Ripped from the Headlines: August 2021: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for August 21–August 27, 2021

The Federal Trade Commission filed a new antitrust lawsuit against Facebook, in an effort to break up the company. The complaint, filed in federal court, alleges that after it acquired several rival companies, the tech giant had an illegal monopoly on social media. It's the largest ever antitrust lawsuit against Facebook and if successful it could require the company to spin off Instagram or WhatsApp, in order to encourage competition.

On August 23, the FDA approved the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for people 16 and older. The official authorization means that the vaccine has met rigorous testing standards and been found to be safe and effective by the government agency. The Pfizer shot is still available on an emergency basis to children aged 12 to 15 and as a booster for immunocompromised people. The Latin root of approve is approbare, "to assent to as good."

Eighteen months after she flew to the archipelago nation of Tonga for a weekend visit, a British traveler is still there. Tonga, which consists of a chain of 170 islands in the South Pacific, has so far remained entirely free of Covid-19. The country went into lockdown soon after Zoe Stephens arrived in March of 2020, and as long as its borders remain closed, she will be unable to fly home. Archipelago comes from the Italian arcipelago, “the Aegean Sea.”

Scientists have learned that just as human infants coo and burble, baby bats also babble. The greater sac-winged bat, which lives in South and Central America, is so far the only bat species researchers have observed babbling. The bat pups babble by repeating high-pitched chirps. Like human infants, the pups make repetitive sounds, some of them clear precursors to adult speech (or singing, in the case of bats). Babble is imitative: it sounds like baby talk.

The 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games held its opening ceremony on August 24. The Refugee Paralympic Team led the traditional parade of athletes, with a volunteer carrying an Afghan flag to represent Afghanistan's two Paralympians, who were unable to travel to Japan. Twenty-one countries chose not to participate this year due to Covid, and the opening festivities took place with no spectators. At the end of the ceremony, Japan's Emperor Naruhito officially declared the Games open.

A new study shows that Tyrannosaurus Rex was probably a finicky eater. Japanese paleontologists found that the extremely sensitive nerves in the jaw of a T. Rex would have made it discriminating — or even picky — when it came to the way its food tasted. The giant dinosaur's nuanced sense of taste meant it could distinguish between different parts of its prey, most likely allowing it to have preferences for certain flavors over others.

A sea scallop farm in Maine has been found to improve its habitat. Unlike many large aquafarms, smaller bivalve farms like one run by former lobsterman Marsden Brewer can actually benefit the ocean environment surrounding them. Brewer's operation, in midcoast Maine's Penobscot Bay, focuses on scallops, which filter the water and improve the biodiversity of their habitat. Scientists suspect that the wild scallops living nearby are among the species that benefit.

Hurricane Henri was downgraded to a tropical storm before it reached New England, making landfall in Rhode Island on August 22. The National Hurricane Center warned residents to be prepared for flash flooding and torrential rain from the slow-moving storm. When its wind speeds fell below 75 miles per hour, Henri lost its hurricane categorization, but damage in New England was extensive, estimated at $12 billion.

Mapping trees in New York City illustrates wealth inequality, showing that wealthy neighborhoods are significantly shadier — and several degrees cooler — than poor ones. Researchers have found that heat from lack of tree cover reflects patterns of inequality including income, race, and air quality.

An all-star Central Park concert was interrupted halfway through by lightning on the evening of August 22. LL Cool J, the New York Philharmonic, and Earth, Wind & Fire had performed, and Barry Manilow was singing Can't Smile Without You, when a thunderstorm rolled in and sent audience members in search of shelter from the rain and zigzagging flashes of lightning. The dangerous weather meant the spectators missed headliners including Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith.

Nigerian Prince Tsola Emiko was crowned the 21st king of the Olu of Warri kingdom and the Ogiame Atuwatse III on August 21. The new monarch ascended the throne in Nigeria's Delta state, where he now rules over the Itsekiri people of Iwere Kingdom. The Olu, known for his youth and progressive ideals, thrilled the crowd with his charismatic speech. The Greek root of monarch means "ruling alone."

