This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for January 31–February 6, 2026

A new study found that a close, nurturing relationship with parents during adolescence was strongly associated with having a good social life in adulthood. Researchers followed a group of 7,000 participants for 20 years, starting when they were young teenagers. Teens who felt understood, cared for, and loved by their parents were much more likely to have close friends and rich social lives as adults. Adolescence comes from the Latin adolescere, "to grow up or ripen."

Iraqi calligrapher Ali Zaman spent six years creating an enormous manuscript of the entire Quran. The completed masterpiece consists of 302 double-sided scrolls measuring 13-by-5 feet and covered in the curved lines and swirls of Arabic calligraphy. The handwritten script is a major form of artistic expression in Islam, one that Zaman has practiced since he was 12 years old. The Greek root of calligraphy is kallos, "beauty."

A coyote swam ashore at Alcatraz Island in California, the first to be seen there since 1972. The small, dog-like canine was spotted shivering on the shores of the historic island after swimming a mile through the 50-degree water of San Francisco Bay. In the days since, the animal appears to be thriving. National Park Service rangers plan to trap and relocate the coyote to a "natural, undeveloped area" before seabirds begin nesting for the season.

In Chile, researchers at a network of seed banks are working to preserve the country's diverse flora. They hope to collect bulbs and seeds representing the thousands of plant species that grow in Chile, almost half of which are only native to that country, in order to protect them from climate disasters, war, and other potential catastrophes. The Latin Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers, from a root meaning "to blossom."

As Florida experienced a brutal cold snap, its Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued an executive order allowing people to remove iguanas from the wild. The large, spiny lizards are vulnerable to extremely low temperatures and play dead to survive the cold, sometimes freezing stiff and falling from trees onto vehicles and pedestrians. Experts okayed transporting cold-stunned iguanas to specific drop-off locations.

Korean pop culture has become so popular in the U.S. that a growing number of fans are learning to speak Korean. Singing along with the English-Korean song "Golden" from the movie KPop Demon Hunters is hard without at least mimicking a Korean lexicon. As more and more people try to understand the vocabulary in KPop hits and Korean TV shows, one language app has seen a 22 percent increase in users signing up to learn Korean. The Greek root of lexicon means "word."

Researchers found that genes have the strongest effect on longevity, no matter how healthy a person's lifestyle might be. By analyzing data from the siblings of 444 Americans who lived to be more than 100 years old, scientists concluded that people with long-lived relatives have the best chance of living longer themselves. Especially for centenarians, it appears that reaching a very old age is mainly hereditary, rather than the result of diet, exercise, and healthy habits.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts instructed clerks and employees to sign nondisclosure agreements. The legal documents promise to keep behind-the-scenes details of the Court private. It's long been assumed that employees would not share secret information, but recent leaks to reporters inspired using the formal contracts. Some critics are calling for increased transparency — more disclosure, rather than less — at a time when public trust in the Court is at a historic low.

A "wet dress rehearsal" for the Artemis II lunar mission included a countdown clock and simulated liftoff. This prelaunch rocket fueling test phase allowed NASA engineers to walk through a practice launch that mimicked conditions of the real event as closely as possible. Four astronauts will travel around the moon aboard Artemis II, which is currently scheduled for launch in March. Simulated is from the Latin root similis, "like or resembling."

At the Grammy Awards ceremony on February 1, Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny won album of the year for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos." It was the first Spanish-language record to ever take the top prize. The musical virtuoso will also make history this weekend with his Super Bowl halftime act, the first to be performed entirely in Spanish. Critics praised Bad Bunny for his creativity and talent, creating music that spans genres including Latin trap, reggaeton, R&B, hip-hop, and more.