Ripped from the Headlines: May 2021: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for May 1–May 7, 2021

Federal officials said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will authorize the Pfizer vaccine for adolescents early next week. Clinical trials have shown that the coronavirus vaccine is safe and effective for children between the ages of 12 and 15, and public health experts say vaccinating this age group is essential for raising immunity in the general population. The Latin root of adolescent is adolescere, "grow up or ripen."

On May 4, President Biden announced a change in the way the administration will allocate the coronavirus vaccine. Instead of receiving vaccine shipments based on population, each state will have the option to share doses with a federal pool. States with higher demand can pull from that supply, and those with lower demand won't risk having to dispose of unused vaccines. Biden's current goal is for 70 percent of adults to have at least their first shot by July 4.

Polish archaeologists have discovered that a mummy previously thought to be a male priest was actually a pregnant woman. The team at the Warsaw Mummy Project had been studying a collection of ancient Egyptian mummies since 2015 and were preparing to publish their findings when a scan revealed a tiny foot in one mummy's abdomen. Archaeologist derives from a Greek root meaning "the study of ancient things."

A man known as "Italy's Robinson Crusoe," who has lived alone on an Italian atoll for 32 years, will leave after being repeatedly threatened with eviction. 81-year-old Mauro Morandi moved to the Isle of Budelli in 1989, when he disembarked on the pink atoll instead of continuing to sail from Italy to Polynesia. Until the island became a national park in 2015, Morandi worked as its caretaker. He plans to move to a nearby, inhabited island.

Famed ballet dancer Jacques d'Amboise, who transformed the way Americans viewed male dancers, died on May 2 at the age of 86. D'Amboise was an athletic dancer who joined the School of American Ballet's corps at the age of 15. He founded the National Dance Institute in 1976, a nonprofit arts organization that introduced generations of New Yorkers to ballet. This French word comes from a Greek root, ballizein, "to dance or jump about."

Broadway shows will be open at full capacity by the fall, according to New York governor Andrew Cuomo. Ticket sales for September performances began May 6. Broadway theaters closed due to the pandemic on March 12, 2020, shutting down 31 productions for more than a year. A few shows reopened this spring with limited, socially-distanced audiences. The Latin root of capacity is capax, "able to hold much."

A NASA mission led by the private company SpaceX ended just before 3 a.m. on May 2, when the Resilience capsule splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico. It was the first nighttime splashdown with astronauts in over 50 years. The root of capsule means "small box," and the word was first used in the spacecraft sense in 1954.

A global shortage of computer chips, mainly caused by the coronavirus pandemic's upending of the supply chain, is affecting an increasingly wide range of businesses. The most visible effects have been seen in the auto industry; the average car requires between 50 and 150 chips, and the shortage has temporarily closed many factories. Hundreds of other industries also rely on the semiconductors, for products ranging from smartphones and game consoles to washing machines and toasters.

With India's healthcare system in crisis as Covid-19 cases surge, grassroots social media campaigns are bringing aid to many people who are desperate for help. Online pleas for plasma, oxygen cylinders, food, and other supplies have yielded hundreds of donations and deliveries, thanks to the coordination of the new grassroots networks. Volunteers are also sometimes able to locate beds in hospitals for the most serious cases.

Experts say the U.S. is unlikely to reach herd immunity, given the percentage of people who are hesitant about vaccines and the variety of coronavirus variants. Instead of eliminating Covid-19 through mass immunization, scientists now believe it will become a manageable risk, continuing to circulate but killing far fewer Americans. Case numbers are likely to rise and fall, mainly affecting those who are unwilling to be vaccinated, with vaccines protecting the most vulnerable populations.

Several states and cities in the U.S. are offering incentives to encourage people to move there. The Northwest Arkansas Council will give $10,000 and a free bike to select remote workers who settle in the region. Small metro areas hope to use such incentives to lure residents who will pay taxes and shop locally, but won't compete for jobs. Savannah, Georgia has a similar program, paying $2,000 to select tech workers who relocate there.

The Transportation Security Administration updated its guidance on safe travel, extending its mask mandate for travelers on buses, trains, and airplanes. Wearing a face mask will continue to be required for all passengers on public transportation and commercial flights. The rule, originally set to expire May 11, will apply at least through September. Mandate comes from the Latin mandatum, "command or order."

Philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates announced May 3 that they will divorce after 27 years of marriage. The split is newsworthy because they are among the wealthiest people in the world, and their charitable foundation has influenced fields including education and public health. Observers wonder about the financial details of the divorce and the effect it might have on their philanthropy. Philanthropist has a Greek root, philanthrōpia, "love of mankind."

Several restaurants in northeastern Oklahoma have started displaying prepaid receipts that hungry people can use to get a free meal. Anyone who's short on money is welcome to pull down a receipt, paid for in advance by other customers, and use it to buy food. About a quarter of the region's population lives in poverty, and hundreds of people have taken advantage of the offer since February.

The Senate voted to reinstate an Obama-era methane regulation that had been eliminated by the Trump administration. The reestablished rules strictly limit the amount of methane that is permitted to leak from oil and gas wells. The colorless gas is a powerful pollutant that traps radiation in the atmosphere, contributing to a global rise in temperatures.

Lockdowns in South Asia over the past year led to significantly cleaner air, which resulted in less soot covering and warming the snow — and slower runoff as that snow melted. The consequence has been more drinking water for 300 million people. The Indus River, which provides water to Pakistanis and Indians, gained more than one and a half cubic miles of melt water. Two billion people worldwide depend on runoff from melted snow and ice for their drinking water.

A stampede during a religious festival in Israel killed 45 people. The annual pilgrimage to Mount Meron was attended mainly by ultra-Orthodox Jews, and the crush of bodies occurred during celebrations of Lag BaOmer, near the tomb of an ancient Jewish mystic. Organizers had attempted to limit the number of pilgrims within each area, but a crush of about 20,000 people led to the deadly stampede. The word comes from the Mexican Spanish estampida, "an uproar."

President Biden, a longtime Amtrak advocate, marked the rail service's 50th anniversary by promoting his infrastructure plan, which includes $80 billion to improve mass transit. Biden, who commuted by rail for 36 years when he was a senator, is estimated to have taken 8,000 round trips on Amtrak. Transit derives from Latin roots that mean "to go across or beyond."

Danish artist Thomas Dambo will display five enormous troll sculptures at a garden in Maine this summer, adding to the dozens of trolls he has constructed for sites around the world. Dambo's latest scrap wood creations will reside along the forested paths of Boothbay's Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, looming 15 to 30 feet high and resembling trees as much as trolls. The word troll is Old Norse, meaning "giant not of the human race."

Three German gymnasts wore body-covering unitards at the European Gymnastics Championships in Switzerland, instead of traditional leg-baring leotards. They sought to make a statement with their choice of outfit, against clothing — especially for women and girls — that is geared toward an audience's expectations rather than an athlete's own comfort. Unitards are technically allowed but are usually worn only for religious reasons.