Maybe you truly don’t need real-world experience before you get out there in the world and start doing your thing! Or maybe Georgia is just really in the mood for some extra chaos in the streets right about now.

Happening in the World: According to a recent study from Bangor University, using LED lights to illuminate escape routes in fishing nets has been proven to help bycatch (non-target fish, sea mammals, and birds caught in nets with target fish) escape, helping to make commercial fishing more eco-friendly. (Guardian)

Happening in the US: Until Georgia’s Public Health State of Emergency expires May 13th, teens aged 16 and over can get their drivers licenses without taking a road test, assuming they meet all other requirements. This was announced by Gov. Brian Kemp as part of an executive order that included social distancing guidelines Georgia has already begun to loosen despite criticism. (CNN)

Happening in NYC: Starting May 6, no subways will run from 1-6 a.m. so all of the trains can be disinfected; this will be the first regularly reoccurring system-wide halt in the history of the MTA. This announcement comes amid controversy over how to help homeless people currently sheltering in subway cars, many of whom are there because they fear getting sick from COVID-19 spread within shelters. (NYT)

Poem: I am feeling nostalgic for pre-COVID Columbia, so this week I want to recommend a poem by a Rosebud Ben-Oni, who I had the pleasure of listening to when she did a reading at Columbia in the Center the Study of Ethnicity and Race that my professor insisted we attend (for good reason!). Her poems focus on her Mexican-Jewish, queer identity and her love for science, among other things.

yikes! via Wikimedia Commons