Ripped from the Headlines: May 2024: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for May 25–May 31, 2024

A new agreement will allow student athletes to be paid directly by their colleges and universities. The proposed legal settlement between the NCAA and the five largest athletic conferences ends a 100-year-old rule that forbids college sports players from getting financial compensation. Experts say men's basketball and football players at large schools are most likely to receive payments, raising questions of equity. Athlete is from the Greek athlētēs, "prizefighter."

Thousands of Parisians enjoyed a free gourmet picnic on the Champs-Élysées on May 26. The event is part of the city's push to reverse a decline in local visitors to the famous boulevard, which is normally thronged with tourists. A red and white checked tablecloth stretched more than 700 feet along what's been described as "the most beautiful avenue in the world." Lottery winners picnicked on chef-made food, from crudités to macarons.

A new study found that crows can count up to four. Researchers taught three of the large black birds to associate visual and auditory cues with the numbers one, two, three, and four. The crows were trained to respond to each cue with the same number of caws; after seeing and hearing the cue for "three," for example, the bird would caw three times. Pauses in the crows' responses were evidence they were planning, or counting, the number of times they would caw.

A man survived a grizzly attack after the bear bit into a can of bear spray and ran away. Massachusetts resident Shayne Patrick Burke was hiking in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park when he saw a grizzly cub. Almost immediately, its mother appeared and began mauling Burke as he lay on the ground with the aerosol spray in his hand. The huge silver-gray bear bit the spray, which "exploded in her mouth," scaring her off. Grizzly is from grizzled, "gray."

Government officials in Papua, New Guinea said that a landslide had buried more than 2,000 people, a much higher death toll than the United Nations' estimate of 670. The disaster occurred when part of a mountain collapsed near several remote villages in the middle of the South Pacific island nation. Dirt, rocks, and debris covered hundreds of homes, burying the villagers inside them. Rescue and recovery efforts continued all week.

Despite bids by both Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be its presidential nominee, the Libertarian Party nominated former Democrat Chase Oliver at its national convention on May 26. The party, which emphasizes limited government and individual freedoms, took seven hours and seven rounds of voting to agree on Chase. One-third of libertarian voters chose "none of the above." Libertarian comes from liberty and its Latin root, which means "free."

A luxury airline catering to dogs took its inaugural flight this week. BARK Air offers first-class travel to New York and Los Angeles for canines and their humans. The upscale airline includes extravagant perks like "chicken-flavored puppuccinos" and is an option for dogs that would otherwise have been relegated to the cargo hold. The ticket prices, as much as $8,000 one-way, make BARK Air inaccessible for most dog owners. The Latin root of luxury is luxus, "excess."

Andreas Pernerstorfer discovered 30,000-year-old mammoth bones while he was renovating a wine cellar at his home in Austria. Researchers say the enormous bones belonged to at least three of the huge Stone Age animals; they hope to determine whether the mammoths died naturally at the site or had been hunted by humans. The root of mammoth is thought to be a Finno-Ugric word meaning "earth," from the fact that the ancient bones were dug from under the ground.

Scientists say that half the world's mangrove ecosystems are at risk of collapse. A new report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature found that sea level rise has put the trees, whose roots grow in salty or brackish water, in severe danger. Found along the coast and in estuaries, mangroves offer important protection to nearby communities from storms and flooding, as well as providing shelter to many fish and bird species.

Pope Francis said that Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006, had performed a second miracle during his life. The announcement means the former teenage evangelist will likely be canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Acutis was only 15 when he died, but he gained attention for his dedication to documenting miracles online. Saint shares a Latin root, sanctus, "holy or consecrated," with the word sacred.

Public health experts have long been critical of raw milk, which can contain dangerous pathogens, but it's under new scrutiny since bird flu infected at least 58 herds of dairy cattle. USDA testing has found the virus in samples of unpasteurized milk, and mice fed raw milk from sick cows were infected with bird flu. Studies show that pasteurization kills the H5N1 virus. Scientists are analyzing the limited data on raw milk and urging consumers to be cautious about consuming it.

Congaree National Park held its annual event for visitors to view synchronous fireflies, which only appear for a few weeks in the spring. Every year, the South Carolina park allows a limited number of people to watch thousands of Photuris frontalis fireflies simultaneously blinking at twilight. The species is one of few that can coordinate their lights to flash at the same time. The Greek root of synchronous is synkhronos, "happening at the same time."