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

A cheating scandal shook the world of professional ski jumping this week. Several members of Team Norway were suspended after officials found evidence that their ski suits had been manipulated to make the athletes more aerodynamic. The team's manager admitted to illegally adding an extra seam where the legs are sewn together; more material there was hoped to give the jumpers extra lift and allow air to flow around them more efficiently.

The leaders of Canada, France, and the United Kingdom held joint press conferences to stress the importance of their alliance. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris before meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer. All three heads of state emphasized their unity amid worldwide economic and political instability. Carney said Canada must strengthen ties to "reliable allies." The Latin root of alliance means "bind or tie to."

Unusual pieces of wood that a fisherman found on a New Zealand beach have turned out to be parts of a rare Polynesian canoe. The ancient longboats, carved from tree trunks and constructed in sections, were known as wakas and used by people who settled Pacific islands at least 3,000 years ago. Archaeologists assembled more than 400 wooden fragments to reconstruct the canoe's original shape, describing it as a "significant discovery."

Researchers discovered that living cells found in animal dung can be used to improve genetic diversity in some species. Scientists have been searching for a way to reverse the enormous loss of animal populations in recent decades, and some have turned to studying wildlife droppings in search of cells that are still alive. New evidence suggests that this genetic material in animal poop may both help protect living animals and create new ones through cloning and other techniques.

After their quick trip to the International Space Station turned out to have an unexpectedly long duration, two NASA astronauts have been safely returned to Earth. What began as an eight-day mission for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had to be prolonged after their Starliner spacecraft experienced helium leaks and thruster problems. The two ended up staying on the ISS for more than nine months, until two seats were available on a returning space capsule.

A new "retirement home" for geriatric aquarium penguins opened in Boston, and six elderly aquatic birds were moved to the special island. Wild penguins typically live to be ten years old, but the New England Aquarium is home to twenty penguins in their twenties and thirties. These venerable animals now have a haven where they can be monitored for conditions like arthritis and cataracts. The Greek gērōs, "old," is the root of geriatric.

Australians reacted with anger after an American influencer was filmed handling a baby wombat. Sam Jones, who posts hunting videos on Instagram, shared footage of herself grabbing the joey, which screamed and hissed as its distressed mother paced nearby. The wombat was barely old enough to be out of its mother's pouch, according to experts, who also said that human interaction can cause marsupials "severe stress." Authorities threatened to deport Jones, who voluntarily left the country.

As Pope Francis continued to recover from a lung infection and pneumonia, illnesses that kept him hospitalized for over a month, he published a letter to the editor of an Italian newspaper. The pontiff expressed his renewed clarity about the "absurdity of war" and called for diplomacy between nations. The pope's spokesman denied rumors that Francis might step down as head of the Roman Catholic Church. Pontiff is from the Latin pontifex, "Roman high priest."

Many nations are looking to Switzerland, hoping to replicate the country's transformation of its rivers and lakes from Europe's dirtiest to the most pristine. In the 1960s, many Swiss bodies of water were marred by mats of algae and floating dead fish, caused by pollution from sewage and industrial runoff. Over the next decades, the country ramped up spending on sophisticated water treatment plants, and today nearly every lake and river in Switzerland is clean and safe for swimming.

Scientists studying why we always seem to have room for dessert after dinner found that neurons which cause a feeling of satiety are changed when exposed to sugar. Even after our brains receive the signal that we feel satisfied and full, these neurons release a kind of reward endorphin if we consume sweet treats. Essentially, our brains ignore that sense of fullness and make us crave ice cream or pie because of the endorphin boost. The Latin root of satiety means "enough."