Ripped from the Headlines: April 2025: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for March 30–April 5, 2025

Four U.S. soldiers died after their armored tank became submerged in a Lithuanian bog during a training mission. As they attempted to recover another tactical vehicle lodged in the swampy water, their 70-ton M88 Hercules recovery vehicle began to sink in the wet, muddy ground. When the tank and its occupants were finally located, they were stuck in six feet of mud 13 feet below the surface of the bog. The Gaelic and Irish source of bog is bogach, "soft, moist."

A sold-out event in San Francisco called Cake Picnic required a cake for entry and featured a buffet of 1,387 cakes. Outside the Legion of Honor art museum, long tables covered in white tablecloths were lined with the frosted, layered confections. Cake Picnic attendees, each of whom purchased a $15 ticket and brought a homemade or store-bought cake, were given pastry boxes to fill with slices from the buffet.

The space telescope Gaia, which has charted the cosmos for more than 10 years, has been shut down by mission specialists at the European Space Agency. Over the last decade, Gaia mapped about two billion stars, 150,000 asteroids, and many other celestial bodies, including details of their properties and movements. This cartography has resulted in a precise three-dimensional map of our solar system and beyond, helping astronomers make huge advances in their understanding of the Milky Way.

Johnny Mathis, a singer known for what has often been described as his "velvet voice," announced his retirement at the age of 89. Mathis has performed for more than 70 years, singing romantic ballads, jazz standards, and soft rock since he was a teenager. The crooner sold more albums over the course of his career than any pop performer except Frank Sinatra. Crooner comes from croon, "to sing or speak softly," originally a Scottish word.

Betty Webb, known for her work as a code breaker during World War II, died at age 101. Webb was part of a team that worked at England's Bletchley Park to decode encrypted messages sent by the German and Japanese militaries. She volunteered to help the war effort at the age of 18, and she was good at cracking codes, in part because she was fluent in German. Webb's work decoding messages is credited with saving lives, as it informed Allies of secret Axis military strategies.

After the New York Yankees hit nine home runs in a winning game against the Milwaukee Brewers, some baseball fans had questions about whether the team's new bats were giving them an unfair advantage. Two of the batters whose hits took them all the way around the bases to score a run actually used traditional bats, but the other seven home runs were hit with new, wider "torpedo" bats. Major League Baseball officials confirmed that the new bats don't violate any rules.

More than 3,000 people were killed, and hundreds remain missing, after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar. The quake was so powerful that its effects were felt 600 miles away in Bangkok, Thailand, where skyscrapers swayed from the tremors. China, India, and Russia sent search and rescue teams to Myanmar, and countries including Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam have provided aid and supplies. The Latin root of magnitude is magnus, "great, large, or big."

Iran announced that it would reject direct negotiations with the United States over its nuclear weapons program. The statement from President Masoud Pezeshkian, which came in response to a letter President Trump sent to the Iranian leader last week, hinted at the possibility of indirect talks. Strategic discussions between the U.S. and Tehran have not occurred since Trump's first term, when he withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal between Iran and multiple world powers.

Inspired by new research suggesting that time spent in cultural institutions can boost mental health and reduce loneliness, a growing number of doctors are issuing museum prescriptions. These physicians are also instructing their patients to include outings to art galleries, theaters, concert halls, and libraries in their regular routines. Prescribing these activities is thought to help mitigate stress, mild anxiety, depression, and even some medical conditions like high blood pressure.

As the White House eliminates programs and funding for scientific research, European countries are beginning to recruit U.S. scientists. American experts on climate change and vaccine safety are among those who are increasingly receptive to these foreign job offers. Both France and the Netherlands have recently increased their budgets for scientific recruitment at universities. Recruit is from the French recrue, "a new growth," from a Latin root meaning "to grow."