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If you're a child of the 1980's or earlier, or just an avid movie watcher then there's a great possibility that you have a some-what irrational fear of sinking it a pit of quicksand.
如果你是在20世纪80年代或更早出生的孩子，或者只是一个狂热的电影迷，那么很有可能你有一种非理性的恐惧，害怕陷入流沙陷阱。
For years quicksand has been a common catastrophe for characters in film and television
多年来，流沙陷阱一直是电影和电视中的角色会遭遇的共同灾难，
such as The Princess Bride, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and I Love Lucy.
如《绿野芳踪》，《夺宝奇兵》、《水晶骷髅》，还有《我爱露西》。
While this gag may provide any city dweller with some exoctic tension,
虽然这个噱头可能会给任何城市居民带来一些异乎寻常的紧张气氛，
is quicksand actually a crisis we should prepare for?
但流沙真的是我们应该准备会面临的危机吗？
Today on The Infographics Show we'll uncover the dangers of quicksand
在今天的节目中，我们将揭示流沙的危险，
and the best ways to escape if you ever find yourself in that slippery situation.
以及如果你陷入这种情况时，逃脱的最好方法。
Unfortunately for some adventure lovers very few of these movies and TV examples can actually stand up against scientific scrutiny.
不幸的是，对于一些喜欢冒险的人来说，这些电影和电视中很少有能真正经得起科学推敲的例子。
It is common to see a scene with a character panicked, thrashing, screaming and sinking often times drowning,
常见的场景是角色惊慌失措、殴打、尖叫和下沉，经常还会下沉，
completely submerged by the muddy ground, like in the case of Sheriff Denver Kid in the 1978 Western "Hot Lead and Cold Feet",
完全沉入泥泞的地面，就像1978年西部电影《现世报》中的丹佛警长基德一样，
where only his hat remained on the surface.
只有他的帽子留在地面上。
If there are so many on-screen portrayals of death or near death experiences by quicksand,
如果在荧屏上有那么多由于流沙造成的死亡或濒死体验，
why are there so few actual cases of people meeting their demise this way?
那么为什么很少有人以这种方式死去呢？
Mostly because Hollywood has it wrong, let's break down why this commonality in movies has duped the public perception of quicksand
主要是因为好莱坞搞错了，让我们来分析一下为什么电影会欺骗公众对流沙的认知，
and what the real-life dangers of quicksand actually are.
以及流沙在现实生活中究竟存在哪些危险。
Quicksand is often found on riverbanks, near lakes, marshes or near coastal areas.
流沙通常出现在河岸、湖泊、沼泽或沿海地区附近。
It happens when two phases of matter, liquid and solid, meet.
它发生在物质的两相，即液体和固体，相遇时。
It can be a mixture of sand and water, silt and water, clay and water, sediment and water, or even sand and air.
它可以是沙子和水，淤泥和水，粘土和水，泥沙和水，甚至沙子和空气的混合物。
It is caused by the sand having more space between particles than in dry sand.
这是由于沙粒之间的空隙比干沙大。
This is why if you try to build a sand castle when your sand is too wet, you end up with a muddy lump, rather than a standing structure.
这就是为什么如果你试图在沙子太湿的时候建造沙堡，就会只有一个泥泞的土块，而不是一个直立的结构。
One of the leading scientists on understanding quicksand, Daniel Bonn of the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands
荷兰阿姆斯特丹大学的丹尼尔·波恩是研究流沙的顶尖科学家之一，
explains that quicksand is a non-Newtonian fluid,
他解释说流沙是一种非牛顿流体，
which means any amount of stress causes its viscosity to quickly drop, or in other words it's resistance to flow is lowered.
这意味着任何的应力都会导致它的粘度迅速下降，换句话说，它的流动阻力会降低。
While it may look solid, once the weight like a human or animal disturbs it,
虽然它看起来是固体，但一旦人或动物的重量干扰了它，
this allows for more liquid to flow in, diminishing friction, and then loses it's ability to act as a solid, which is why you sink.
就会有更多的液体流入，减少摩擦，然后失去作为固体的能力，这就是导致下沉的原因。
When limbs are moved underneath the surface, the movement creates a vacuum pressure which sinks you deeper,
当四肢在地面下移动时，会产生真空压力，使你陷得更深，
and requires a lot more effort to move through.
需要更多的努力才能移动。
This vacuum effect is something you may have experienced when stepping into certain consistencies of mud that pulls your shoe off.
这种真空效应是当你踏进某种稠度的泥中，把鞋子脱下来时可能会遇到的情况。
While you might be scared if you find yourself suddenly sinking into the earth - don't panic too hard.
当你发现自己突然沉入地下时，你可能会感到害怕，但不要过于惊慌。
Continued movement, like flailing or "swimming" keeps the mixture more like a liquid, causing you to sink.
持续移动，如挥舞或“游泳”，使混合物更像液体，导致你会下沉。
When you stop flailing, and start saying your final goodbyes, crying, or screaming you may realize you've actually stopped sinking.
当你停止挥舞，开始最后的道别，哭泣，或尖叫，你可能会意识到你实际上已经停止下沉。
This is all due to basic physics, the average human has a density of about 1 gram per milliliter,
这都是源于基础的物理学，一般人的密度约为每毫升1克，
while the average density of quicksand is about 2 grams per milliliter, so you'd only sink half way even if you did everything wrong.
而流沙的平均密度约为每毫升2克，所以即使你都错了，也只会沉到一半。
This is because your legs are quite dense, but the lungs in your torso are buoyant enough to keep you out of serious trouble.
这是因为你的双腿相当密集，但你躯干的肺有足够的浮力让你远离严重的麻烦。
This means that the Hollywood depiction of people getting sucked into quicksand
这意味着好莱坞关于人们被吸入流沙
and "drowning" is actually impossible, at no point would the quicksand reach above your head.
和“沉溺”的描述实际上是不可能的，流沙决不会到达你的头顶。
What a relief!
真是松了一口气！
But not really...
但这不是真的......
If you find yourself stuck it is no easy feat to free yourself from the insane pressure underneath the surface.
如果你发现自己被困住了，要从地表危险的压力中解脱出来可不是一件容易的事。
There have been cases of quicksand deaths but it's never as fast as the movies portray.
有流沙致死的案例，但它从来没有电影描绘的那么快。
Usually deaths occur from exhaustion, sun exposure,
通常死亡是由于精疲力竭，阳光暴晒，
or if you're in the unfortunate situation of being stuck near the ocean where the high tide will likely kill you, and then sweep you away.
或者如果你不幸被困在海洋附近，在那里涨潮时可能会杀死你，然后把你卷走。
