14 News & Topics
14 News & Topics November 1 2022 | World and Press Epaulette sharks able to walk on land CLIMATE CRISIS Carpet shark species can walk for up to two hours, enabling them to survive increasingly hostile environments, researchers say. mit Audiodatei By Richard Luscombe 1 RESEARCHERS at a Florida university say a small but feisty species of carpet shark with an extraordinary ability to walk on land is evolving to better survive warming seas and the climate crisis. The epaulette shark, commonly found on shallow reefs of Australia and New Guinea, can walk for up to 30 meters on dry land using paddle-shaped fins, and survive hypoxia – a deficiency of oxygen – for up to two hours. 2 The Florida Atlantic University (FAU) biologists, and their research partners in Australia, say these remarkable abilities enable the reef-dwelling sharks to survive increasingly hostile environments as conditions change. “Such locomotor traits may not only be key to survival but also may be related to their sustained physiological performance under challenging environmental conditions, including those associated with climate change,” the study, published in the ‘Integrative & Comparative Biology’ journal, An epaulette shark at Cairns Aquarium in Australia. | Photo: David Clode/Unsplash says. “Findings to date suggest that this species has adaptations to tolerate some, but perhaps not all, of the challenging conditions predicted for the 21st century.” 3 Marianne Porter, professor of biomechanics at FAU’s department of biological sciences, said the sharks are able to slow and fast walk, as well as swim, giving them an exceptional ability to cross land to reach more favorable environments that other species did not possess. “You might not think of beautiful, tropical beaches as harsh, but in reality, tidepools and coral reef environments are pretty harsh, subjected to warm temperatures when the tide is out and a lot of changes, a lot of things happening when the tide comes in and goes out,” she said. 4 “These little sharks can move from tidepool to tidepool, allowing them to access new pools to forage for food, or tidepools with better oxygenated water. Our collaborators in Australia have found they are able to withstand climate change conditions very well. These sharks are great models in starting to look at how these changing conditions may affect vertebrates in general, and other species, and can help us reflect what we might see in future oceans.” 5 Epaulettes are not the only shark species known to have ambulatory abilities. In 2013, researchers in Indonesia discovered a species that uses its fins to “walk” along the ocean floor, foraging for small fish and crustaceans. … © 2022 Guardian News and Media Ltd übungsmaterial zum download • Arbeitsblätter • Unterrichtsvorschläge • Kreuzworträtsel • Cartoon-Interpretationen • Audiodateien www.sprachzeitungen.de 0 – 1 EPAULETTE SHARK“Æep´"let‘ Epaulettenhai — carpet shark Teppichhai — hostile “"hÅstaIl‘ lebensfeindlich — feisty “"faIsti‘ robust — to evolve “I"vÅlv‘ s. weiterentwickeln — commonly für gewöhnlich — New Guinea “Ænju… "gIni‘ — paddleshaped paddelförmig — fin Flosse — hypoxia “"haI"pÅksi´‘; deficiency of oxygen “dI"fIS´nsi; "ÅksIdZ´n‘ Sauerstoffmangel 2 remarkable “rI"mA…k´b´l‘ bemerkenswert — …-dwelling in … lebend — locomotor “Æl´Uk´"m´Ut´‘ Bewegungs- — trait Eigenschaft — sustained “s´"steInd‘ beständig — physiological performance “ÆfIzi´"lÅdZIk´l‘ physiologische Leistungsfähigkeit — journal “"dZ‰…n´l‘ Fachzeitschrift — adaptation “Æœd´p"teIS´n‘ Anpassung — to tolerate aushalten können 3 exceptional “Ik"sepS´n´l‘ außergewöhnlich — favorable “"feIv´r´b´l‘ günstig — to possess “p´"zes‘ besitzen — harsh rau — tidepool Gezeitentümpel — to be subjected to s.th. “s´b"dZektId‘ etw. ausgesetzt sein — when the tide is out bei Ebbe (t. Flut) 4 – 5 to forage for food “"fÅrIdZ‘ nach Nahrung suchen — better oxygenated “"ÅksIdZ´neItId‘ sauerstoffreicher — collaborator “k´"lœb´reIt´‘ h.: Forschungspartner(-in) — to withstand aushalten — vertebrate “"v‰…tIbr´t‘ Wirbeltier — to reflect nachdenken — ambulatory ability “Æœmbj´"leIt´ri‘ Gehfähigkeit — crustacean “krøs"teIS´n‘ Krustentier The hi-tech beds that vanish into the ceiling ROBO-COTS A company now offers robotic furniture that disappears into the ceiling at the touch of a button. By Will Pavia 1 RENTS ARErising, there’s a shortage of affordable housing, and, from Manhattan to San Francisco, city dwellers are squeezed into ever smaller homes. In the face of these challenges, companies now offer robotic furniture that rolls away on tracks or disappears into the ceiling at the touch of a button. 