This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for September 30–October 6, 2023

President Biden's new American Climate Corps will train thousands of young people to install solar panels, restore wetlands, make homes more energy-efficient, and other skills. The program will deploy about 20,000 trainees to attack the climate crisis head-on, ideally providing the expertise needed to find permanent union jobs. The plan is partly modeled on President Roosevelt's 1933 Civilian Conservation Corps, which enlisted youth to plant trees and build infrastructure.

As funding from international relief organizations dwindles, Sudan's diaspora is becoming an increasingly important source of aid. People who still live in the country, where war broke out six months ago, are dependent on grassroot support from Sudanese immigrants who have moved to the U.S., Europe, and Australia. In Greek, diaspora means "dispersion," from roots meaning "to scatter about."

Torrential rain and flooding in New York City allowed a sea lion named Sally to escape her enclosure in the Central Park Zoo and go on a brief adventure. The marine mammal's escapade began as the water rose and she was easily able to swim out of her pool and explore the area nearby. Sally remained inside the zoo and soon returned to the company of her less adventurous companions in the sea lion enclosure. The French escapade means "a prank," from a root meaning "escape."

The judge in Donald Trump's business fraud trial imposed a gag order after the former president made a social media post denigrating one of the judge's law clerks. New York State Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to remove the post and refrain from making any statements or comments about court staff members as proceedings continue. Trump faces charges that he inflated the value of his properties to get better deals on insurance and loans.

The United Nations criticized a French ban on its Olympic athletes wearing hijabs at the 2024 Paris Games. France has historically restricted religious dress, particularly the headscarf worn by some Muslim women. A UN spokesperson called the prohibition religious discrimination and said, "No one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear or not wear." Hijab means "partition or screen" in classical Arabic.

Brand new images of the Orion Nebula are forcing astronomers to rethink their understanding of the way planets and stars are formed. About 150 objects that can be seen floating in the giant cloud of space dust "shouldn't be there," according to scientists. These Jupiter-Mass Binary Objects are relatively young, hot, and dense; according to the old theory, they are too small to have been formed by the nebula's gas and dust. In Latin, nebula means "fog or smoke."

The House of Representatives voted on October 3 to oust Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. It is the first time in U.S. history that a House member has been forcibly removed from the leadership position. Every Democrat and eight Republicans voted to remove McCarthy, who served as Speaker for just nine months. The Latin root of oust is obstare, "stand opposite to."

On October 2, the prestigious Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to two scientists whose research made messenger RNA vaccines possible. Drew Weissman and Katalin Kariko won the important award for their work on the medical potential of mRNA and a new kind of vaccine. Their research led to the fast development of a Covid vaccine. Prestigious originally meant "practicing magic," from a Latin root meaning "juggler's tricks."

Scientists say tiny organisms that regenerate their missing body parts hold the answers to the future of human regeneration. A snail that can regrow its eyes and a flatworm that produces entirely new organisms from tiny pieces of its body are among the creatures researchers are studying. The ability of human bodies to repair themselves by healing wounds is thought to be related to regeneration, and molecular biologists are focusing on DNA to better understand the connection.

The Pacific Northwest's Swinomish Tribe is building the first modern "clam garden" in the U.S. This Indigenous form of environmental engineering was used for generations to boost shellfish production, but it hasn't been practiced in 200 years. A mostly-submerged rock wall will eventually extend 200 feet into Skagit Bay, capturing sediment to create an ideal habitat for littleneck and butter clams. The traditional practice has been shown to yield four times more shellfish.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the oldest sitting senator, died this week at 90. Feinstein had held the position longer than any other woman. Her age and health had recently led critics to question her ability to do the job, but many considered her a trailblazer. Vice President Kamala Harris was among several female politicians at Feinstein's October 5 memorial who credited her with paving the way for women in politics at a time when men held the vast majority of elected positions.

In the days after an iconic 300-year-old tree was cut down in northern England, a teenager and a 60-year-old man were arrested in connection with the vandalism. The Sycamore Gap tree, which stood on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, was the country's most commonly photographed tree. Both suspects are currently out on bail as the investigation into the malicious destruction continues. Vandalism derives from the Vandals, the tribe that sacked Rome in 455.