Protecting miners from black lung
‘Fundamental Shift’ Needed To Protect Miners From Deadly Black Lung https://n.pr/2N6oO7a
The Chemical Safety Board
Wastewater as dust suppressant…
Oil and gas wastewater as dust suppressant less than ideal | via @penn_statehttp://news.psu.edu/story/523652/2018/05/30/research/oil-and-gas-wastewater-dust-suppressant-less-ideal
Risk perception is challenging
Humans are bad at understanding risk. California’s coffee-may-cause-cancer signs won’t help: https://slate.com/technology/2018/05/californias-coffee-may-cause-cancer-signs-may-hurt-more-than-they-help.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_ru… via @slate
Lessons from the Florida bridge collapse
The Florida bridge collapse is a tragic result of a building ethos that could come to your town: https://slate.com/business/2018/03/the-florida-bridge-collapse-shows-how-accelerated-bridge-construction-can-go-wrong.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_ru… via @slate
We owe it to victims to learn everything we can from tragedies like this
As Bodies Are Pulled From Rubble, Questions Mount About Miami Bridge. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwltG7-Dc
Measles comes back…?
Unfortunate that we are watching a solved human health problem become unsolved. https://t.co/mA5xpoNZE2
Cell Phones causing cancer would be really dramatic
I think people underestimate how earth shattering a conclusion that non-ionizing radiation causes cancer would be | California Warns People to Limit Exposure to Cellphones. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwg-uPrzM
I miss fonio
Drone Risks for Passenger Aircraft
Here’s How Drones Do (and Don’t) Threaten Passenger Aircraft https://scientificamerican.com/article/here-rsquo-s-how-drones-do-and-don-rsquo-t-threaten-passenger-aircraft/?wt.mc=SA_Twitter-Share… via @sciam
Changes in bus stop location can reduce pollution exposure
Relocating bus stops 120 ft away from intersections would cut riders’ pollution exposure, study finds: Relocating bus stops would cut riders’ pollution exposure, study finds (phys.org)
Safety and Security doesn’t have to be Unconfortable
How Anti-Terrorism Design Can Also Make Cities More Livable http://53eig.ht/2zEkAQY
It’s too hard to read scientific papers
Scientific Papers Are Getting Less Readable – Neuroskeptic | Scientific Papers Are Getting Less Readable | Discover Magazine
Planned Inventions Regularly Happen
Engineers regularly embrace the idea of the planned invention (e.g., by this future date we will have created a tech. sol’n for this prob.)
What Social Discounting Does to Risk Planning
The arcane, fascinating academic debate that helps explain why we didn’t prepare for Harvey. http://slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/09/how_social_discounting_helps_explain_why_we_don_t_prepare_for_disasters.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_top… via @slate
Risk and Probability with 500-year Events
A lot of confusion about what a “500-year event” means in relation to #Harvey, and since I evaluate #Risks, and am from #Dickinson , TX …
A 500-year event only means it has been assessed a probability of 0.2% of happening for that location in a year (1% for a 100-yr event) …
When you start stacking events (multiple years or multiple areas) then the probability can get much higher …
See this graph of cumulative probabilities of experiencing such an event with multiple independent* events (*probably a bad assumption) …
(again assuming independence) over a 30-year mortgage, a house would have a 5.8% probability of seeing a 500-yr event (26% of 100-yr event)
Over 50 regions with the same risk, there would be a 9.5% probability of one of them seeing a 500-yr event in a yr (39.4% for 100-yr event)
Over a 79 year lifetime, there is a 14.6% probability of seeing a 500-year event (54.8% of 100-yr event) [again assuming independence] …
*Independence* means that no event informs us on the probability of any other event (i.e. things are not changing)
So, independence assumes no climate change, no increase in flooding due to development, etc. (i.e. prob not true, but makes math easier)
Hurricane Harvey vs Storm of 1900
I’m here today because my great grandfather, at the age of ~8, survived the great storm of 1900 in Galveston, Texas.
As terrible as Harvey is, the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 was much, much worse: http://on.forbes.com/60118IzbU
Birthday Cakes and Bacteria
Here’s how much bacteria you spew on the cake while blowing out birthday candles. – Seriously, Science? http://bit.ly/2vwGwvl
Null Results Need to be Published More
A surprising amount of medical research isn’t made public. That’s dangerous. https://vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/8/1/16012946/clinical-trial-research-public-transparency?utm_campaign=vox&utm_content=entry&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter… via @voxdotcom
Normalized Speeding Kills Too Many People
Miles traveled and traffic deaths up in recent yrs | U.S. traffic death increase caused by speeding, says new study https://curbed.com/2017/7/28/16051780/us-traffic-death-speeding-statistics-speeding
“Unlike other factors like alcohol or unbelted riders, speeding has few neg. social consequences associated with it”
“There is not strong evidence that the 85th percentile speed limit standard equates with the lowest crash rate”
“Though cities try to make streets safer, changes are difficult to implement as drivers complain that solutions extend commute times”