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

Several brands of organic carrots were recalled after an E. coli outbreak in at least 18 states was linked to the vegetables. The bacteria, which are present in the environment as well as in animal and human intestines, include harmful forms which can cause serious illness. One person died after eating carrots contaminated by the dangerous microorganisms. Bacteria is the plural of bacterium, whose Greek root means "small staff," after the shape of its cells.

Four people were arrested this week after they used a life-sized bear costume in an attempt to defraud their car insurance companies. Each claimed a bear had damaged their vehicle, but a close examination of security camera footage showed that a person in a bear suit actually did the damage. The four are charged with conning the insurers out of a total of $141,839. Defraud is from the Latin roots de-, "thoroughly," and fraudare, "cheat."

Airbnb's plan to stage a gladiator experience at the Colosseum led to an angry outcry in Rome. The company will provide the opportunity for armored "warriors" to battle in a nonviolent simulation of the bloody ancient Roman spectator sport, part of a promotion for the film Gladiator II. Critics say the event will trivialize the brutality of the real-life games, which pitted the warriors against each other, wild animals, and condemned criminals.

Researchers found that after gophers were brought to Mount St. Helens, the volcano in Washington state that erupted in 1980, signs of life quickly returned to the devastated landscape. Six years after the disaster eliminated measurable carbon and nitrogen from the soil, scientists identified at least 40,000 plants growing there. A recent study found that just 24 hours of digging by the burrowing mammals was enough to revive the blighted site.

Beloved actor Betty White, who died in 2021, will be honored with her own postage stamp in 2025. White is almost universally considered to be an icon of American TV. She appeared in many comedy series, including The Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and was widely admired as an advocate for animals. Her popularity grew in later years, thanks to her wit and warmth.

President Biden gave Ukraine permission to use long-range American missiles to attack targets inside Russia. The Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as ATACMS, can fire at targets up to 190 miles away. Using these weapons, Ukraine can target and potentially destroy Russia's weapons stockpiles and tactical operations centers. It's the first time Ukraine has been allowed to aim U.S. missiles at Russian territory.

Scottish lighthouse inspectors discovered a 132-year-old handwritten message in a bottle. The mechanical engineers were repairing the Corsewall Lighthouse, built two centuries ago in Kirkcolm, when they found the missive. They removed the note from its glass bottle and saw that it was dated September 4, 1892. The letter was written by lighthouse keepers and engineers installing a new lens and lantern. The Latin source of missive is littera missiva, "letters sent."

The 35,000-year-old mummified body of a saber-toothed kitten was discovered in Siberia. Scientists who studied the cub discovered significant differences from baby lions, including the shape of its muzzle, which is wider and shorter than that of modern-day lion cubs. It also had a much larger mouth opening and an upper lip that is at least twice as deep, perhaps to accommodate the long canine teeth that would grow in. Muzzle derives from the Gallo-Roman musa, "snout."

For 100 years, astronomers have searched for planets orbiting Barnard's Star, which is six light years away. Now a small planet has finally been verified — Barnard Star b, which circles its sun every 233 days and is three times more massive than Earth. Scientists confirmed the planet was revolving around Barnard Star by measuring changes in the star's velocity. The Latin root of orbit is orbita, "wheel track or course."

President Biden visited an Amazon rainforest on November 17. He was the first sitting American president to travel to the tropical, moist South American ecosystem, which is uniquely dense with trees and other vegetation and especially vulnerable to climate change. Biden used the visit to emphasize the importance of environmental protection, declaring the date International Conservation Day.

A man was caught trying to smuggle hundreds of tarantulas on a plane. Officials at the Jorge Chavez International Airport in Peru searched the South Korean man after noticing his suspiciously swollen stomach. Hidden under his shirt were the huge, hairy, poisonous spiders — 285 juveniles and 35 adults. The tarantula gets its name from a city in southern Italy, Taranto, where the giant spiders are extremely common.