Spotlight - 13.2019

13/2019 Spotlight 7

AUSTRALIA

Flu fluke?

MEDIUM

Why do some people who catch
the flu end up in intensive care?
A researcher in Australia has found a clue:
a certain type of cell may overreact to in-
fluenza in what is otherwise a healthy
part of the population.
Associate Professor Benjamin Tang
at Nepean Hospital in Kingswood, New
South Wales, reports that immune cells
called “neutrophils” may be one cause of
the flu becoming dangerous for some.
Tang, an intensive-care specialist, told
The Sydney Morning Herald: “[The neutro-
phils] start causing lots of collateral dam-
age. They do so in huge numbers and in
[such] a way that the body cannot cope,
and things start to deteriorate.”
Tang arrived at this finding after a 10-
year study of blood samples collected
from emergency-room patients around
the world. Professor Stephen Turner, an
influenza expert at Monash University
in Melbourne, said Tang’s research was
“solid”, adding that more studies are need-
ed to see whether neutrophils are in fact
causing the worst complications, or if the
overreaction comes from the nature of
the illness itself.

NEW ZEALAND

A parrot

surprise

ADVANCED

It stood a metre tall and weighed seven ki-

los: Heracles inexpectatus is the big, flightless

parrot that recently made headlines when

its existence was confirmed by scientists.

The bird was excavated at South Island’s

St Bathans Fauna site with a wealth of fos-

sils about 20 million years old.

The fossil-rich layer is close to the old

mining town of St Bathans in Central

Otago and lies partly exposed along the

Manuherikia River. Fossil research here is

led by Trevor Worthy, a vertebrate palae-

ontologist from New Zealand who works

at Australia’s Flinders University.

As he explained in news.com.au, about 40

species have been found on the site over

the past 20 years. The fossil of the giant

parrot was found about 10 years ago. Only

recently did the parrot come up for study

and was identified as something new. The

researchers named it Heracles, expanding

their already established naming system

inspired by Greek mythology. But the

Latin inexpectatus species name, Worthy

says, “relates to the wholly unexpected

nature of discovering a giant parrot”.

Age: 27

Fr o m : Durban, South Africa

Background: A self-taught opera sing-

er, Mngoma worked as an Uber driver

in Durban and often sang for his pas-

sengers.

Famous because: Earlier this year,

one of his passengers made a video of

him singing “La donna è mobile” by

Giuseppe Verdi, and the video went vi-

ral online.

Since then: Mngoma has recorded his

first single and been invited to perform

at talent shows in South Africa and Los

Angeles.

Quote: He told the BBC, “I’m so excited

with everything that’s happening in my

life right now.”

THE NEWCOMER

Menzi Mngoma EASY

By 2030,

we will pass

the point of

no return

on climate...

If you have

kids, think

of how

old they will

be then.

point of no return [)pOInt Ev nEU ri(t§:n]

, der Punkt, an dem es kein Zurück mehr gibt

blood sample
[(blVd )sA:mp&l]
, Blutprobe

deteriorate
[di(tIEriEreIt]
, sich verschlechtern

flu [flu:]

, Grippe

fluke [flu:k]

, Zufallstreffer

excavate [(ekskEveIt]

, ausgraben

exposed [Ik(spEUzd]

, ausgesetzt, offen

flightless [(flaItlEs]

, flugunfähig

parrot [(pÄrEt]

, Papagei

vertebrate palaeon-

tologist [)v§:tIbrEt

pÄliQn(tQlEdZIst]

, Wirbeltier-

Paläontologe

wealth: a ~ of sth. [welT]

, eine Fülle von etw.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

self-taught [)self (tO:t]

, autodidaktisch

— US Democratic hopeful

Pete Buttigieg, quoted in

The New Yorker magazine