Tagged: Risk

Long read: reflections of a volcanologist as a science organisation faces charges in the wake of the 2019 Whakaari eruption - News

Guest Author • Oct 27, 2021 •

• New Zealand stories,
• Risk,
• Volcanoes

Ben Kennedy, University of Canterbury   This week, a case review hearing sought to set a trial date – now likely in 2023 – for 13 organisations and individuals facing charges in the wake of the Whakaari White Island eruption of December 9 2019. The volcano erupted while 47 people were on the island, leaving 22 dead and survivors … Read More

People have had a hard time weighing pandemic risks because they haven’t gotten information they needed when they needed it - News

Guest Author • Apr 30, 2021 •

• COVID-19,
• Risk,
• vaccines

Kathleen H. Pine, Arizona State University; Kathryn Henne, Australian National University, and Myeong Lee, George Mason University The decision to pause and then restart the Johnson & Johnson vaccine underscores how hard it is even for experts to gauge health risks. It’s been still harder for everyday people, most of whom have no medical background and little experience analyzing … Read More

Call for clearer risk information for tourists following Whakaari/White Island tragedy - Guest Work

Guest Author • Dec 17, 2019 •

• adventure tourism,
• eruption,
• Risk,
• tourism,
• volcano,
• Whakaari,
• White Island

Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, University of South Australia and James Higham, University of Otago In the aftermath of the tragedy at Whakaari/White Island on December 9, many are analysing the risks of adventure tourism, particularly volcano tourism, and asking pointed questions. It is a sensitive time, with 15 people now confirmed dead, many hospitalised in critical condition, and two bodies yet … Read More

Why do people criticise emergency services and their decisions following a disaster? - The Psychology Report

Sarb Johal • Dec 16, 2019 •

• disaster,
• emergency response,
• police,
• Psychology,
• Risk,
• uncertainy,
• volcano,
• Whakaari,
• White Island

Why have we seen such criticisms of the emergency response and the decision to delay recovery rather than take immediate action? Why do some people think they can make better decisions that the Police and other authorities? To understand this better, we need to think about how and why we might feel the need to make decisions for other … Read More

A mountain of a challenge in banning glyphosate - Guest Work

Guest Author • Nov 01, 2019 •

• cancer,
• glyphosate,
• IARC,
• Monsanto,
• Risk,
• toxicology

Belinda Cridge I was reading my son a story last night. A great tale of derring-do of five mountaineers scaling the Matterhorn for the first time. One in the party had tried six times previously and failed, this was the last attempt before winter closed another season. They tried a new route, scaling from the north face. The route was … Read More

Cell phones give you cancer. Yeah, right. - Physics Stop

Marcus Wilson • Nov 15, 2018 •

• cancer,
• Cell Phones,
• radiation,
• risk,
• science communication

It’s been a couple of weeks since the NIH studies on mice, rats and cellphones hit the headlines.  The studies were released with perfect timing to be used in our Science Communication paper – a third-year level paper for science undergraduates on communicating science ideas well. In short, we had half the class look at what mainstream media said about … Read More

Vaccines and risk on Auckland motorway billboard - Code for life

Grant Jacobs • Oct 02, 2018 •

• AVN,
• ingredients,
• risk,
• Vaccine,
• WavesNZ

There’s a new billboard on South Auckland motorway near the exit to Middlemore hospital encouraging drivers to question the safety of vaccines, Short answer: yes. But what’s in vaccines is not really the issue, it’s a way to distract people from the real question: are you better off with the vaccine than without it? You could turn … Read More

You’re more likely to bet the farm if your friends do too - News

Jean Balchin • Apr 13, 2018 •

• balloons,
• dice,
• friends,
• gambling,
• information technology,
• lifestyle,
• opinions,
• peer pressure,
• risk,
• risky behaviour,
• Social,
• Social media,
• Society

A recent study in Scientific Reports suggests that being in the presence of peers (such as friends, coworkers or acquaintances) who engage in risky behaviours may have an influence on individual choices. In a laboratory task led by Livia Tomova and Luiz Pessoa, participants who knew of riskier behaviour taken by their peers, tended to make riskier choices themselves. However, observing safe … Read More

Why do so many fear the bicycle? - Public Health Expert

Public Health Expert • Mar 14, 2017 •

• active transport,
• biking,
• cycling,
• injury,
• public health,
• risk,
• road transport,
• rugby,
• transport

By Prof Alistair Woodward, Auckland University “It is too dangerous.” This is the reason given most commonly for not riding a bike on the road in New Zealand. In this blog, I summarise a paper we have just published quantifying the risk of cycling injury. We found it to be low compared to other activites that New Zealanders commonly engage … Read More

NZ Earthquake – international scientists react - News

John Kerr • Nov 14, 2016 •

• #eqnz,
• earthquake,
• geology,
• quake,
• risk,
• seismology

In the aftermath of this morning’s 7.5-magnitude earthquake there has been a solid effort by researchers and authorities to provide timely information to an understandably worried New Zealand public. The most up-to-date source of information on the situation is GeoNet, which is providing updates on aftershock sequences and likelihood estimates of future scenarios. In the most recent news update on the GeoNet … Read More