2 Hasier Larrea, the founder and chief executive of Ori, a robotic furniture company based in New York and Boston, said the idea might sound strange at first. “But the reality is we are already surrounded by robotics in the home: you have elevators, garage door operators, appliances – these are all systems that have intelligence, moving parts.” He added: “What we are doing here is bringing that intelligence … into the rest of the apartment.” 3 Ori creates what it calls “expandable apartments” with rooms that can change from a bedroom to a study to a lounge at the touch of a button. In a video demonstrating its technology, a young woman meets a friend outside her block of flats and invites her in for a coffee, pulling her phone out as they go in and remotely commanding her unmade bed to rise, on wires, into the ceiling, leaving a sofa and coffee table beneath it. 4 Larrea said the technology has been “ten years in the making”, a process that began at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology laboratory of Kent Larson, who was considering the challenges posed by a shortage of living space in the world’s biggest cities. 5 More than a century earlier, the inventor William Murphy had devised a bed that folded into the wall, driven apparently by a desire to entertain an opera singer at his cramped flat in San Francisco. Social etiquette would not allow her to enter his bedroom: the “Murphy bed” vanished into the wall, turning it into a parlour. 6 At MIT, researchers wanted to create a Murphy bed for the 21st century. “The problem with the Murphy bed is you have to make the bed,” Larrea said. “You have to put some straps on so the linens don’t fall. With our ‘cloud bed’, the bed can be unmade. You just press a button and it disappears.” … © The Times, London/News Licensing This article originally appeared in The Times, London. 0 – 2 TO VANISHverschwinden — shortage of “"SO… tIdZ‘ Mangel an — affordable housing “´"fO…d´b´l‘ bezahlbarer Wohnraum — city dweller Stadtbewohner(in) — founder Gründer(in) — chief executive “Æ-Ig"zekj´tIv‘ Firmenchef(in) — operator h.: automat. Öffnungsanlage — appliances “´"plaI´nsIz‘ Haushaltsgeräte 3 – 6 expandable erweiterbar — block of flats Apartmenthaus — to remotely command fernsteuern — wire Draht — to devise entwickeln — cramped beengt — etiquette “"etIket‘ — parlour “"pA…l´‘ Wohnzimmer — strap Gurt An automated bed system from Ori. | Photo: Getty Images/ MediaNews Group
World and Press | November 1 2022 Book world 15 book world ‘Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century’ by Kim Fu By Michael Schaub 1 WE’RE ONLY one-fifth of the way through the 21st century, and we’ve already had more than our share of monsters. They’ve been metaphorical ones, of course, but at this point, a literal kraken could make an appearance in Lake Minnetonka and nobody would bat an eye. 2 So do we really need to read about even more mythical creatures? In her wonderful new short story collection, ‘Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century,’ author Kim Fu proves that the answer is yes. It’s an endlessly entertaining bestiary from one of the country’s most exciting practitioners of fiction. 3 In the collection’s second story, “Liddy, First to Fly,” Fu follows a group of girls who are thrown 0 – 2 SHAREAnteil; h.: gehörige Portion — metaphorical “Æmet´"fÅrIk´l‘ — kraken “"krA…k´n‘ Krake — to make an appearance auftauchen — to not bat an eye (fig) nicht mit der Wimper zucken — mythical “"mITIk´l‘ Fantasie- — bestiary “"besti´ri‘ Bestiarium (mittelalterl. Tierdichtung) — practitioner of fiction “prœk"tIS´n´‘ Romanschöpfer(in) 3 to throw s.o. for a loop (AE, coll) jdn. vollkommen umhauen — gradually nach und nach — s.o. sprouts wings “spraUts‘ jdm. wachsen Flügel — on the cusp of an der Schwelle zu — adolescent for a loop when one of them gradually sprouts wings. It’s a not-unwelcome development for the girls, who have found themselves on the cusp of adolescent jadedness: “The realm of pretend had only just closed its doors to us, and light still leaked through around the edges … Now we had something to bond us again, a new hidden world.” 