Ripped from the Headlines: May 2023: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for May 27–June 2, 2023

New research shows that a blackout during an Arizona heat wave would send half the residents of Phoenix to the emergency room. Scientists say that a loss of electricity for more than two days, which would cut air conditioning, refrigeration, and fans for anyone in the city without a backup generator, would cause severe illness and death for nearly 800,000 people. Phoenix's hospitals currently have only 3,000 emergency room beds available.

In Uganda, a nonprofit organization is creating communal food centers in an effort to end hunger in the country. The facilities, known as "epicenters," each serve as many as 15,000 people, teaching them how to start cooperative farms using regenerative methods. They also provide shared community banks, preschools, clean water, and medical clinics. Communal is derived from a Latin root meaning "that which is common, general, or shared."

A preliminary study suggests that octopuses are capable of having nightmares. Researchers observed a captive cephalopod named Costello as he entered an active phase of sleep and apparently had a bad dream, rapidly camouflaging his skin, whirling in a circle, and releasing a plume of black ink. Costello seemed to be acting out images and events playing inside his sleeping mind, and when he woke up his behavior was normal. Dream is from a root meaning "deception or illusion."

Before Florida Governor Ron DeSantis could announce his presidential candidacy on Twitter, there were 20 minutes of technical glitches. When listeners tried to join the livestream, its audio cut in and out for several minutes, and then the platform's mobile site crashed and had to be restarted. The Yiddish source of glitch, which began as American radio broadcast jargon, is glitsh, "a slip."

Climate change is disrupting the hibernation of female Arctic ground squirrels, and scientists worry it will cause their population to decline. A study found that rising temperatures provoke the female squirrels to wake from their winter sleep too early to participate in the normal mating season, meaning fewer are reproducing. Hibernation is from the Latin hibernare, "to pass the winter," from a root meaning "winter."

Texas House members voted on May 27 to impeach the state's attorney general. The lawmakers brought charges against Ken Paxton for bribery and corruption in a 121 to 23 vote. He has been accused of doing political favors for donors, accepting bribes, obstructing justice, and other offenses. Paxton was removed from office temporarily until he can be tried in the state Senate.

Insurance companies are dropping California homeowners because of the growing risk of wildfires and expense of rebuilding homes in the state. One large provider, State Farm General Insurance Company, will not enroll any new California customers, citing the increasing cost of paying compensation for houses lost to fire and other disasters. Before insurance was first used this way in the 1650s, the industry called it assurance instead.

In a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery, President Biden paid tribute to military members who died while serving the United States. His remarks included memories of his late son Beau, who was a major in the National Guard. Biden also took time to commemorate the 75th anniversary of both the military's desegregation and its full inclusion of women. Memorial is derived from the Latin memoria, "memory."

Protesters in China's Yunnan province clashed with police on May 27 as they attempted to stop the demolition of a mosque. Residents of the Muslim-majority town of Nagu are pushing back against the government's growing effort to stifle religious practice. The planned removal of a dome on Najiaying Mosque, an "important seat of worship and religious teaching," spurred the demonstration. The Arabic root of mosque is masjid, "place of worship."

After President Biden and the Republicans negotiated a budget deal to avert a U.S. debt default, Congress approved the bill on June 1. Weeks of discussion and bargaining led to an agreement between the two sides that keeps spending flat for two years except for a slight increase for defense and veterans. The negotiation ultimately required compromise on both sides, with less budget slashing than Republicans preferred and reductions to food stamp aid that progressives opposed.

After the water filling Venice's Grand Canal turned a bright shade of green overnight, regional officials said they suspected that environmental activists were behind the color change. A local agency tested the water and found nothing harmful, leading to speculation that ecological advocates may have added a nontoxic pigment to the canal as a publicity stunt. Pigment shares a Latin root with paint that means "to color."

Researchers know more about brain plasticity thanks to a teenager who had half her brain surgically removed as a baby. Now 15, Mora Leeb is able to tell jokes, do puzzles, play soccer, and much more. Neuroscientists say she's evidence of the human brain's potential to adapt and modify itself after injury. Leeb's deliberate style of speech is a subtle hint that her brain had to reorganize its language circuits. Plasticity is from a Greek root that means "able to be molded."