Ripped from the Headlines: April 2025: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for April 13–April 19, 2025

Two Russian missiles hit the city center of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine, killing at least 35 civilians and injuring dozens more. One of the weapons hit a trolleybus full of nonmilitary passengers, many of whom were traveling to church for Palm Sunday. While Russia claimed the attack had targeted Ukrainian troops, several European leaders called it a "war crime." Civilian is from the Latin civilis, "relating to a citizen."

A social media trend is inspiring people to film themselves as they gobble leafy green vegetables. On TikTok, "Dinosaur Time" is described as a nutrition hack to inspire consumption of more kale, chard, romaine, and spinach. Instead of taking the time to prepare these nutritious veggies, participants simply devour them raw by the handful, embodying the spirit of the enormous ancient reptiles, most of which were herbivores. The Greek roots of dinosaur mean "terrible lizard."

According to a new study, crows can distinguish one geometric pattern from another. Previous research had shown that crows have math skills: they can count about as well as a human toddler. This was the first look at crows' ability to tell the difference between shapes. When shown images of five squares and one four-sided shape that wasn't perfectly square, the birds knew it was different; they could also recognize parallel lines, right angles, and other geometric features.

Researchers studying lightning's effects on Panama's forests found that one tree, the almendro, actually benefits from being struck. While most trees are killed by the bolts of electricity, scientists noticed that towering almendros often survived lightning strikes. A closer look revealed that they're unusually conductive, sending electricity into the ground and zapping nearby trees. Each hit made them more resistant, killing parasitic vines and reducing competition from neighbors.

A study showed that as Paris restricted car traffic over the past 20 years, levels of noxious fumes and air pollution plummeted. The city's changes included eliminating thousands of parking spots, closing many streets to cars, adding bike lanes, and charging SUVs higher parking fees. Since 2005, nitrogen dioxide, a harmful ingredient of smog, fell by 50 percent; the level of harmful particulates fell by 55 percent. Noxious has a Latin root, noxa, meaning "injury."

Analysis of an ancient papyrus found notes from a complex tax evasion trial. The 1,900-year-old document was discovered in the Judean Desert as early as the 1950s, but historians only recently deciphered it. The lines on the ragged paper scroll were written in Ancient Greek, and they describe the legal details of a convoluted crime that involved illegally buying and freeing enslaved people and falsifying documents in order to avoid paying taxes.

Critics say a recent trend of people using generative AI to create action figures of themselves will have a pernicious effect on both the environment and data privacy. The data centers used to power AI tools use more electricity each year than 117 countries combined, as well as large amounts of water. Additionally, questions have risen over how photos, biographical information, and other data are used by AI companies after the figures are produced.

After a cancer patient received a grim prognosis, he decided to spend the rest of his life doing volunteer work in all 50 states. Doug Ruch's doctors told him that his cancer was terminal and he had 12–18 months to live. Reflecting on how he'd lived his life, Ruch's dying wish was to help improve people's lives all over the country. In the past month, he's helped at soup kitchens in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and 10 other states. The Greek prognōsis means "foreknowledge."

New research revealed extremely high levels of toxic chemicals in most paper receipts. Dollar General, Burger King, Ace Hardware, and other major U.S. retailers use a thin, slightly shiny paper to print out proof of what items were purchased. These receipts are coated with a chemical that's been linked to health effects including cancer and cognitive damage. Researchers found that holding one for just 10 seconds exposes people to unsafe levels of the harmful substance.

Leslie Odom Jr. announced that he will reprise his role in the Broadway musical Hamilton. Odom was part of the show's original cast, and he won a Tony Award for playing Aaron Burr. He and Hamilton's author, Lin-Manuel Miranda, both left the play in 2016, sharing a final performance. Odom will return to Broadway in September for a limited run. Reprise is from a Latin root, reprehendere, "to hold or pull back."