4 The girls keep their friend’s secret for as long as they can, but it’s hard to hide too long from protective parents. The story ends perfectly; it’s a wistful, gorgeous look at the liminal space between childhood and what comes after. 5 In “June Bugs,” the monsters are – at least at first blush – the titular insects, which are infesting a rental house that a woman named Martha has moved into after breaking up with her boyfriend, Neil: “The floor was a seething sea of beetles – their color of dried blood, the sheen of their glassy wings like cresting waves – that washed up and over the old front door.” “Æœd´l"es´nt‘ jugendlich — jadedness Ermüdung; Übersättigung — the realm of pretend “relm‘ Fantasiereich — to leak through eindringen 4 – 5 protective “pr´"tektIv‘ fürsorglich — wistful sehnsüchtig — gorgeous “"gO…dZ´s‘ herrlich — liminal space “"lImIn´l‘ (fig) Zwischenwelt — June bug Junikäfer — at first blush auf den ersten Blick — titular “"tItj´l´‘ titelstiftend — to infest befallen — seething sea wallendes Meer — sheen Schimmer — cresting wave s. auftürmende Welle 6 to declare war against s.th. etw. den Krieg 6 Martha declares an unsuccessful war against the bugs while reflecting on her doomed relationship; her ex-boyfriend was possessive and abusive, and reacted with horror when he learned that Martha bought a gun and brought it into the apartment they shared. The story ends in horror, but not the kind the reader is expecting – Fu has a formidable talent for misdirection, and it lends her stories a sly air of the unforeseen. 7 Nearly every story in Fu’s collection is a standout, from the dark “#ClimbingNation,” about a woman attending a memorial for a former college schoolmateturned-social media star, to “Do You Remember Candy,” which pictures a world that has collectively lost its sense of taste. (The latter, coming in the midst of a pandemic that famously robs some victims of their ability to smell, is especially chilling.) 8 There’s nothing to fault in this book; it’s an endlessly inventive collection from a real talent. In one story, a character notes that people are “living in a paradise,” because “the recent erklären — doomed zum Scheitern verurteilt — possessive “p´"zesIv‘ besitzergreifend — abusive “´"bju…sIv‘ herabwürdigend; gewalttätig — formidable “"fO…mId´b´l‘ eindrucksvoll — misdirection Irreführung — sly h.: geheimnisvoll — air Atmosphäre — the unforeseen “Æønf´"si…n‘ das Unvorhergesehene 7 – 8 to be a standout ausgezeichnet sein — … that has collectively … … in der alle … — famously bekanntermaßen — chilling schaurig — to fault bemängeln — inventive einfallsreich past was worse, the future would almost certainly be worse, and the present was worse for most other people, living elsewhere.” Welcome to the 21st century, Fu seems to be saying in this dark, clever book. Welcome to paradise. © 2022 StarTribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. ‘Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century: Stories’ by Kim Fu, 224 pages, is published by Tin House, ISBN 978-1951142995. B2 – C2 Neu! Rolle und Wandel der Monarchie Extra: The United Kingdom – Monarchy 48 Seiten, DIN A4 · ¤ 16,90 ISBN 978-3-7961-1164-8 www.sprachzeitungen.de crossword puzzle | By Katrin Günther All the words are in the articles on pages 14 and 15. Solution on page 16. Across 2 Usually (Epaulette sharks) 4 To change or develop gradually (Epaulette sharks) 6 Tough (Epaulette sharks) 7 A smooth shine or brightness (Book world) 8 Between the ages of a child and an adult (Book world) 12 Impressive (Book world) 13 Able to increase in size (Hi-tech beds) 15 To disappear (Hi-tech beds) 17 Inexpensive; reasonably priced (Hi-tech beds) 18 Condition in which there is not enough oxygen available to the blood and body tissues (Epaulette sharks) 19 Nostalgic and melancholy (Book world) 20 Caring (Book world) Down 1 S.o. who establishes an organization (Hi-tech beds) 3 A wrong or incorrect direction, guidance, or instruction (Book world) 5 A lack of (Hi-tech beds) 9 To have (Epaulette sharks) 10 To search for food (Epaulette sharks) 11 A sitting room (Hi-tech beds) 14 To be able to bear (Epaulette sharks) 16 To cause a problem by being present in large numbers (Book world) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
