This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for April 20–April 26, 2024

Poaching is increasing in Wyoming due to the high value of elk antlers. Each summer, bull elk grow the curved, branching horns, which are naturally shed in the spring. At specific times and locations, people are allowed to collect the antlers, which are used as decorations or pricey dog chews. Although poachers don't directly harm the elk when they illegally gather the valuable horns, officials say they are harassing the animals and endangering their ability to survive the winter.

The government of Guinea-Bissau is working to increase tourism to the Bijagós Archipelago, an important site for green turtle conservation. The turtles swim up to 600 miles annually to lay their eggs on one of the tiny islands. It's also difficult for humans to reach the remote island chain. The country hopes to make travel easier and to encourage conservation-based tourism, to protect the turtles' habitat. The Greek pelagos, "open sea," is the root of archipelago.

A new world record for the number of ballerinas dancing on pointe in one place was set when 353 dancers converged at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Wearing white tutus, their hair pulled into iconic ballerina chignons, the young female ballet dancers simultaneously performed a toe-to-toe step called bourrée for one minute, breaking the previous record of 306. In Italian, ballerina means "dancing girl," from ballo, "a dance."

Trillions of cicadas are about to emerge in the Midwest and South, as two broods hatch simultaneously. The noisy insects are periodic hatchers, staying underground for years before emerging as a group. The last time Brood XIX and Brood XIII appeared at the same time was in 1803. The large number of hard-shelled insects will provide a rare chance for scientists to study them; they will also be a nuisance, as in large groups their buzzing can be as loud as a lawnmower.

A military court convicted a U.S. Navy sailor of attempted espionage. Chief Petty Officer Bryce Pedicini, who served on a destroyer based in Japan, was found guilty of sharing classified information with a "citizen or employee of a foreign government" at least six times. The court ruled that Pedicini was aware the information could be valuable to an adversary and harmful to the United States. The French root of espionage is espion, "a spy."

California is currently experiencing a glut of solar power. There are so many solar panels in the state absorbing so much energy from the sun that on clear days there's more electricity available than is needed. At such times, electricity prices essentially become negative, forcing grid operators to pay for unused power. The original meaning of glut was "a gulp," from a Latin word meaning "to swallow or gulp down."

The Lyrids meteor shower peaked this week and will be visible through April 29. While the largest number of shooting stars occurred over the weekend, a full moon made them harder to see from most locations. Astronomers advise finding a rural location far from city lights for the best view of the glowing space rocks moving across the dark night sky. The Greek root of meteor is ta meteōra, "things in heaven above."

On April 24, President Biden signed a $95.3 billion foreign military aid package. The bill, which had been stalled in Congress for months, will provide money and munitions to Ukraine, including surface-to-air missiles and anti-tank guided missiles. As well as aiding Ukraine's defense against Russia, the package will fund weapons for Israel and humanitarian aid for Gaza. Military is derived from the Latin militaris, "warlike."

An Indian teenager became the youngest chess player ever to win the men’s Candidates Tournament on April 21. Seventeen-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju is a prodigy who was only the third person to reach the grandmaster level in chess at the age of 12. He has gone on to be the youngest-ever challenger for a world chess title. Before Dommaraju's Candidates victory, the record for youngest winner was held by Garry Kasparov, who was 20 when he won in 1984.

More than a dozen Universal Studios Hollywood visitors were injured in a tram accident. Their trolley car hit a guardrail on the right side of its track during a Backlot Tour, a popular attraction at the theme park. The collision caused the car to tilt sharply, sending passengers to the ground. Fifteen people were admitted to the hospital with minor injuries, according to park officials. Before tram meant "streetcar," it was a "barrow or truck body used in a coal mine."

Archaeologist Nick Beard unearthed two 250-year-old bottles of cherries from the basement of George Washington's house. He was exploring the dirt floor beneath Mount Vernon when he saw the top of one of the glass containers. Beard and his colleagues dug further and pulled out the nearly-intact bottles, which still contained cherry pieces. Beard said the basement had been an 18th-century storeroom. Earth once meant "bury a corpse," and unearth meant "to dig up a body."

A growing number of high school graduates are choosing to attend vocational schools rather than college. These programs prepare students for specific jobs, including carpentry, welding, car repair, and plumbing. Hands-on training helps them start careers that involve manual work and require a high degree of experience and skill. Young people who choose vocational programs cite the demand for blue-collar workers, as well as the extremely high cost of a university education.