BACKUP ORIGINAL TWIW May 3–May 9, 2026

A study found that some monkeys eat soil to alleviate the digestive effects caused by junk food. Researchers observed macaques in Gibraltar eating dirt and clay far more often than in places without heavy tourism. The monkeys also ate more soil at times when tourists were feeding them more salty, fatty snacks, which they love as much as humans do. The team concluded that the macaques deliberately add bacteria and minerals to their diet to ease the stomach upset caused by the junk food.

Japanese astronomers believe they have detected an atmosphere around a tiny planet beyond Pluto. The plutino, formally named (612533) 2002 XV93, would be the smallest-known object in our solar system with a layer of gases around it that are bound by gravity. If the findings are confirmed, they will change the conventional understanding that only large planets have atmospheres. The Greek roots of atmosphere are atmos, "vapor," and sphaira, "sphere."

A former Chick-fil-A employee is accused of bilking the restaurant out of thousands of dollars using fake refunds. Keyshun Jones was fired from a Grapevine, Texas Chick-fil-A, but he returned a month later and began issuing phony refunds to his own credit cards at a cash register. By paying himself back for 800 catering trays of macaroni and cheese, Jones cheated the company out of about $80,000. He was arrested and charged with property theft, money laundering, and evading arrest.

Researchers using satellite data learned that oak trees have at least one method of circumventing caterpillar infestation. German scientists found that one year after the trees have been heavily infested, they deliberately delay sprouting their leaves by an average of three days to avoid another infestation. This short lag in new leaf growth is enough to sharply reduce the caterpillars' survival rate that spring, and it also cuts the tree damage by 55 percent.

After Spirit Airlines announced it was going out of business, a TikToker started a crowdfunding campaign to buy it. The 35-year-old discount airline had struggled financially for years and was unable to survive increasing fuel prices. Hunter Peterson launched a donation website where people can pledge to support his purchase of Spirit and his plan to have it be "owned by the people." So far, over $200 million has been pledged toward a total goal of $1.75 billion.

When Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby this weekend, horse trainer Cherie DeVaux became the first woman to train the winner of the prestigious race. DeVaux, who opened her own stable eight years ago, had never before trained a horse for the Kentucky Derby, which is the first leg of the Triple Crown. Derby is named for the 12th Earl of Derby and derives from an Old English root meaning "deer village."

British divers discovered the wreck of a World War I U.S. Coast Guard cutter that vanished mysteriously in 1918. The ship's disappearance had remained an enigma for over a century, ever since it left its convoy in the British Channel for supplies and disappeared. A three-year effort by a team of explorers finally located the wreckage of the USCGC Tampa 50 miles from the Cornish coast. Enigma has a Greek root that means "a puzzle."

Many fire experts are predicting an extreme wildfire season this year because the Forest Service didn't reduce as much flammable vegetation in 2025 as in the previous year. In 2024, the agency eliminated about four million acres of dry, easily ignitable brush, mainly through deliberate, controlled burns. Last year only about two and a half million acres of flammable underbrush was eradicated. Flammable is from the Latin flammare, "to set on fire."

The Indian government announced an extra charge of 10,000 rupees for hajj trips due to the high price of gas. Although India no longer offers subsidies for Muslim citizens to take part in the annual pilgrimage to the sacred city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, it does negotiate set airline prices for pilgrims. This year's hajj will be financially out of reach for many Indian Muslims. In Islam, the journey is a mandatory religious duty. The Arabic hajj means "pilgrimage."

After two metal detectorists found 19 medieval coins in a Norwegian field, archaeologists began digging on the site. Over the next few weeks, they uncovered more than 3,000 silver pieces from the Middle Ages, most dating to the late Viking Age. It's the largest such discovery in Norway's history, and it is likely to grow as excavations continue. The coins were minted between 980 and 1047 C.E., and several bear the names of Viking rulers including Cnut the Great and Aethelred the Unready.

This year's Met Gala, the annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, was especially extravagant. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was an honorary co-chair and spent about $10 million dollars on the gala. The event's opulence included Beyoncé in an Olivier Rousteing-designed gown covered in jewels and a diamond-encrusted headpiece; and Isha Ambani wearing a dress embroidered with 200 diamonds and emeralds. The Latin root of opulence means "wealth."

A new statue that mysteriously appeared in London was confirmed to be by the anonymous street artist Banksy. The work depicts a man poised to step off the edge of a plinth as the flag he's holding blows across his face, blinding him. The proud stance of the figure just before he marches off the pedestal's base, and the statue's title, "Blind Patriotism," led many to see it as a criticism of British nationalism. The Greek root of plinth is plinthos, "squared stone."

A new CDC report found that over 30 percent of U.S. adults get less than the recommended seven hours of sleep each night. Experts warn that insufficient nighttime rest can lead to daytime somnolence, raising the risk of accidents. As well as causing extreme fatigue, sleep deprivation over time can affect cardiovascular health, the immune system, and mental health. Somnolence derives from the Latin somnus, "sleep."

Nearly a month after an outbreak of hantavirus among its passengers, a cruise ship is still waiting for permission to dock. On May 6, three symptomatic people were evacuated from the MV Hondius, two of them with acute flu-like symptoms, including fever, headaches, and nausea. Last month, three passengers on the ship died from hantavirus, which is spread by rodents. More than 100 remained on board as the crew awaited word that they would be allowed to disembark in the Canary Islands.

Washington state's Stillaguamish Tribe is buying hundreds of acres of farmland and removing levees to create wetlands. The tribe plans to allow Puget Sound tidewater to flood the fields, transforming them back into the tidal marshes they were a century ago. It's part of a plan to restore threatened Chinook salmon in the area, by providing crucial wetland nurseries for young fish. The salmon species holds an extremely important cultural significance to the Stillaguamish.