Ripped from the Headlines: April 2021: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for March 27–April 2, 2021

The governments of Russia and China have signaled their intention to form an alliance in reaction to sanctions and what they describe as interference by Western countries. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi issued a joint statement accusing the U.S. of "bullying." This indication of a Russian-Chinese alliance, not seen since the 1950s, is thought to be a reaction to President Biden's stated goal of growing "an alliance of democracies."

Ambient noise in the world’s oceans has decreased over the past year, and it's been a boon for whales. The coronavirus pandemic has reduced construction, cruise ships, and the use of sonar — all sources of ambient ocean noise that can interfere with whales' ability to communicate and find food. Scientists studying hormone levels of whales say the animals are much less stressed. Ambient has a Latin root meaning "a going around."

Balaram Khamari, an Indian microbiology doctoral student, creates stunning designs out of bacteria, arranging it in petri dishes. Art and science come together in these colorful creations, which Khamari composes using bacteria from local hospitals set against a backdrop of jelly-like agar. An award-winning piece titled Microbial Peacock was made with three types of bacteria including Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.

In Kyoto, Japan, cherry blossoms peaked on the earliest date in history, breaking a record set in 1409. Scientists see the unusually warm spring and early blossoming as a sign of climate change. The blooming of Kyoto's renowned cherry trees has been recorded since at least 812, according to imperial records and diaries. In Washington, DC, cherry blossoms also appeared earlier than usual, peaking on March 28. In Japanese, cherry blossoms are called sakura.

In the next few weeks, an enormous group of cicadas known as Brood X will appear in 18 U.S. states. Scientists expect tens of billions of the large, noisy insects to emerge in swarms from underground as the soil grows warmer. The Brood X cicadas are a periodic group that spends 17 years underground and lives just six weeks in the open, hatching nymphs which then move underground to feed for another 17 years. Cicadas aren't harmful to humans — but they can be extremely loud.

Doctors specializing in sleep health said that for many teenagers, remote school's later start times are good for their natural circadian rhythms. Despite the challenges of online school and the difficulties of the past year, most students who are learning remotely have experienced improved sleep cycles. Experts have long recommended later school start times for adolescents. Circadian was coined by a mid-20th century biologist from roots meaning "around" and "a day."

After it ran aground in the Suez Canal and spent six days stuck sideways in the busy waterway's muddy banks, salvage teams finally dislodged the Ever Given cargo ship. Crews armed with dredgers and tugboats were helped by a full moon and extra-high tides. The ship blocked vessels loaded with animals, fuel, food, Ikea furniture, and automobiles, among many more commodities, costing billions in global trade.

The Eurovision Song Contest disqualified Belarus, saying its entry's lyrics were too political. The competition's rules state that all lyrics and gestures must be nonpolitical. Belarus submitted two songs, both of which were found to endorse the Belarus government's violent crackdowns on recent protests. The Eurovision Song Contest, which began in 1956, is the oldest televised international music competition.

A new study finds that tax evasion by the wealthiest Americans costs the U.S. government $175 billion each year. Economists estimate that this group is hiding more than 20 percent of earnings and that over a third of all unpaid taxes are owed by the richest one percent of U.S. citizens. Researchers suggest that budget cuts have harmed the IRS's ability to monitor tax evasion. The word's root means "escape," but it's been used to mean "escaping by trickery" since the 16th century.

A woman in Ottawa, Canada was walking her dog when she had a seizure and fell to the ground. The heroic dog, a Maremma mix named Clover, struggled free of her leash and then stopped a passing pickup truck by stepping into the road. The driver was able to call for help, thanks to Clover's heroic actions. The home security camera of a nearby house caught the entire incident on video.

Nike sued a company for trademark infringement after it collaborated with rapper Lil Nas X on a customized version of a Nike sneaker. The lawsuit was filed against MSCHF on March 29, the same day the shoes were released. The sneakers, priced at over a thousand dollars a pair, are modified Nike Air Max 97s. At issue is Nike's distinctive trademarked "swoosh," the use of which is considered infringement.

An amusement park ride in Florida malfunctioned this week, leaving two teenagers suspended for hours. The teens were on the three-story-high slingshot ride at the Old Town park in Kissimmee when a cable snapped. After nearly two hours, the teens were safely rescued. All slingshot rides in the state were temporarily closed after the incident. Malfunction comes from function, "work," and mal-, "bad or badly."

Archaeologists in northern Chile have discovered that an ancient South American civilization practiced mummification of parrots. Remains of the preserved birds have been found at sites in the Atacama, one of the world's driest deserts, confounding researchers. Parrots are not native to the region, and must have been transported hundreds of miles over the Andes Mountains.

Prolific children's book author Beverly Cleary died at the age of 104. Cleary was beloved by generations of readers for dozens of entertaining stories featuring realistically flawed characters. The most popular of these was Ramona Quimby, introduced as a minor player in Henry Huggins and famously portrayed as an endearing troublemaker in Ramona the Pest. Cleary wrote 42 books, and in 2000 she was named a "living legend" by the Library of Congress.

A Brazilian pilot was rescued after he survived a plane crash and a month in the Amazon rainforest. Antônio Sena crash-landed his 48-year-old single-engine Cessna 210L and waited several days for rescue before setting out on foot. He walked for five weeks through a jungle that's home to venomous snakes, deadly insects, and jaguars, mainly surviving on a wild fruit called breu and tiny inambu bird eggs. The sound of a chainsaw eventually led Sena to safety in an inhabited area.

UCLA's men's basketball team upset second-seeded Alabama on March 28, in a tournament already remarkable for the number of upsets. Sunday's 88-78 game went into overtime after UCLA's Bruins overcame an 11-point halftime deficit. The verb upset has seen its definition do an about-face since the 15th century, when it meant "fix or set right." As sports lingo, it was popularized in horse racing by the surprising 1919 win of a horse named Upset.