Ripped from the Headlines: May 2021: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for May 22–May 28, 2021

The CDC issued a warning to backyard poultry owners: don’t kiss your chickens, they may carry salmonella bacteria. As the number of people keeping chickens has risen recently, incidents of salmonella have kept pace, with 163 confirmed cases over the past year. The agency's official statement warned, "Don't kiss or snuggle backyard poultry," and urged people to wash their hands after touching chickens to keep the dangerous bacteria away from their mouths.

Italian police seized more than 1,000 rare cacti during a raid on a global ring of cactus traffickers. The prickly plants were estimated to be worth over $1.2 million on the black market. As many as a third of cactus species are in danger of extinction, with the booming illegal market further threatening them. The seized plants will be returned to the Chilean desert from which they were stolen.

On May 25, the family of George Floyd held a rally and march in Minneapolis to commemorate the one-year anniversary of his death. Floyd was killed last summer by a police officer who was subsequently found guilty of murder. Similar commemorations took place around the country, marking the day in remembrance of Floyd and advocating for changes in the criminal justice system. Commemorate derives from a Latin root that means "bring to remembrance."

Conservationists in Kenya are aiming to count every single wild animal in the country. The census started at the beginning of May and will run through July. Although some species are tallied periodically, this is the first systematic count of animals in every region. Conservationists hope the information will help them to protect Kenya's native animal species, many of which are considered to be under threat of extinction.

The city of Las Vegas began preparations for the country's first large, in-person convention since the pandemic began more than a year ago. The World of Concrete, a construction industry trade show starting June 7, will be scaled back slightly. Organizers expect about 30,000 attendees — half the usual number. City officials hope that a successful first convention, along with the fact that most casino workers have been vaccinated, will lure business travelers back to Las Vegas.

As the coronavirus continues to overwhelm the Indian healthcare system, doctors in the Indian diaspora are increasingly stepping in to help. From thousands of miles away, physicians are treating friends and family members and using video calls to monitor their breathing. Others are advising distant colleagues in India, offering suggestions based on their own experience treating Covid-19 in the U.S. and other countries. Diaspora is a Greek word meaning "to scatter about."

After the government of Belarus diverted a commercial plane carrying dissident journalist Roman Protasevich on May 23, the E.U. banned the country from Western European airspace. The plane had been headed to Vilnius, Lithuania, when Belarusian air traffic control redirected it to land in Minsk, where authorities arrested Protasevich. The move, considered a "state-sponsored hijacking" by many observers, resulted in a ban on all flights in and out of Belarus by the E.U. and Ukraine.

In many parts of southeast Asia, a shift from in-person to online divination has led to a booming business for social media fortune tellers. Young people are especially drawn to Instagram tarot card readings, seeking guidance for work and relationship issues — and hoping for a peek at the future. Divination has long been part of the social culture of Asian countries including China, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The word derives from the Latin divinare, "inspired by a god."

On May 26, an uncommon lunar eclipse coincided with a supermoon — when the moon looks unusually large because its orbit is so close to Earth — resulting in an extremely rare astronomical event. The eclipse caused the moon to appear reddish as it passed through the earth's shadow, producing an enormous, sunset-colored orb that many referred to as a "super blood moon." Eclipse comes from a Greek root that means "an abandonment."

A new study by a team of economists shows a dramatic increase in the number of Black entrepreneurs starting small businesses over the past year. Experts suspect that federal stimulus payments may have helped fuel a rise in Americans launching their own ventures, and the largest growth has occurred in Black communities. The study found that business registrations increased after each of the three stimulus waves; the trend is a reversal of a decades-long slump in entrepreneurship.

An equation that radically changed scientists' understanding of physics, written in its inventor's handwriting, was auctioned off for $1.2 million. A letter from Albert Einstein to a Polish physicist includes the equation E = mc², the part of his theory of special relativity stating that energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared. It's one of only four known examples of the equation in Einstein's writing.

Thirty-four years after they were introduced, the U.S. Postal Service has finalized plans to retire its fleet of 140,000 Long Life Vehicle mail trucks. The ubiquitous LLV trucks were extremely popular with mail carriers when they debuted in 1987. With a predicted lifespan of 24 years and no airbags, rearview mirrors, or air conditioning, they are now considered unsafe and unreliable. The LLVs will be replaced by an electric fleet of trucks equipped with standard safety features.

A 12-year-old graduated from his Salisbury, North Carolina high school on May 21 and attained his two-year associate degree one week later, on May 28. In just 12 months, Mike Wimmer completed two full years of high school, graduating as valedictorian of his class, as well as an additional four semesters of community college work. Graduate comes from a Latin root meaning "a step."

Gymnast Simone Biles executed a risky new vault on May 22 at the U.S. Classic gymnastics competition. The Yurchenko double pike starts with a roundoff back handspring, followed by two perfect pikes in the air. The move is considered so dangerous that even its inventor has never tried it in competition. Biles's audience was wildly enthusiastic, but the gymnastics judges gave her no extra points for the move's difficulty. The Greek root gymnazein means "to exercise or train."

When the school year begins this fall, the largest school system in the U.S. won’t offer students a remote option. New York City announced on May 24 that, for the 2021-22 school year, city schools will be open five days a week for in-person learning, with no online alternative. Los Angeles Unified, the nation's second-largest school district, will offer both in-person and online options next year.

Five counties in eastern Oregon have backed a plan to secede from the state and join Idaho. In a non-binding vote, residents of the counties indicated their desire to split from Oregon and become part of their more conservative eastern neighbor. Secession remains unlikely, as it would require backing from both Oregon's legislature and the U.S. Congress. An early meaning of secede was "go away from one's companions."

A 70-story skyscraper in Shenzhen, China was evacuated after it began swaying from side to side last week. No earthquake activity has been detected that would explain the shaking, and the building remains closed as investigations continue. The 20-year-old skyscraper is one of many extremely tall structures in Shenzhen, a city that's home to six of the world's tallest buildings. Prior to its current definition, skyscraper meant "tall man" and "high-flying bird."

Sneaker designers say they can leverage the subconscious effects of color to influence buying decisions. Athletic shoe companies like Nike and Adidas use varying shades that buyers subconsciously associate with specific people, brands, moods, or activities. The new season of sneaker colors are meant to evoke “energy and positivity,” according to Puma’s creative director.