Faits scientifiques: vrai ou faux?

26 Mai 2014 , Rédigé par Laurence B Publié dans #Sciences

John McNally's top 10 true or false science facts

Does a Polo mint* really light up* when broken in half? Sometimes truth* is stranger than fiction… here are 10 of the best crazy science "facts" – see if you can tell the true from false!

a polo mint = un Mentos

To light up = s’allumer, s’éclairer

The truth = la vérité

Ceci est tiré d’un livre de science fiction ( Infinity Drake and the Sons of Scarlatti de John Mac Nally ) qui met en scène un scientifique et son neveu de 12 ans, Finn, à travers une série d’aventures utilisant des affirmations scientifiques.

True or false:
1. Each of us* is made up of 7 octillion atoms (7 followed 27 zeros) that are mostly* empty space. If you could squeeze* all the empty space out of those atoms, you could reduce the entire human race to the size of a sugar lump*.
each of us = chacun de nous

mostly = pour la plupart

to squeeze = presser, serrer, réduire

a sugar lump = un morceau de sucre

True. Look at this diagram of a hydrogen atom. Notice the distance between the nucleus and the electron. At true scale* this distance is enormous. If you imagine the nucleus as a pea* in the middle of a football stadium, then the electron would be a gnat* whizzing* around the very edge* of the top row of seats*.
If you could bring the gnat right up close to the pea and eliminate all the empty space in between, then you could reduce humanity to the size of a sugar lump.
In the book Finn's mad scientist Uncle Al builds a machine that can squash out some of this empty space, reducing Finn and a bunch of soldiers to 150th of their actual size.

At true scale = à l'échelle réelle

a pea = un petit pois

a gnat = un moucheron

to whiz/ whizz = passer à toute vitesse

the very edge = tout au bord

the top row of seats = de la rangée du haut

True or false:
2. You can take an insect, turn it into a bullet* (une balle, un projectile) and fire it out of a gun.

a bullet = une balle, un projectile

False. It would vaporise and there'd be* bits of* legs and guts* everywhere. It might make your enemy go "Ur..*" but it wouldn't kill them. Although you can weaponise* an insect and turn it into a killing machine in its own right.
In World War Two the Japanese dropped infected fleas* over China to spread cholera, killing nearly half a million people. During the Cold War each side developed horrific insect killing machines - hybrid fleas, mosquitoes* and other insects that would carry* and spread diseases* and other lethal* biological or nerve agents*. The plan was to drop* them over enemy cities or armies.
In the book, the Scarlatti Wasp* was developed during research into just such a program, but the project was shelved* because it was so horrific. And then someone released* it ...

there'd be = there would be = il y aurait

bits of = des morceaux de

guts = des boyaux

"Ur..." = onomatopée exprimant le dégoût

to weaponise = transformer en arme

a flea = une puce

to spread = répandre

a mosquitoe = un moustique

to carry = porter

a disease = une maladie

lethal = mortel, fatal

a nerve agent = une substance neurotoxique

to drop = faire tomber

a wasp = une guêpe

to shelve = mettre en suspens

to release = libérer

True or false:
3. Our sense of smell* works, not chemically by scent molecules locking* onto receptors in the nose, but by quantum vibration, whereby* smells wobble* some strange bit of our noses in a way we don't really understand.

smell = l'odorat

to lock = fermer, bloquer

whereby = par lesquels

to wobble = trembler, vaciller, avoir du jeu

True. Possibly. For many years medical science has assumed smell is a chemical process. Some scientists now think that scent molecules wobble about in such a way* they emit an electron that can be picked up* by smell receptors in the nose. In part it could explain the fantastic sense of smell some animals and insects have. Bloodhounds* have a sense of smell 10 to 100 million times more powerful than a human's. A silkworm* can smell a mate* seven miles away.
In my book the Scarlatti wasps can pick up each other's scent over tens of miles.

in such a way = d'une telle manière

to pick up = (ici) reprendre, continuer

bloodhounds = des chiens de chasse, des limiers

a silkworm = un ver à soie

a mate = un collègue

True or false:
4. There are 14 million insects on earth for every single human being, or in other words 14 million insects that can be apportioned* to you personally. Call them your own private army.

to apportion ... to... = assigner... à ...

False. In fact there are at least* 140 million insects per person. Do the math*. The number of insects in existence is thought to be 10 to the power of 18 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000; the global human population is thought to be 7,100,000,000: making a neat 142,857,142.86 per head. Let's just hope they never turn on* us ...
In my book Finn collects just a tiny (minuscule) fraction of his share, which seems fair enough. If you go to his website he'll show you how to set up a lamp trap and start a collection of your own.

at least = au moins

do the math = faites le calcul!

to turn on someone = attaquer, s'en prendre à

True or false:
5. Niels Bohr – the father of sub-atomic physics and a true genius of the 20th century and possibly the brainiest man ever to walk the planet – used to be a footballer.

