Ripped from the Headlines: June 2024: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for June 22–June 28, 2024

Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History confirmed that a four-dollar thrift shop vase was actually an ancient Mayan artifact. Five years after Anna Lee Dozier bought the vase, she traveled to Mexico and saw similar vessels on display at the National Museum of Anthropology. Dozier then asked the museum's experts, who specialize in Mexico's ancient indigenous cultures, to examine her vase. What she thought was a modern copy of Mayan art may actually date to 800 CE.

The heat records that have been broken in the past year are more proof that human-caused warming has raised the baseline of normal temperatures, according to scientists. For 12 months, average temperatures were the highest on record. As the basis for comparing one year's temperatures to the next rises, the United Nations has called for a ban on fossil fuel industry advertising and an end to using their products. Originally, a baseline was a literal line used in surveying.

A distant, previously calm galaxy that astronomers have observed for years began to display some exciting new activity lately. Scientists say that when the galaxy, known as SDSS1335+0728, abruptly became very bright, they understood they were probably witnessing the birth of a massive black hole. They say the sudden brilliance is evidence of a growing area of intensely strong gravity: an "active galactic nucleus," caused by dust and gas being sucked into a black hole.

A new Louisiana law requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public classrooms. From kindergarten to college, the list of rules from the Bible's Old Testament must be visible to all students. Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist, and nonreligious families have sued the state over the law, which they say is unconstitutional. Commandment can also be used in nonreligious ways, but its original meaning referred specifically to these Biblical directives.

Britain's 73-year-old Princess Anne suffered a concussion after sustaining injuries believed to be caused by a horse. Though Buckingham Palace didn't provide many details, a spokesperson said the princess had been walking in her Gatcombe Park estate and had head trauma "consistent with an impact from a horse's head or legs." Concussion is from the Latin concussionem "an earthquake," from concutere, "shake violently."

A family is suing NASA three months after a piece of space debris crashed through the roof of their Naples, Florida home. It's rare for metallic detritus from spacecrafts, rockets, or satellites to land in populated areas, and the law is unclear when space trash causes harm or damage. The Old French derivation of debris is debriser, "to break down or crush," and its Latin root, meaning "to break."

A week and a half after its release, Inside Out 2 has become 2024's highest-earning film so far. Pixar's latest animated feature grossed $355.2 million in North America and $724.4 million worldwide. It's soon expected to pass a milestone most recently achieved by Barbie, taking in more than a billion dollars.

Authorities removed a shiny, towering column from a Nevada mountain range outside Las Vegas this weekend. Exactly how the monolith got there in the first place remains a total mystery. The tower, made from a sheet of reflective metal secured with concrete and rebar buried deep in the ground, was erected on protected federal land. Monolith is from the Greek monolithos, "made of one stone," and its roots, monos, "single, alone," and lithos, "stone."

Longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, who died in 2020, will be honored with a new postage stamp next month. The stamp's release celebrates Trebek's 37 seasons hosting the popular TV game show and is timed to coincide with a five-cent increase in the cost to mail a letter in the U.S. A sheet of 20 Alex Trebek Forever stamps will cost $14.60. Postage comes from the history of mail delivery, once done by riders on a series of horses that were posted along a route.

As the summer solstice arrived at the end of last week, meteorologists noted that it was the earliest start of an astronomical summer in more than 200 years. The longest day of the year always occurs on June 20 or June 21 — this year, the precise moment when the earth reached its maximum tilt toward the sun occurred at 4:51 p.m. Eastern Time on June 20. The last time the solstice was this early was 1796. The Latin root of solstice is sol, "sun."

Sha’Carri Richardson won an Olympic qualifying race at the U.S. track and field trials on June 22. She sprinted 100 meters in 10.71 seconds, 0.09 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Richardson was disqualified from the 2020 Olympics, but she'll head to the Paris Games this summer as the fastest female sprinter in the world. Etymologists believe sprint comes from a Scandinavian root related to the Old Norse spretta, "to jump up."

Records show that the U.S. Postal Service allows police and federal agents to surveil thousands of people each year by sharing information about their letters and packages. Without a court order, law enforcement officers can request details including names and mailing addresses, and otherwise keep tabs on Americans' postal activity. Surveillance was coined before surveil, from the French surveiller, "watch over," and a Latin root that means "watchful."