60秒科学:Bad Nose for Bird Flu

With swine flu the big infectious disease story, you don’t hear much about bird flu these days. And you may not have to look past your own nose for the reason. Because a new study finds that bird flu viruses may have trouble getting a good foothold in humans thanks to the temperature of our noses. That’s according to research just published in the journal Public Library of Science Pathogens.

Avian or bird flu comes in sixteen subtypes. Some can pick up surface proteins from human flu viruses that allow the bird virus to then infect humans. But the new study shows that normal bird flu viruses just can’t seem to cut it at the typical human nose temperature of about 90 degrees Fahrenheit¹. Probably because the bird viruses usually make their home in the guts² of birds, at a balmy 104 degrees Fahrenheit. So if a normal bird flu virus checked into your nose, chances are it would check out before it had a chance to multiply, mutate and do any damage. Indeed, in this case your chilly³ beak⁴ is something to crow about.

—Steve Mirsky

 

1 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

2 guts   

v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠

参考例句：

• I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
• Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

4 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。