Ripped from the Headlines: February 2025: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for February 16–February 22, 2025

The world's oldest-known wild bird, a 74-year-old Laysan albatross named Wisdom, hatched her latest chick. The enormous seabird has laid at least 60 eggs since being banded by scientists in Hawaii in 1956. Wisdom and her partner will feed and care for their chick in a nest at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge for about five months, until it's old enough to fledge. Albatross is from the Spanish alcatraz, or "pelican." The Hawaiian word for this bird is mōlī.

Researchers installed cameras in the Gainesville, Florida, sewer system and discovered at least 35 different animal species under the city's streets. Storm drain residents included raccoons, bats, armadillos, and 12 bird species. Most alarmingly, there were at least 50 separate alligator sightings. The enormous reptiles were observed using the sewers to move between ponds and to catch fish in the drains. The Spanish source of alligator is el lagarto, "the lizard."

For the first time, a major auction house will hold a sale featuring works of art that were all created by artificial intelligence. Christie's Augmented Intelligence sale opened for bidding on February 20. It offers buyers the chance to outbid each other on pieces that include a painting made by a robot and works by digital artists who used machine learning. Thousands of artists signed a letter protesting the auction, arguing that AI is being used to exploit "human artists."

The University of Connecticut women's basketball team beat South Carolina in a blowout on February 16. The 87-58 South Carolina loss on their own turf brought the Gamecocks' 71-game home winning streak to an end. The Huskies dominated throughout; they held a larger lead over the Gamecocks than any other team has managed this season and ultimately achieved a relatively easy victory.

Polish pierogies will travel on the next mission to the International Space Station. When four astronauts make the trip this spring, each will take significant items with them, including representations of their home countries. Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski said he plans to bring poems by Wisława Szymborska, music by Frédéric Chopin, and pierogies, savory Polish dumplings made of dough wrapped around a potato and cheese filling and then boiled or fried.

The 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live was celebrated with a three-hour, star-studded extravaganza this weekend. The TV special opened with a performance by Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter and a monologue by Steve Martin. Popular sketches were reprised as dozens of celebrities and past cast members took the stage, performing physical comedy, dance, and other entertainments. Extravaganza, "an extravagance" in Italian, is from a root meaning "wander beyond."

Powerful storms and flooding in the South caused at least 14 fatalities in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Georgia this week. Some regions got more than a month's worth of rain in just 24 hours, swelling rivers and streams and washing out roads. Many of the deaths resulted from people trying to drive through standing water. The Latin root of fatality is fatalis, which means both "ordained by fate" and "deadly."

A kayaker off the coast of Chile was briefly scooped into the mouth of a humpback whale before being spit out. Adrián Simancas was paddling his kayak in southern Chile's Strait of Magellan when he and his small, lightweight boat were abruptly gulped by the humpback. Simancas's alarmed father captured the event on video from his own kayak. Experts guess that the man just happened to be in the whale's path as it fed on krill and small fish; he was quickly released and swam to safety.

Language-learning platform Duolingo announced the death of its beloved mascot, Duo, the cartoon owl that has represented the app since it was developed in 2011. Platform users became familiar with the wise and snarky character, who pestered them daily to practice. Marketing experts said that killing off their popular mascot was probably a bid by Duolingo to attract attention. Mascot is from the provincial French mascotte, "faerie friend" or "good luck piece."

In some American towns and cities, failing movie theaters are being turned into thriving nonprofits. Cinemas that were struggling to make a profit have pivoted to soliciting donations, grants, and community volunteers to keep their doors open. This model keeps unprofitable local theaters available to the many residents who value them. It has been successful in diverse locations, including small towns in New England's Berkshires; Nashville, Tennessee; and Long Island, New York.

A blast of frigid air from the polar vortex caused temperatures to plummet across much of the United States. As low pressure and cold air around the North Pole expanded southward, wind chills — known as "feels like" temperatures — dipped below zero as far south as Texas and Arkansas, and reached negative 60 in North Dakota. More than 100 million people were under National Weather Service "extreme cold warnings" as of February 19.

Protests against the Trump administration took place in all 50 states on Presidents' Day. Thousands gathered at the Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., at state capitols, and in major cities around the country. They expressed their opposition to the administration's agenda, including the firing of thousands of federal workers, freezing of funds to government agencies, and mass deportations of immigrants.

Pope Francis was admitted to the hospital with a respiratory infection late last week. On February 18, a Vatican spokesperson said that the pope had been diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs. Though he was experiencing symptoms including shortness of breath and coughing, the pontiff was reportedly in good spirits. Respiratory comes from the Latin root respirare, meaning "breathe in and out."

A satirical petition calling for the sale of California to Denmark got more than 200,000 signatures this week. The tongue-in-cheek campaign was blatantly poking fun at President Trump's serious plan to purchase Greenland from Denmark. A website titled Denmarkification jokingly suggested several benefits of turning California into a Danish territory, including "to protect the free world," and to rename Disneyland "Hans Christian Andersenland."

At least 18 people were killed during a stampede at a New Delhi train station on February 16. Most of the victims were traveling to Prayagraj for the Hindu Maha Kumbh festival, when they fell and were trampled as thousands of people rushed to board trains. Throngs of passengers began running when a change in departure platforms was announced. The disaster follows a similar stampede last month. The Spanish estamper, "to stamp," is the root of stampede.