True. He used to play in goal for the Danish side Akademisk Boldklub, and his brother played in mid-field* (was so good in fact he played for Denmark). Everybody in Denmark loved Niels, he was brainy*, personable*, an all-round* super star and national hero. So much so the Danish brewer* Carlsberg built him a house and gifted* him a lifetime supply of free beer*. Hic.
If it weren't* for him, Uncle Al would never have been able to build the Boldklub Accelerator which reduces the size of atoms.
Other notable if unlikely* goalkeepers include Albert Camus (French existential novelist), Pope John-Paul 2nd (last Pope but one*), Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) and Che Guevara (Cuban revolutionary).

to play in mid-field = jouer milieu de terrain

brainy = intelligent, doué

personable = bien de sa personne

all-round = complet

a brewer = un brasseur (de bière)

to gift = donner

a lifetime supply of free beer = un approvisionnement à vie de bière gratuite

If it weren't : après IF on utilise were et non was avec I et he, she, it
Ex : if I were rich,...

unlikely = improbable, inattendu

last but one = avant-dernier

True or false:
6. Polo mints possess a quality called "triboluminescence" which means they will light up when snapped* in half.

to snap = casser net ou avec un bruit sec

True. Find a very dark* place and snap or crush* a Polo mint and it will release a tiny* flash of light*. It is thought* this is caused by the electrons trapped* in the crystalline structure of the sugars being released suddenly and violently: they rush about* to find a new place to go – hence* the glow*.
The same can be observed when opening a strip of sellotape* along the line where the adhesive bond* is being unbroken. Also it's a property of certain minerals.
In the book Finn wears round his neck a piece of the mineral sphalerite which belonged to his father, then his mother, and which passed on to him* after her death. It will glow simply by being scratched* and he likes to keep it next to his heart.

dark = sombre

to crush = écraser, broyer

tiny = minuscule

a flash of light = une étincelle

it is thought = (voix passive) on pense que

trapped = enfermé

to rush about = courir ça et là

hence = d'où

a glow = éclat, lueur

sellotape = ruban adhésif

adhesive bond = adhérence, liaison

which passed on to him = dont il a hérité

to scratch ) griffer, rayer, gratter

True or false:
7. Trees blow up* when lightning* strikes*.

to blow up = exploser, sauter

lightning = éclair d'orage

to strike = frapper, toucher

True. The water inside them instantly boils* and expands blowing most of the tree to smithereens* (faire voler en éclats/ en mille morceaux). This isn't in the book, I just love it as a fact.

to boil = bouillir

to blow to smithereens = faire voler en éclats, briser en mille morceaux

True or false:
8. Great White Sharks* are more deadly* than mosquitoes.

a shark = un requin

deadly = mortel

False. Bite for bite*, sure the shark is nastier*, but in terms of slaughter* there's no comparison. Mosquito bites – which spread diseases like malaria – kill an estimated one million people per year – mostly children under five – while* less than six are killed by shark bites. In fact hippos*, deers*, bees*, dogs, ants*, jellyfish*, cows, horses, spiders and snakes are all more likely to kill you than a shark. But then who wants to see a horror movie call Moo*?
So don't be concerned that a few insects get wasted* in the book. There's a lot of machine gun blood and guts action against spiders, ants – wasps* certainly – very few of which are innocent.

a bite = une morsure

nasty = méchant

a slaughter = un massacre

while = alors que

hippos = hippopotames

a deer = un cerf, une biche

a bee = une abeille

an ant = une fourmi

a jellyfish = une méduse

moo = meuh!

to get wasted = être malmené/ sacrifié

a wasp = une guêpe

True or false:
9. Pigs can be killed, near frozen* and brought back to life*.

near frozen = presque congelé

brought back to life = ramené à la vie

True. Scientists have anesthetised pigs, drained* their blood, nearly frozen them (getting down to 10°C), then reversed the process and brought them successfully back to life with an electric shock*. They don't technically die*, they are kept* in a state of suspended animation*.
Many insect species (with the right type of blood) can be kept at a temperature of -10°C (se lit “minus ten degrees”) for very long periods and still come back to life. The larvae of one type of midge* can be kept in liquid nitrogen at temperature of -200C for three days and still pop up* as good as new*.
The Scarlatti wasp is kept on ice in a state of suspended animation for many years before being brought back to life.

to drain = vider, drainer

an electric shock = un électrochoc, une décharge électrique

to die = mourir

They are kept : voix passive = on les garde

to be in a state of suspended animation = ne donner aucun signe de vie

a midge = un moucheron

to pop up = surgir

as good as new = à l'état neuf

True or false:
10. If aliens on a planet 65 million light years (années lumière) away are looking at us right now, all they'll see are dinosaurs.

light year = année lumière

True. When you look out into space you're not just seeing a place, you're also seeing a time – the time it's taken* the light to travel to you.
The universe is both* very much smaller and much larger than we tend to think. A light year is the distance travelled by light in the course of a year*. Or 5.88 trillion miles. So 5.88 trillion times 65 million makes… a lot.
Indeed the total size of the observable universe is 46 billion light years – and that may be only the start of it. It may be infinite, and one of an infinite number of parallel universes…
What's out there? God? Aliens? More science?
Such thoughts make my brain ache*, but here's another thought* to bear in mind across the Infinity Drake series.
Finn's father, Ethan Drake, went missing* during an experiment into this kind of thing. Nobody knows how it happened, and nobody knows where he is. But maybe, somehow*, somewhere out there*… there is an answer. Keep reading*!

it's taken = it has taken

both = les deux, à la fois

in the course of a year = en l'espace d'une année

{they} make my brain ache = me font mal au crâne

a thought = une pensée

to bear in mind = à prendre en compte

to go missing = être porté disparu

somehow = d'une manière ou d'une autre

somewhere out there = quelque part par ici ou par là

keep reading = continuez à lire!

Tout ce qui concerne le livre est en italique.

John Mac Nally