This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for August 17–August 23, 2025

A study looking at ways to alleviate poverty found that giving money directly to poor families dramatically lowered infant mortality rates. In Kenya, where a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, 32 of every 1,000 babies die before they turn one. Researchers found that giving people $1,000 eased many effects of poverty — people ate more nutritious food and were more likely to send their kids to school. The most dramatic change was a 50 percent decrease in infant deaths.

A British man is on a mission to warn people about the harmful effects of stacking stones along the Mam Tor hiking trail. Stuart Cox's viral videos, in which he kicks over cairns built by hikers, also give a cogent explanation for why he does it. Cox's compelling argument, shared by environmentalists, is that taking the stones from ancient walls disrupts many species' habitats and hastens erosion. Cogent, "urgent" in French, has a Latin root meaning "to drive together."

A day after the union representing Canadian flight attendants defied a return-to-work order, they reached a tentative deal with Air Canada. Protesting pay and scheduling, 10,000 airline employees went on strike last weekend. When the government ordered them back on the job, they initially refused to comply. Assisted by a mediator, the union and the airline came to an agreement that includes immediate pay increases for flight attendants.

New research suggests that potatoes may have evolved from tomatoes. The genetic lineage of potatoes has long been a puzzle, with some genes being closely related to tomatoes and others to Etuberosum, wild plants that resemble potato plants but do not produce the tasty tubers. The new analysis shows that about nine million years ago, the two plants likely interbred to produce the potatoes we know and love. The Latin root of lineage means "line of descent."

Dr. Alieu Kamara, Sierra Leone's first and only neurosurgeon, is giving hope to patients with brain and spinal cord injuries who previously would have had no chance of recovery. Dr. Kamara attended medical school in China before returning to Sierra Leone. He sought extra training in neurology after realizing that his patients with head and spine injuries needed a nervous system specialist. Neurology comes from Greek roots neura, "nerves," and logia, "study."

Three days after holding a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, President Trump hosted the leaders of seven European countries and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a White House meeting. The talks took place at the urging of heads of state who are eager to support Zelenskyy and foster peace in Ukraine. As the White House works to facilitate a peace summit between Russian and Ukrainian leaders, it remains unclear whether Putin will agree to a meeting.

In what investigators called a "perfect example of synergy" between a tour guide, park employees, and police, a tourist was caught stealing stones from the ancient city of Pompeii. The seamless teamwork of everyone involved led to his arrest on theft charges and a possible sentence of a year in prison. Not only was the act illegal, but a legend says that anyone taking artifacts from the site is cursed to have bad luck. The Greek roots of synergy mean "work together."

A bronze sculpture that, for many visitors, is nearly synonymous with the Grand Canyon, was saved from this summer's Dragon Bravo fire. The 600-pound statue of Brighty the Burro honors a real donkey who lived in the Grand Canyon in the early 1900s. The statue has been closely identified with the park for decades. Grand Canyon visitors have rubbed the burro's nose for luck so often that it's now shiny. The Greek synōnymos, "of like name," is the root of synonymous.

Researchers have found that chimpanzees learn communication styles from their mothers, whom they use as a kind of "social template." A new study showed that young chimps closely observe their moms and maternal relatives, using their vocal and visual communication styles as a model for their own. Chimpanzee fathers, who are much less present in the lives of their offspring, don't appear to pass on their particular habits of communication or serve as guides in the same way mothers do.

A man who was trapped behind a waterfall for two days in California's Sequoia National Forest was rescued. Ryan Wardwell was located using a drone during an extensive search of the area. He had planned to rappel down the rock face but became stranded when he couldn't get past the heavy flow of cascading water. Wardwell had hypothermia, caused by the icy cold water of the Seven Teacups Waterfall, which originates from snow melt off Mount Whitney.