Ripped from the Headlines: February 2024: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for February 17–February 23, 2024

The FDA approved a new medication that can reduce the risk of allergic reactions to foods including nuts, milk, and eggs. The drug can prevent serious, life-threatening effects when a person's immune system severely overreacts to a substance. While it won't eliminate the allergy, taking it regularly staves off the very worst reactions caused by accidental exposure to allergens. Allergic is rooted in the Greek allos, "other, different, or strange."

Officials are investigating how a passenger managed to bypass security at Nashville International Airport, board a plane, and fly to Los Angeles without a ticket. FBI agents were waiting for the woman when the American Airlines flight landed in California. Nashville TSA agents said she had circumvented the document checkpoint, though she and her carry-on bag did go through a security screening. It remains unclear how the woman boarded the plane without a ticket.

Scientists say nonnative earthworms pose a serious threat to North American ecosystems. An analysis of data from 1891 to 2021 showed that nonnative earthworms now greatly outnumber native species. Because the worms "engineer" their environment by slowly burrowing and compacting the soil, they have a powerful effect on the entire ecosystem. In some places, particularly forests, nonnative earthworms reduce biodiversity and harm plant and tree growth.

A new monument in California honors the Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II. The memorial, called Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration, includes a book listing the names of the 125,284 detainees. It's the first list to include every person forced to live in the camps because of their Japanese ancestry. The Latin root of monument is monumentum, "something that reminds."

An Ebola vaccine has been shown to cut mortality rates in half, even if it's given after infection. A new study suggests that the single-dose shot not only reduces the risk of contracting the deadly disease, but also prevents death in about 50 percent of patients who already have symptoms. For years, there have been no effective treatments for Ebola, which kills half of those infected with it. Mortality comes from the Latin mortalis, "subject to death."

Russian authorities have arrested at least 366 people who tried to publicly mourn the death of Alexei Navalny. Memorials to the opposition leader appeared across the country, and his grieving supporters laid piles of flowers despite the threat of arrest. Navalny was an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, and his death in an Arctic prison has been called a "state-sanctioned murder" by members of his party. The Germanic root of mourn means "remember sorrowfully."

Poland's newly-elected liberal government is overhauling the state-funded news broadcaster, which was a source of far-right propaganda under the previous administration. The nationalist Law and Justice party, which governed for eight years, had fired all radio and TV employees and replaced reporters, hosts, and board members with party loyalists. News broadcasts focused on disparaging opposition parties. Prime Minister Donald Tusk says the station will return to unbiased news reporting.

Middle East officials say that Iran is telling its proxies not to provoke the United States, in an effort to avoid a direct conflict. According to experts in the region, armed militia groups like Hezbollah, which have historically been supported by Iran and frequently fight on its behalf, are moderating their responses to U.S. strikes. Both Iran and the United States appear to be acting carefully in order to prevent a wider war between the countries.

Major League Soccer began its season with replacement referees, after unionized match officials rejected a contract offer. Inter Miami CF beat Real Salt Lake 2-0 on February 21 in a match officiated by a non-union ref. Almost 96 percent of the Professional Soccer Referees Association members voted against the proposed agreement, which they said didn't adequately compensate officials responsible for enforcing fair play and monitoring the fast-paced, increasingly popular game.

A recent study shows that great apes, like humans, love to tease each other. Scientists studied interactions in zoos between orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas, finding the apes use "elements of surprise" to provoke each other. They elicit responses by poking, slapping, and pulling hair. Tease first meant "pull apart fibers of wool," from an Old English root, and gained the figurative meaning "vex or annoy in good humor" in the 1600s.

Researchers have found that some animals survive extreme cold by playing dead or entering a state of torpor. While many creatures wait out the chilliest temperatures of winter by hibernating, others conserve their energy on especially cold days through a process that temporarily reduces their body temperature and metabolism. While in torpor, animals appear to be asleep or even dead, but they're just napping deeply. The Latin root of torpor means "be inactive or numb."

An unusually fast-moving jet stream allowed some commercial jets to reach speeds over 800 miles per hour this week. Winds of more than 265 mph above Washington, D.C., the second-highest ever recorded, boosted the velocity of at least three eastbound flights. Velox, "swift or speedy," is the Latin root of velocity.