Ripped from the Headlines: May 2021: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for May 15–May 21, 2021

An injured pigeon in Baltimore was transported to an aviary 600 miles away, thanks to a crowdsourced relay of drivers. The pigeon, named Passenger by its rescuers, was driven by five different animal lovers who coordinated the rescue online and met in parking lots along the route to hand off the bird, which had been struck by a car. The pigeon safely reached the Ramsey Loft, a pigeon-specific rescue aviary in Hephzibah, Georgia, after a 12-hour drive.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its latest "climate normals," updating the baseline normal U.S. weather data. These standards, which include average temperature and precipitation, are reset every 30 years by NOAA. The new baseline reflects the warming climate, allows people to predict the weather more accurately, and provides a standard against which scientists can measure future climate changes.

As the conflict between Israel and Palestine entered its eleventh day on May 20th, world leaders increased their pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to reach a ceasefire. President Biden urged Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to de-escalate, and European members of the UN pushed for an official ceasefire resolution. The current conflict has caused at least 200 deaths. The Latin root of conflict means "to strike."

Biologists once considered culture to be unique to humans, but surprising and varied instances of animal behavior have led scientists to reconsider this stance. Recent research makes it clear that many animals share behaviors which they learn and spread in a social way. Examples include whales teaching each other unconventional hunting methods and chimpanzees starting fashion trends, ornamenting themselves by inserting long pieces of grass into their ears.

A powerful cyclone slammed India's west coast on May 17, causing extensive damage to buildings and interrupting vaccination drives. Cyclone Tauktae battered states including Goa and Gujarat with heavy rain and whirling wind that reached 90 miles per hour. Coastal towns and cities prepared for the storm by evacuating residents and protecting hospitals, and few lives were lost. Cyclone has a Greek root, kyklon, "moving in a circle."

As more people in the northeastern United States get vaccinated, the region has seen a significant decline in Covid-19 cases. Just a month ago, cases were surging in states including Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. The accelerating rate of vaccinations in the Northeast has brought a parallel drop in case numbers, as well as declines in coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths. Decline derives from a Latin root that means "to bend or lower."

A little more than a year after Coca-Cola released Coke Energy, the company announced it will discontinue the caffeinated energy drink in North America. The move affects all four varieties, including Coke Energy Zero Sugar and Coke Energy Cherry. Coca-Cola has discontinued more than 200 products over the past year, shifting its focus to its bestselling brands.

Humans have kept betta fish as pets for more than 1,000 years, but scientists have only recently learned that they were deliberately domesticated over time. Bettas' striking looks — large fins, slender bodies, and rainbow colors — were intentionally bred into the fish. Researchers say the selective betta breeding is similar to the way dogs were domesticated to look a certain way. Scientists hope to learn more from bettas about the way domestication changes animals' genes.

Evacuation orders were lifted in Los Angeles County on May 18, as the Palisades Fire neared 35 percent containment. More than 1,000 residents of Topanga Canyon and Pacific Palisades Highlands had been forced to leave their homes in the previous days as firefighters battled the blaze. A man has been arrested and charged with starting the fire in an area 20 miles outside the city of Los Angeles. The root of evacuation means "to leave or to empty."

A new study by the National Institutes of Health will examine the response of people with various immune system disorders to the Covid-19 vaccine. Cancer patients, people with transplanted organs, and those who have conditions like lupus or Crohn's disease were not included in initial vaccine trials. Their immune systems typically have a harder time fighting off germs, and the study will clarify how well-protected they will be by vaccination.

A report by the New York Police Department's former head of intelligence says that officials at the FBI, DHS, and other agencies failed to analyze the intelligence they had gathered prior to the January 6 violence at the Capitol. According to the report, government officials should have issued warnings about potential violence based on the extensive information the agencies had collected. Intelligence comes from a root that means "to gather."

On May 17, AT&T announced the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. The telecommunications company acquired WarnerMedia just three years ago, and the move indicates its retreat from the streaming entertainment business. The uniting of the two media companies would mean a new entity worth as much as $100 billion, rivaling Netflix and Disney. It will combine Discovery's reality-based cable channels with networks including HBO and CNN.

A pagan monument in rural south England, known as the Cerne Abbas Giant, was probably built in 908 CE, according to archaeologists. The 180-foot-long giant is carved into a hillside and outlined in white chalk, and its age and original purpose have long been mysteries. Researchers analyzed grains of sand and shell to zero in on the year of the giant's construction; they speculate that it may have been an angry response by pagans to the building of a nearby Christian abbey.

After a Bengal tiger went missing last week in Houston, legislators have introduced a bipartisan bill to prohibit people from owning a big cat in the United States. The Big Cat Public Safety Act would ban keeping large cats such as tigers, cheetahs, or leopards as pets. Sanctuaries and zoos are exempt from the law, which would also restrict public feeding and petting of cubs. The bill passed in the House of Representatives in December, and it now moves to the Senate for consideration.

A seven-year-old boy who uses a prosthesis has adopted a golden retriever puppy named Marvel, who also has a limb difference. A Minnesota dog breeder was seeking the ideal family for a pup born with three legs when she found Paxton Williams. He had lost his right foot at the age of four, and gained mobility with the help of a prosthesis. His mother called it "love at first sight" when the boy met Marvel, who will get her own prosthesis in a few months.

Starting July 15, 39 million parents will begin receiving up to $300 per month under the Biden administration's expanded child tax credit. The new plan increases the amount of the refunds and establishes an early payment plan. Half the amount will be paid out monthly, and families will receive the remainder when they file their taxes. Proponents say the expanded refunds will lift millions of children out of poverty. Refund comes from roots meaning "to pour back."

Over the past year, a Welsh man rehabilitated a golf course that was shuttered more than half a century ago. Chris Powell spent an estimated 1,000 hours identifying greens and tees that had become part of the surrounding landscape over time and bringing the defunct course back to life. The golf course, originally built in the 1920s, is playable again thanks to Powell's work restoring it to its former state.

The New York City subway system resumed round-the-clock service in the early hours of May 17, after its longest shutdown since opening in 1904. The pandemic led to more than a year without overnight subway service and a decline in ridership to less than half of 2019 numbers. Resuming 24-hour train service is a point of pride in New York, one of the few cities in the world whose subways normally run all night long.

A new NAACP scholarship has been awarded to an inaugural class of ten aspiring law school students. The Marshall-Motley Scholars Program is named for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge. It provides full law school tuition, room and board, and a stipend to students who plan to work as civil rights lawyers. The "funds to support a scholar" definition of scholarship dates from the 16th century.

New York's fourth-tallest building will become a tourist attraction this fall, when its new transparent exterior elevator opens to visitors. Riders will get dizzying views of the city as the entirely see-through glass box travels more than a thousand feet up the side of the One Vanderbilt tower. The transparent elevator has been named Ascent and is scheduled to open in October. Transparent comes from a Latin word that means "show light through."