Ripped from the Headlines: February 2023: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for February 11–February 17, 2023

A bill proposed by a state senator would make New Mexico the first state with an official aroma: the smell of "green chile roasting in the fall." The idea for a state scent came from a class of fifth graders who studied New Mexico's state symbols, like its bird (the roadrunner) and flower (the Yucca blossom). Senator Bill Soules took their proposal to the legislature, where it has been approved by two committees. Aroma is a Greek word meaning "seasoning or spice."

Codebreakers have deciphered 57 secret letters written in an elaborate code by Mary, Queen of Scots while she was imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth I. Mary wrote the letters using symbols to disguise their contents, which appealed to the French ambassador for help in obtaining her release. The researchers broke the code with techniques including algorithms and linguistic analysis. Decipher, "interpret from a code," is from de-, "from," and cipher, "write in code."

There's been a major exodus from Russia over the past year, as more and more citizens leave the country. As many as a million Russians may have fled their homes since the invasion of Ukraine last year; some departed to avoid fighting in the war, and others left for economic reasons. The Greek root of exodus is exodos, "a going out," from ex-, "out," and hodos, "a way."

A Chicago experiment, in which 5,000 people will receive $500 each month for a year, is widely seen as testing the concept of guaranteed income. The Chicago residents who are part of the pilot program have been paid since August, with no strings attached. Critics equate the plan with welfare handouts, but supporters say paying a basic monthly income can be the thing that lifts people out of poverty.

A tiny, endangered rodent at the San Diego Zoo received a Guiness World Record recognizing it as the oldest known living mouse. The nine-year-old Pacific pocket mouse, named Pat, won the award for his longevity; the previous record-holder was a seven-year-old mouse named Fritzy. Pocket mice are the smallest North American mouse species, weighing only as much as three pennies. Longevity has a Latin root that means "of great age."

After the U.S. shot down three unidentified flying objects over North America last weekend, NORAD adjusted its radar to be better able to spot such objects. It's unclear what the UFOs were. Experts say even if they are harmless, they could have interfered with air traffic, and it's vital to redirect radio waves to be sure they'll bounce off and detect small flying objects. Radar is a combination of radio, detecting, and ranging.

For some people in Ukraine, ski resorts offer a respite from the country's ongoing war with Russia. The resorts are located in the Carpathian Mountains, an area that has been largely spared from Russian attacks. Ukranians who can travel to the region have been using winter sports as a way to take a breather and relax during a stressful and dangerous time. Soldiers and families alike see the resorts as providing a brief hiatus from the realities of life in wartime.

The powerful James Webb Telescope has spotted a distant spiral galaxy that looks very much like ours. A billion light-years away, LEDA 2046648 is uncannily similar to our own Milky Way galaxy, with stars and gas clouds concentrated in coiled, pinwheel-shaped arms. Spiral, from the Medieval Latin spiralis, "winding around a fixed center," has a Greek root, speira, "a coil or twist."

In 2020 and 2021, doctors worldwide treated thousands of teenagers for a sudden onset of tics. Experts say the symptoms, which included twitching, spasms, abrupt movements, and unintentional vocalizations, were connected to anxiety and isolation. The phenomenon came to be known as "TikTok tics" after some parents worried that young people developed symptoms after watching videos of teens with Tourette syndrome. The incidence of tics has declined as Covid restrictions ease.

A new study suggests that living near a busy road increases a person's chance of getting tinnitus. Danish researchers used data from 3.5 million residents, 40,000 of whom were eventually diagnosed with the condition, which causes a ringing or buzzing sound in the ears. People with homes close to noisy streets were much more likely to develop tinnitus as adults. In Latin, tinnitus means "a ringing or jingling," from tinnire, "to ring or tinkle."

Residents of Syria and Turkey reported seeing animals detect tremors from last week's earthquake long before humans did. Videos posted on social media showed dogs howling, birds flapping wildly, and other unusual animal behavior just before the devastating quake struck. Scientists say animals can indeed predict earthquakes by sensing the earliest seismic waves, which cause a shaking so subtle that humans can't feel it. The Latin root of tremor means "a trembling."

On February 12, Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to a second-half comeback, giving his team a Super Bowl victory. Kansas City started the third quarter trailing the Philadelphia Eagles by ten points, with a halftime score of 24–14. In the end, despite aggravating a previous ankle injury, Mahomes' efforts allowed the Chiefs to come from behind and beat the Eagles 38-35.