Weekly Snapshot: Tree of Life

Welcome to LNGenZ’s round up of the week’s top news stories.

Charles Darwin’s Notebooks Mysteriously Returned after 20 Years

Missing for two decades, it is still a mystery who took the scientist’s notebooks.

When you check out a book from the library and don’t return it on time, you can expect to pay a fine. But what happens when something worth millions of dollars is taken from a library? Something of historical significance and value? And what happens when that object is mysteriously returned 20 years later? When Charles Darwin’s notebooks went missing, it sparked an international investigation, but the books were never found. After two decades, these priceless artifacts have been returned, but the mystery of who took them remains.

In 2001, staff from Cambridge University library noticed the notebooks, which included the “Tree of Life” sketch from 1837, were missing. These artifacts are very important because they contain Darwin’s notes and formulas for his theory of evolution. The notebooks had been taken out to photograph their contents, but when they went missing, the library employees figured they had been misplaced. However, after a search of more than ten million books and other documents, they realized the items had been stolen. Read more…

 

Ketanji Brown Jackson Confirmed as Next Judge to Join Supreme Court

Who is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson?

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has been confirmed to the United States Supreme Court. The Court is one of the most powerful parts of the US government, as it heads the judicial branch. It is the highest court in the country and makes important legal rulings.

When a judge joins the Supreme Court, he or she is called a justice. There are nine justices on the court. Judge Jackson was nominated for the job after Justice Stephen Breyer announced plans to retire at the end of the current term. Judge Jackson is expected to become the first black woman to join the court, but she will not officially become a justice until Breyer leaves and she is sworn in to replace him.

Judge Jackson was born in Washington, DC, but she grew up in Miami, Florida. Her parents worked as teachers, but her father also became a lawyer. He sparked Ketanji’s interest in the law. An ambitious young woman, she studied law at Harvard University, then served as a clerk to Justice Breyer and several other judges. Read more…

 

Is it Chicken Kiev or Kyiv? A Scrumptious Spelling Problem

Spelling might be a more important subject than you thought.

When was the last time you had a spelling test at school? Spelling may seem like a dull topic, but the way words are written can have a big impact on how people see the world.

In the United Kingdom, the Sainsbury’s supermarket chain recently vowed to rename all its Chicken Kiev products to “Chicken Kyiv.” Why does this store want to change the labeling on these chicken products? And should everyone change the way they write the name of this tasty meal?

Ukraine was recently invaded by Russia, and now people are changing the way they spell certain words to do with the nation. English-speaking countries used to write the Ukrainian capital city’s name “Kiev,” but the more popular spelling has suddenly changed to “Kyiv.” Why? Read more…