点季节恰好相反，两点之间的距离两万公里，等于地球半圆周长。

The Chinese are among the relative minority of countries who would strike land if they were to undertake this enterprise, according to the website. 
该网站显示，中国是为数不多的对跖点在陆地的国家。

Digging a hole from the centre of Beijing, you would emerge in Rio Negro, near Bahia Blanca in Argentina. 
如果从北京的中心挖一个洞，你会出现在阿根廷布兰卡港附近的里奥内格罗。

Other major or capital cities that are close to being antipodes include Auckland, New Zealand, and Seville and Malaga in Spain. 
也有不少主要城市或者首都几乎互为对跖点，比如新西兰奥克兰的对跖点大致是西班牙的塞维利亚以及马拉加。

Exact antipodes include Ulan Ude in Russia and Puerto Natales in Chile. 
完全互为对跖点的是俄罗斯的乌兰乌德和智力的纳塔莱斯。

The two largest inhabited antipodal areas are located in East Asia, in China and Mongolia, and South America, in Argentina and Chile. 
最大的两块人居对跖区域是东亚的中国和蒙古，以及南美的阿根廷和智利。

'The Australian mainland is the largest landmass with its antipodes entirely in ocean,' the Antipodes website writes.
对跖点网站上写道：“澳大利亚大陆是对跖点完全在海洋里的最大陆地块。”

'The majority of locations on land do not have land-based antipodes.' 
“绝大多数陆地连小岛都对不上。”

The largest antipodal land masses are the Malay Archipelago, which is opposite the Amazon Basin and adjoining Andean ranges. 
拥有最多陆地对跖区域的陆地为马来群岛，其对跖点是亚马逊流域及其附近的安第斯山脉。

Given that the surface of the earth is around 71 percent water, it's probably unsurprising that the chances of hitting land are relatively low. 
不过考虑到地球表面71%都是水，那么陆地的对跖点是陆地的情况出现几率之小也就不足为奇了。

An American digging a hole from Times Square in New York would end up in the ocean off the coast of Australia. 
如果一个美国人从纽约时代广场开始挖洞，他会挖到澳大利亚海岸周边的海域。

Brits wouldn't fare much better, with a tunnel dug from under the Houses of Parliament finishing up off the coast of New Zealand. 
换做英国人也是半斤八两，因为英国国会大厦的对跖点是新西兰海岸。

Japanese tunnel diggers starting in Tokyo would surface off the coast of Uruguay. 
日本人从东京开始挖洞会挖到乌拉圭海边。

And Russians digging from Moscow would find themselves in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. 
而俄罗斯人若在莫斯科挖洞，最后他们会发现自己挖到了太平洋中心。

There are no non-stop scheduled flights between any two antipodal locations by commercial airline service. 
但目前，这些对跖点间都没有直达的民航定期航班。

But a hypothetically perfect antipode flight would be Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport, Morocco to Whangarei Aerodrome, New Zealand, a flight of approximately 20,000km. 
不过理想中的航线是从摩洛哥的丹吉尔机场飞至新西兰的旺阿雷机场，全程约20000公里。

The North and South pole are, by definition, antipodes. 
南北两极倒是标准定义上的对跖点。

Scientists have previously calculated the journey time, were tunnel diggers to make it all the way through the Earth's core and out to the other side. 
科学家此前曾计算从地表的一点，穿过地心，到达地球另一端的时间。

Research has previously found that it would take a person 38 minutes to fall from one side of the planet to the other. 
此前的研究表明，一个人用38分钟就能从地球的一边掉到另一边。

文章来源：中国日报网