This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for March 8–March 14, 2026

Two tree-dwelling animal species thought to have been extinct for thousands of years were recently found living in New Guinea. Photographers confirmed the existence of the arboreal marsupials, the pygmy long-fingered possum and the ring-tailed glider, on a peninsula of West Papua. This largely unexplored region is covered in dense rainforests. Both species had previously been documented solely through 6,000-year-old fossilized bones. Arboreal's root is arbor, "tree."

While most Canadians turned their clocks forward an hour on March 8, people in British Columbia won't turn theirs back on November 1. The province has adopted permanent daylight-savings time, a move supported by 90 percent of residents. However, experts warn this could disrupt circadian rhythms — the internal clocks governing sleeping and waking patterns and metabolism. Darker winter mornings may make waking up harder, potentially leading to negative health effects.

After competing in the AFC Asian Cup, seven players from Iran's women's soccer team defected to Australia. Iran's government considers it treason for Iranian citizens to abandon their country in favor of another one. Australian officials promised to provide asylum for the defectors, guaranteeing them permanent residency and ongoing support, including housing and healthcare. Defect derives from the Latin deficere, "desert."

Researchers say a growing number of teens are suffering from sleep deprivation. A report in The Journal of American Medicine showed that three out of four teenagers are sleeping for less than eight hours a night on average, including a large group that gets just five hours of sleep. Losing out on so much necessary rest can affect brain development, according to experts. The study pointed to a widespread trend across all demographics, which appeared to be unconnected to screentime.

As materials scientist Adel Djellouli sat in the stands at a Boston Celtics game, he found himself curious about the game's ubiquitous sneaker squeak. Djellouli and some colleagues later tested the phenomenon by filming and recording a sneaker sliding across a glass plate — a friction test. They found that when a shoe rubs against the smooth surface, the resistance creates fast-moving ripples in its sole that repeat at a very high frequency, producing the famous basketball squeak.

Environmentalists in Madagascar are facing a dilemma: The country's most famous endangered animal loves the fruit of an invasive species that's hindering attempts at forest restoration. Lemurs thrive on the strawberry guava, a plant that harms native vegetation, insects, and soil. More than 100 species of the small primate eat the fruit, but they also depend on the health of the forests. Big-eyed lemurs, adorable to many, are named for a Roman "evil spirit of the dead."

The National Park Service is warning visitors to watch for quicksand at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, advising them to beware of mutable ground. The park includes some sections of shoreline along Lake Powell that appear firm but are actually unstable and changeable. Unusually uniform, flat ground is especially dangerous, as it can shift suddenly from dry to soft. The word mutable comes from the Latin mutare, meaning "to change."

Economists say a surfeit of chain salad bowl restaurants such as Sweetgreen, CAVA, and Chipotle has contributed to plunging stock prices. In addition to the oversupply of these "fast casual" eateries, rising food prices and consumer boredom with so-called "slop bowls" — social media slang for these slightly mushy meals served in big bowls — have resulted in sharply reduced traffic and sales. Surfeit is derived from the Old French sorfet, "excess."

A 2022 NASA mission deliberately crashed a spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos to see if the impact could deflect its path. Initial results found that the collision shortened the asteroid's orbit around its binary companion, the larger asteroid Didymos. A new study shows that the impact also changed the pair's trajectory around the sun. The data suggests that such missions could defend Earth from asteroid impacts. The Latin root of trajectory means "throw across."

Scientists have developed a new process that uses sunlight to transform plastic waste into acetic acid, the component of vinegar that gives it a sharp, acidic flavor. At the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, researchers made a breakthrough that may help to reduce plastic pollution while also producing the tart liquid solution, which is commonly used in manufacturing and food production. Vinegar is from the Latin vinum, "wine," and aigre, "sour."