Ripped from the Headlines: February 2022: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for January 29–February 4, 2022

Weeks after a school district in Tennessee banned the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Maus, it has climbed back to the top of several bestseller lists — 30 years after it was first published. The celebrated graphic novel tells the true story of the author's parents' experiences as Jews living in Nazi-occupied Poland during WWII. The McMinn County board of education prohibited the use of Maus in the school curriculum because of "rough, objectionable language."

Parts of New England received as much as two feet of snow during a January 29 blizzard, with Boston setting a record for its snowiest January day. Days later, the city was still digging out from the storm, which included wind gusts of over 35 miles per hour that caused drifting snow and downed power lines. The word blizzard first came into common use during the long, snowy winter of 1880-1881 in the Upper Midwest region of the U.S.

The Beijing Winter Olympics officially begins with an opening ceremony on February 4. The celebration that traditionally kicks off the Games is an opportunity for the host country to put on a dazzling show that includes singing, dancing, and special effects, as well as a parade of athletes. This year, several competitions were held before the opening ceremony, including curling, freestyle skiing, and some ice dancing events.

When an eight-year-old in Boise, Idaho, snuck his handwritten book onto a shelf in his local library, he hoped people would find it there and read it. He had no idea it would become one of the most popular titles in the library's collection, with a 55-person waiting list. The librarians who discovered Dillon's 81-page illustrated book were so charmed that they added The Adventures of Dillon Helbig’s Crismis to the graphic novels section of the Ada Community Library's catalog.

A Los Angeles startup has developed a method for turning plastic that can't be recycled into building materials for construction projects. The company, ByFusion, uses machines it calls "blockers" to shred plastic trash into strips and then smash the material so hard that it fuses together, forming large cubes. The blocks, described as "ridiculously durable," have been used to build structures including retaining walls, bus stops, and large fences.

The latest edition of Current Biology features a new study suggesting that the most diminutive dogs may have some of the oldest DNA, giving them a direct connection to ancient wolf ancestors. Scientists found that genes which account for the extremely small size of lap dogs and toy breeds are actually older than those that produce larger canines. Diminutive derives from the Latin roots de, "completely," and minuere, "make small."

Diplomacy continued this week between NATO countries and Russia following the buildup of Russian troops along the country's border with Ukraine. On February 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. of trying to start a conflict, but he also signaled his desire to continue negotiating. The Pentagon has said it will deploy troops to Eastern Europe, but the U.S. also intends to maintain a dialogue with Russia and come to a diplomatic agreement.

Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, met with President Biden on January 31. He was the first political head from the Persian Gulf region to visit the White House since Biden's election. The two leaders discussed the possibility of a natural gas crisis in Europe in the event of a war in Ukraine. Emir, which can mean "ruling prince" or "chief of a tribe," is derived from the Arabic amir, "commander," which is also the root of admiral.

Although daily U.S. Covid-19 cases and deaths remain at record high levels, several governors said this week that the virus has become endemic and that daily life should return to normal. Health experts argue that continuing waves of illness mean we're still in a pandemic, without enough widespread immunity for Covid-19 to be a relatively harmless seasonal illness like the flu. The Greek root of endemic means "native" or "belonging to a people."

Luxury hotels, resorts, and other tourist destinations are increasingly using falconry to manage rodents and birds that might disturb their guests. Since 2007, there have been more than 130 permits issued in the U.S. allowing the use of predatory birds to deter pests. These raptors can, for example, be trained to intimidate smaller "nuisance" birds. Falconry comes from falcon, and its Latin root, falx, "curved blade," for the shape of a hawk's curved beak.

A penguin chick that hatched at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York last week has been adopted by a pair of Humboldt penguins. The foster parents stepped in after the birth parents proved to be ill-suited to raising the baby bird. Elmer and Lima are the first same-sex penguin pair to care for another bird's chick; zoo officials say they're doing a great job protecting and feeding their fluffy adoptive baby. The root of foster means "to feed."

As storms intensify around the globe, exacerbated by climate change, the job of being a TV meteorologist has become more serious. The job was once considered comic relief from grim news, but today weather is a weighty topic, and broadcasters who report on it are also scientists studying the climate crisis. The Greek root of meteorologist means "discussion of high things."

The Biden administration announced that it had canceled leases which would have allowed a copper mine to be built near a Minnesota wilderness area. The Interior Department said that a 2019 lease renewal permitting miners to dig and blast for the extraction of copper ore on the site was invalid. The protected forests and lakes of the neighboring Boundary Waters provide a habitat for thousands of plant and animal species.

Following Justice Stephen Breyer's announcement that he will retire at the end of the Supreme Court's current term, President Biden said he will nominate a Black woman to replace him. A shortlist of potential nominees include Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who once served as a clerk for Justice Breyer. Other possible contenders include U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs; NAACP Legal Defense Fund President Sherrilyn Ifill; and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger.

Several prominent musicians, including Neil Young, have pulled their music catalogs from Spotify to protest vaccine and health misinformation on the platform's exclusive podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Spotify's CEO, Daniel Ek, responded on January 30 with a promise that content advisory warnings would be added to all podcasts discussing Covid-19. The Latin root of protest is protestari, "declare publicly."

A research mission funded by UNESCO has discovered a previously unknown coral reef off the coast of Tahiti. It's one of the largest such underwater ecosystems on the planet, at nearly two miles long. Scientists marveled at the health of the reef, which has some rose-shaped corals that measure six feet across. Reef comes from the Dutch riffe and its Scandinavian root, which means "ridge in the sea or rib."

On February 1, NFL quarterback Tom Brady announced his retirement from football after 22 seasons. Brady is a seven-time Superbowl champion, with six wins for the New England Patriots and his most recent victory for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021. Brady had previously said he would quit playing when his performance declined; instead, he is stepping back from the game at a moment when he leads the league in touchdowns and passing yards.

A tortoise living on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena has been awarded the Guinness World Record for being the oldest known living land animal. The 440-pound, hard-shelled reptile is named Jonathan, and his veterinarian's best guess is that he was born around 1830, making him about 190 years old — though he may be older. Jonathan's official title is "World's Oldest Chelonian," a category that includes all turtles, terrapins, and tortoises.

In the past, burrowed owls displaced by development in Southern California have been left on their own to relocate and build new burrows. Wildlife officials are using a new strategy in an effort to protect the owls, which are nearing endangered status: they are transplanting the birds, moving them to specific locations where they're more likely to thrive. Transplant derives from a Latin word meaning "plant again in a different place."