Climate change is forcing nomadic reindeer herders in Mongolia to alter their traditional routines. The herders' lives center around the animals in their care; they shepherd the reindeer from one location to another across the taiga in search of the lichen on which they feed. In past years, the herders moved to new pasture about once a month, but a warming climate is forcing them to travel more often. Nomadic has a Greek root, nomas, "roaming or wandering."

A recent poll of 14 to 18-year-old Americans found that they're surprisingly optimistic about the future. The majority of the teens said it was not a good time to be growing up and expressed acute awareness of issues like climate change, social unrest, and economic inequality. Despite this, the findings reflected positive and enthusiastic feelings about the teenagers' own future lives and the prospects for the world. The Latin root of optimistic means "the best."

The Environmental Protection Agency announced it will ban a widely-used pesticide that's been linked to neurological damage in children. The chemical, chlorpyrifos, is commonly sprayed on corn, apples, broccoli, and other fruits and vegetables to combat insects that eat the crops. Agricultural workers have been most profoundly affected by the pesticide, with high rates of miscarriage, birth defects, and childhood learning disabilities. Pesticide means "pest killer."

The man who held the record as the tallest person in the United States for more than a decade has died at the age of 38. Igor Vovkovinskiy was named the tallest U.S. man in 2010 by the Guiness Book of World Records, a title he maintained until his death. Vovkovinskiy was seven feet, 8.33 inches tall and had a pituitary condition that contributed to his height.

Seventy-five people connected with an Afghan women’s soccer team, including players, officials, and relatives, found refuge in Australia this week. On August 24, the evacuees' plane departed Kabul just before the Taliban announced it would block Afghans from leaving the country. The players had a harrowing escape, facing violence at checkpoints on their way to the airport. Australia was the first country to offer them asylum. The Taliban does not allow women to play sports.

Researchers who analyzed more than 1,000 chimp and bonobo interactions found that great apes share salutations that are similar to humans’ hellos and goodbyes. These greetings take the form of shared gestures and gazes. Bonobos were found to use salutations including head-butting, hand-holding, and touching about 90 percent of the time. The interactions were briefer between apes with closer relationships, and more formal among those who weren't as familiar with each other.

The highest point of the Greenland ice sheet is known for its permanently freezing conditions. This month, for the first time ever, it rained at the summit of Greenland. The rain, further evidence of a rapidly warming Arctic, was observed by scientists at the Summit research station, which is located 500 miles above the Arctic Circle and two miles above sea level. The Latin root of summit means "highest."

As the climate warms and wildfires grow more intense, some experts suspect that fire tornadoes will occur more often. Firefighters and observers have recently caught several of these whirling funnels of glowing red smoke on video. Though they're still rare, given enough heat and rotating air, dangerous, spinning tornadoes can form. The word is a mistranslation of the Spanish tronada, "thunderstorm."

Tortoises formerly believed to be herbivorous were caught on camera hunting and eating baby chicks. Scientists in the Seychelles who filmed the land-dwelling, hard-shelled reptiles said it was "surprising and rather horrifying" to witness an animal with a supposed vegetarian diet actively pursue and devour the chicks. The giant tortoises can live 200 years and weigh as much as 500 pounds. The Latin root of tortoise means "of the underworld."

More companies are using seemingly eco-friendly cotton totes as branding tools, including the spacious bags with purchases or selling them inexpensively. However, a 2018 study showed that an organic cotton tote must be used 20,000 times to offset the environmental cost of making it. As this fact becomes clear to brands that prioritize sustainability, some plan to reduce the number of bags they produce, while others are using recycled cotton and plastic as material for totes.

The governor of Hawaii is urging tourists to stay home, as the state faces a surge of new coronavirus cases. The increase has begun to strain the state’s health care system, with hospitalizations doubling over the past two weeks. As visitors threaten to push those numbers even higher, new restrictions will limit gatherings and cancel concerts and sporting events. People planning Hawaii vacations will find their entertainment and dining options extremely limited.