Ripped from the Headlines: April 2022: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for April 16–April 22, 2022

Ecologists long believed that elaborate bird nests with curved roofs were by far the most protective. However, new research suggests that songbirds with simpler nests are more adaptable to climate change and are therefore more likely to survive in the long term. Current studies of birds' evolutionary history show that those with smaller, more basic nests have wider geographical ranges. Also, fancier domiciles take longer to build and are more easily spotted by potential predators.

Twenty years after they were discovered missing, a rare set of Charles Darwin's notebooks were returned to Cambridge University, accompanied by an anonymous note reading "Librarian, Happy Easter X." The books, valued in the millions of dollars, include a sketch of Darwin's "Tree of Life." Investigators continue to seek the identity of the unnamed person who returned the notebooks — and presumably stole them as well. The Greek source of anonymous means "without a name."

A physician's task force has recommended that children be regularly screened for anxiety. The panel of child and adolescent health experts said screening would help doctors identify kids who might be at risk for the disorder, which is characterized by feeling unusually nervous and tense. They noted that anxiety is easy to miss when it appears in childhood but can almost always be treated with talk therapy. Anxiety comes from a root that means "to choke or squeeze."

Surprising new research suggests that even people who think they value innovation have a subconscious aversion to creativity. This negative bias tends to keep employers from hiring those they see as highly creative and dissuade people from starting innovative projects. The study found that respondents strongly link creativity to distasteful ideas and words, including agony, vomit, and poison. The root of aversion means "to turn away."

Over the past several weeks, more than 25 million chickens and turkeys have been infected with an avian flu, driving up the price of eggs nationwide. While expensive eggs at the grocery store are clear evidence of the virus's effect on laying hens, it has also spread among penguins, bald eagles, and other wild birds. Poultry farmers in 27 states have euthanized sick birds in an attempt to stop the spread of the flu. Avian is from the Latin avis, or "bird."

Despite the fact that they love dry, hot conditions, more than half of all cactus species are at risk of extinction in the next 30 years, due to the warming climate. New research shows that 60 percent of the prickly plants may be unable to adapt to a hotter environment. Scientists say that wild cacti in Florida, Mexico, and Brazil are most vulnerable. Cactus, once used for all sorts of spiky plants, comes from a Greek word meaning "artichoke."

A comet astronomers describe as looking like "burned toast" has been precisely measured, thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope. The massive space object, made of dust and ice, was discovered last year by scientists who suspected it was the largest comet ever observed. A report this week confirmed their guess: it's about 85 miles across, with a mass of 500 trillion tons. The Greek root of comet is komētēs literally "long-haired star."

On April 17, a container ship that had been stuck in the Chesapeake Bay for over a month was finally dislodged. The 1,095-foot Ever Forward, owned by the same company whose ship blocked the Suez Canal for a week last year, ran aground as it traveled from Baltimore to Norfolk, Virginia. Although the Ever Forward was firmly wedged in the bay, it never obstructed the waterway. After workers dredged below the ship and removed much of its cargo, barges were able to pull it out of the mud.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival began April 15 and runs through April 24. The first half of the two-weekend event, which was canceled in 2020 and 2021, featured dozens of musical acts, including Billie Eilish and Harry Styles. More than 100,000 spectators viewed performances on seven separate stages. Festival is derived from a word meaning "feast" and was originally used to describe elaborate religious celebrations.

A site used as a Japanese-American incarceration camp during World War II will become a national park. Thousands of innocent Americans with Japanese ancestry were imprisoned between 1942 and 1945 at the former Amache Internment Camp in Colorado. Local student volunteers have preserved the site for years, and in 2006 it became a historical landmark. The camp's new designation means it will be maintained by the National Park Service. The root of incarceration means "prison."

The young members of an all-female skate crew in Cochabamba, Bolivia wear the usual Vans sneakers when they're on their skateboards. But the rest of their clothing honors their Indigenous roots; they wear polleras, the layered skirts of the country's native Aymara and Quechua groups, with their hair in traditional long braids. The ImillaSkate crew's mission is to use their Indigenous clothing to draw attention to the persecution these groups still endure in Bolivia.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a new breath test for detecting Covid infections. According to FDA officials, the InspectIR Covid-19 Breathalyzer is likely the first of many such devices. Though the machines can only process 20 samples at a time and must be operated by highly-trained health professionals, the noninvasive method of screening for the virus holds enormous promise. The Latin root of infection means "to spoil or stain."

The FDA said it will investigate the cereal brand Lucky Charms after more than 100 people complained feeling sick from eating it. In a statement, the federal agency said it takes the reports seriously and will examine the possibility that some boxes were tampered with. General Mills Inc, which makes Lucky Charms, said its own investigation revealed no evidence of illness resulting from the cereal. The Latin root of investigate is vestigium, or "footprint."

An anonymous French lottery winner, known only as "Guy," announced that he will use most of his $217 million jackpot to help save the planet. Guy's 2020 win was the largest in EuroMillions history, and he beat odds of one in 140 million, contrasting the millions of players who lose money buying lottery tickets. Guy will donate the majority of his windfall to a French environmental foundation. Lottery derives from the Italian lotto, "lot or portion."

After a three-year disruption, the Boston Marathon returned to its usual springtime schedule. Long-distance runners competed on the 26.2 mile course on April 18. Kenya's Peres Jepchirchir was the first woman to cross the finish line, 50 years after the race was opened to women. Several racers ran to honor loved ones lost in 2013's Boston Marathon bombing. The word is from a famed Greek hero who ran from the Plains of Marathon to Athens with news of a military victory.

A single company has removed more than two dozen Confederate monuments over the past two years, 15 of them in its hometown of Richmond, Virgina. Team Henry Enterprises, a Black-owned general contracting company, has taken on a controversial job that other businesses refused, pulling down statues of Confederate heroes like Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Owner Devon Henry said he believes the task is an important part of his family's legacy.

Russia began a new offensive in the eastern part of Ukraine on April 18, after building up its forces in preparation for the attack. Russian troops unleashed massive rocket and artillery barrages in the Donbas region and seized the town of Kreminna. Ukrainian soldiers were reportedly holding the front line against the onslaught as officials attempted to evacuate civilians. Offensive derives from a Latin root, offendere, which means "to hit or strike."

Since the pandemic began, U.S. hospitals have faced a severe shortage of blood, which is transfused to patients at a rate of 40,000 pints per day. Blood's complex nature makes it difficult to mimic, but researchers have grown closer to producing a synthetic version in recent months. Though none of these lab-developed fluids has yet been approved by the FDA, scientists are optimistic about developing a versatile blood substitute.

The Biden administration marked Tax Day on April 18 with a request to Congress for increased funding for the IRS and Treasury Department. Severe staffing shortages and aging technology have complicated the 2022 tax season for those federal financial agencies. One Treasury official said the lack of adequate funding has created a "tax gap" of $600 billion in taxes that cannot be collected.

This week, the state of California announced a plan to increase sales of electric cars, which includes banning new gasoline-powered vehicles starting in 2035. The new rule stipulates that 35 percent of all new automobiles sold in California by 2026 must be powered by hydrogen or batteries, rather than gas. The root of vehicle means "to go, move, or transport."