Ripped from the Headlines: October 2021: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for October 23–October 29, 2021

Experts say global efforts to combat emissions have begun to slow the rate at which the climate is warming. Still, they warn that those measures must accelerate rapidly to avoid devastating effects. The world is on track to become three degrees warmer by 2100, better than previous predictions but still catastrophic. Scientists say 1.5 degrees of warming would be safer, but the rate at which clean energy replaces fossil fuels worldwide must speed up drastically to achieve that goal.

Cambodia’s culture minister cited evidence that the Metropolitan Museum of Art has dozens of the country’s looted antiquities. Officials have asked the museum to provide evidence of how it obtained the objects, which date to the pre-15th-century Khmer Empire. Years of archaeological research and legal work resulted in a list of 45 ancient artifacts that Cambodia says were stolen before the museum acquired them. The Latin root of antiquity is antiquus, "olden times."

An atmospheric river dumped record amounts of rain and snow on northern California this weekend. The historic weather event, an example of what meteorologists call a "river in the sky," formed as a narrow band of water vapor in the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. The landfall of the torrential rain set records in both San Francisco and Sacramento and caused flooding and mudslides. The Greek roots of atmospheric mean "sphere of vapor."

A cinematographer who was killed in an accident on a film set last week will be honored by an American Film Institute scholarship in her name. Halyna Hutchins, who was the director of photography for Rust, died when a prop gun discharged during a rehearsal. The scholarship will help aspiring female cinematographers attend the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles, which Hutchins attended before beginning her career behind a movie camera.

A street dog in Istanbul has recently become an internet star. Boji is a big brown stray known as a commuter thanks to his daily travels around the city on buses, trains, ferries, and trams. Officials began following his trips via a microchip and learned that on an average day, Boji visits 29 metro stations and takes the ferry twice, boarding and disembarking with other commuters on their way to work. The word is from commutation ticket, a 19th-century American train pass.

Sudan's highest-ranking general seized control of the country in a coup on October 25. Military troops overthrew the civilian government, detained the prime minister and other officials, and fired on protesters. Democratic elections had been scheduled for 2022, but the coup throws the plan into doubt. Coup is short for the French coup d'état, "stroke or blow of the state."

Twelve people with disabilities took part in a zero-gravity experiment that tested the safety of sending them into space. The parabolic flight, which simulates space travel and is frequently used as astronaut training, was part of a larger push toward accessibility in spaceflight. The October 24 flight tested modified spacesuits for participants with mobility issues, navigational aids for people who are blind, and lighting systems for passengers who are deaf.

A Hong Kong activist was arrested under a new Chinese law intended to stifle political dissent. Ma Chun-man had shouted pro-independence, anti-China slogans at several protests, directly challenging the national security law. He was convicted of "inciting secession" on October 25. The Latin root of dissent is dissentire, "disagree or contradict."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may add the bumblebee to its list of endangered species, following a review of the insect’s status. Bumblebees, which could once be found in 47 states, are now extinct in 16 of them. Formerly the country’s most common bee, it’s now rare to spot a fuzzy American bumblebee, which pollinates crops like soybeans and alfalfa, as well as many flower species. Scientists say the bee’s population has plummeted due to climate change and the use of pesticides.

As many as nine million U.S. expatriates are still unable to get a Covid vaccine. While many stateside Americans have already had booster shots, those who live overseas must follow local protocols. U.S. citizens residing in places like Indonesia, Thailand, and India have had to wait for vaccines along with residents of those host countries. CDC officials have advised Americans to return home for their shots. Expatriate's root means "banish from one's native land."

Paleontologists who uncovered more than 100 fossilized dinosaur eggs and skeletons in Argentina say the remains provide new evidence that many of the giant animals traveled in herds. The Mussaurus patagonicus fossils were distributed in a way that suggested the dinosaurs gathered in groups to lay eggs in common breeding grounds and remained in cohesive clusters throughout their lives, forming lifelong social connections.

A small study published this week by the American Psychological Association concluded that internet memes help people deal with stress. Researchers surveyed 700 people, asking if lighthearted photos of kittens, puppies, and babies have eased their stress levels since the start of the pandemic. These widely-shared images calmed those who viewed them and and made them feel connected to others. Meme was coined from a Greek word meaning "to imitate."

Since 2015, something has been discoloring the brilliant dome of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC. Dark splotches marred the white marble and appeared to spread over time. Scientists discovered that the discoloration was caused by a microbe known as biofilm, a microscopic mix of algae, bacteria, and fungi. As the chemicals typically used to clean microorganisms like biofilm risked harming the environment, restorers instead used high-powered lasers to slough off the microbe.

The world’s oldest monarchy lost a member of its royal family when Japanese Princess Mako renounced her title in order to marry a commoner on October 26. The Imperial Household Law, which governs Japan’s royals, stipulates that only men can become emperors and that by marrying an ordinary citizen, Princess Mako’s future children will not be in line to rule the country. The Greek root of monarchy means "absolute rule" or "ruling of one."

Unvaccinated athletes at the Beijing Olympics in February will be required to stay in quarantine for three weeks — longer than the Games themselves. Proof of vaccination or a 21-day quarantine will be required for all participants, staff, and journalists at the 2022 Winter Games. Quarantine is from the Italian quaranta giorni, "space of 40 days," the length of time 17th-century ships had to wait before docking to avoid spreading the plague.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a nationwide recall of an aromatherapy spray that caused a deadly bacterial infection. The CDC began investigating four cases of a rare tropical disease earlier this year, eventually tracing the illness to an essential oil spray made in India and sold by Walmart. Nearly 4,000 bottles of the product were purchased this year. Authorities are directing consumers to return them to Walmart for a refund.

Scientists have found that indri lemurs in Madagascar have an apparent sense of rhythm. For over a decade, researchers recorded the songs of the lemurs, then studied these vocalizations in search of a cadence resembling human music. They discovered musical 1:1 and 1:2 rhythms, evidence of the indris’ feel for the beat. Rhythm derives from a root that means "to flow."

A week after his death at the age of 92, members of the Blackfeet Nation tribe honored the life of their long-time leader, Chief Earl Old Person. A traditional four-day period of mourning began when the Chief's body was returned to Montana's Blackfeet Reservation, where 10,000 tribal members live. Drummers and singers surrounded the coffin, and tribe members erected honorary teepees. Chief Old Person was the longest-serving elected tribal official in the U.S.

Scientists have found that some elephants in Mozambique have evolved to be born without tusks. The genetic mutation was caused by generations of trauma to the animals, which were ruthlessly hunted for their ivory tusks during the country's civil war. Female elephants with the gene are born naturally tuskless, but the mutation is fatal to male elephants. Tusk shares a root with tooth.

On October 26, an FDA panel recommended approving Pfizer-BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine for kids between the ages of 5 and 11. Inoculating this group would protect 28 million children against Covid-19. Vaccine has a Latin root meaning "cow," referring to an 18th-century treatment for smallpox prevention that involved using the milder cowpox virus.