Each week, we scan the latest headlines to spot words in action. From major news stories to pop culture buzz, this feature highlights language as it’s unfolding. Stories about stranded travelers, weird science, and Fat Bear Week all contributed to the vocabulary from this week’s news.
aquaculture
noun: the cultivation of aquatic animals and plants, especially fish, shellfish, and seaweed
From the headlines: On the coast of Maine, oyster farmers are testing one of the first-ever electric commercial workboats. These marine innovators believe that electrification will eventually transform aquaculture with quieter boats that run on chargeable electric outboard motors. For now, farmers who raise shellfish or grow seaweed mostly rely on diesel fuel. Challenges include expensive boats and a lack of charging stations.
corpulent
adjective: large or bulky of body; portly; stout
From the headlines: Fat Bear Week has kicked off in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve. Each year, online voters celebrate the park’s most corpulent brown bears as they prepare for torpor by packing on weight. Thanks to an especially strong salmon run this season, officials say the animals are already “magnificently plump.” The bears are eating heavily to build the fat reserves essential for surviving the long winter.
culminate
verb: to end or arrive at a final stage
From the headlines: Decades of cleanup work on the heavily polluted Chicago River culminated in the city’s first open swim in a century. Guided by environmentalists and backed by supportive officials, the river’s water quality has steadily improved. Industrial dumping was halted, and new tunnels now reroute sewage away from the waterway. Ecologists celebrated the gradual return of fish, beavers, and other wildlife, but the crowning achievement came when Chicago residents themselves were able to take part in the long-awaited swim.
erosion
noun: the process by which land is worn away by the action of water, glaciers, winds, waves, etc.
From the headlines: Sea level rise is accelerating the erosion of islands in the Chesapeake Bay, and scientists say the last inhabited island there will likely be submerged within fifty years. Tangier Island has lost two-thirds of its landmass in the past 175 years as waves have buffeted and worn away its coastline. Without government support and investments of at least $250 billion, experts believe it will be uninhabitable by 2055.
improbable
adjective: not probable; unlikely to be true or to happen
From the headlines: The 35th annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, hosted by the Annals of Improbable Research, recognized winners across ten quirky categories. Billed as honoring “achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think,” the event spotlighted unusual studies. The improbable projects included an experiment testing whether eating Teflon could create a sense of fullness without calories, and another showing that painting cows with zebra stripes helps ward off horseflies.
incursion
noun: a hostile entrance into or invasion of a place or territory, especially a sudden one
From the headlines: Russian military planes have carried out multiple incursions into NATO-controlled airspace this month, prompting a sharp warning from the alliance. Just last week, German and Swedish fighter jets intercepted a Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea, while Estonia reported a brief violation of its own airspace. NATO said such incursions into member territory pose serious risks and warned it is prepared to defend its borders through both “military and non-military” means.
mayhem
noun: a state of rowdy disorder
From the headlines: A cyberattack on September 20 caused days of disruption at several major European airports. All check-in and boarding had to be done manually, without the computer systems that are normally used to process passengers. The attack led to mayhem at airports in London, Dublin, Brussels, and other cities, with hundreds of flight delays and cancellations. Some airline employees used iPads and laptops to check passengers in, and travelers waited hours to claim their checked baggage.
pseudonym
noun: a fictitious name used to conceal an identity
From the headlines: The English actor and singer Harry Styles ran the Berlin Marathon under a pseudonym this week. Styles was one of 55,000 people who competed in the September 21 race. He registered under the name “Sted Sarandos,” ran wearing sunglasses and a headband, and finished in less than three hours, beating his Tokyo Marathon time by almost 25 minutes.
remonstrate
verb: to say or plead in protest, objection, or disapproval
From the headlines: Thousands of visitors to Machu Picchu were left stranded when protests shut down bus and train service, eventually leading to the evacuation of over 2,000 tourists. Residents of Aguas Calientes remonstrated against Peru’s government over a new transportation contract that had been awarded to another district. Demonstrators blocked roads and rail lines with rocks as they protested what they described as a lack of “transparency and fairness” in how tourist revenue is distributed.
tundra
noun: the vast, nearly level, treeless plains of the Arctic regions
From the headlines: A new greenhouse in Gjoa Haven, an Inuit hamlet in the Canadian tundra, is producing locally grown produce for the first time ever in the frozen, treeless region. Canada’s Arctic Research Foundation helped locals set up the high-tech greenhouse, which uses grow lights powered by solar panels and wind turbines, inside insulated shipping containers.
