Tagged: precautionary principle

Featured image: Blood clot fears: how misapplication of the precautionary principle may undermine public trust in vaccines

Blood clot fears: how misapplication of the precautionary principle may undermine public trust in vaccines - COVID-19

Guest Author • Mar 17, 2021 •

Anthony R Cox, University of Birmingham The arrival of effective vaccines against COVID-19 has been one of the few good news stories of the pandemic. However, communicating the safety of vaccines has long been difficult, as shown by most countries having some level of vaccine hesitancy, including hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccines specifically. Just as regulatory authorities – such … Read More

Meatball surgery and disaster recovery - The Dismal Science

Seamus Hogan • Apr 11, 2014 •

I love the description of “meatball surgery” in M*A*S*H (the original book, not the saccharine sit-com that came two degrees of separation later). To quote Hawkeye Pierce:We are not concerned with the ultimate reconstruction of the patient. We are concerned only with getting the kid out of here alive enough for someone else to reconstruct him. Up to a … Read More

Precautionary Principle & Biodiversity Thoughts - Chthonic Wildlife Ramblings

Brendan Moyle • Nov 02, 2010 •

A lot of conservation decisions are difficult as a consequence of poor knowledge.  Often we don’t actually know a lot about the population size of endangered wildlife, crucial gaps will persist about their biology (breeding, diet, distribution etc) and the responses of people to changes in the management can be very hard to predict.  These knowledge problems can persist for … Read More