“Too averse to risk
To chance the lottery, yet
Steps into traffic.”

“A sudden car door
Cyclist’s story rewritten
Fractured narrative.”

New York City is using poetry to urge motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians to think about safety. City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan unveiled the new Curbside Haiku campaign this week, saying the city is “putting poetry into motion with public art to make New York City’s streets even safer.”

Scientists in Israel have created a device that can be placed in a drink to detect the presence of a date-rape drug. Though it’s still under development, the sensor, which could cost less than the drink itself, is expected to resemble an ordinary straw or swizzle stick. So far, the device has a 100 percent success rate, with no false readings.

“The FDA considers eating raw sprouts on the same level of risk as eating raw beef — not medium rare burgers, raw beef,” writes Adriana Velez at The Stir.

At least 22 people have been killed, and thousands more infected, by a virulent strain of E. coli that’s sweeping through Europe, in what’s being called the “deadliest E. coli outbreak in modern history.” The outbreak is a result of a particularly toxic strain of the bacteria, and German and European Union officials have yet to pinpoint its source — though cucumbers and organic sprouts farms have been suspected. Could something like this happen in America?

Photo: CC BY Dottie Mae