Scientists charged with manslaughter for not predicting earthquake

[~Brian~]

http://www.popsci.com/science/articl...ughter-charges

Wow, really?

[Protege v2.5]

Wasn't aware that we were able to predict Earthquakes.

[wheeble]

in soviet italy, earthquakes predict you

[DPancoast]

its like a chuck norris disaster

[Asif22]

Originally Posted by wheeble

in soviet italy, earthquakes predict you

lmfao

[Asif22]

BTW that is such bull****....How can they be serious?

[lownslow95]

Wow...seriously? People like to just blame someone, so they blamed these people for something they had no control over.

[DC2.2GSR]

so.... if they predicted a huge earthquake and nothing happened theywould be charged with what? creating a massive panic? manslaughter when people crash into each other on the roads fleeing town? this is f**king stupid. it's just as the article says "damned if you do, damned if you don't". people are disgusting.

[Rush]

What crap.

The scientific community is overflowing with no-win situations. No matter what scientists do, in the public eye, they will somehow always be wrong. People expect so much because of all the advances in technology -- but for every question that's answered with that technology, five new ones pop up. But that's never considered, the public just wants-wants-wants, and to hell with the big picture.

[Elliott18t]

Originally Posted by Rush

What crap.

The scientific community is overflowing with no-win situations. No matter what scientists do, in the public eye, they will somehow always be wrong. People expect so much because of all the advances in technology -- but for every question that's answered with that technology, five new ones pop up. But that's never considered, the public just wants-wants-wants, and to hell with the big picture.

there are nice advances in cancer treatment coming up with nano bots and nano-tubes (basicaly tubes made from carbon lattice chains..). Takes the chemo/radiation right to the source instead of radiating the whole area etc.. seems like a great idea. Im sure one day someone will sue if it doesnt work 100%.

[jpalamar]

World is becoming pethetic. That is all I can say.

[FocusDude]

I was seriously expecting a Onion link... thats just plain ridiculous. Why do we find the need to blame everything on someone, **** HAPPENS PEOPLE!

[Protege v2.5]

Self accountability does not exist anymore. People live at the foot of Volcanoes, on top of active fault lines and below sea level then get pissed and blame it on someone else when they die. If you willingly put yourself in one of those situations be prepared to pay the consequences.

[james_ls]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

World is becoming pethetic. That is all I can say.

Becoming?

That's almost as funny as the idea itself.

[JB'sLGT]

That's ridiculous. A 6.3 on the Richter scale is big, but it's not that big. There is no way it should've killed 300 people and left 65,000 homeless...unless the buildings weren't built with surviving earthquakes in mind, which judging by the pics, they weren't.

I can't remember which quake it was (maybe the great San Francisco Quake in 1906), but seismologists actually predicted the quake, the only problem was they were a bit early. So the residents, fed up about the seismologists' warnings after sleeping outside for a few days, decided to return to their houses. Well guess what happened? Yup. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[Proven]

I agree its dumb they are getting sued but to make this thread interesting I'm going to disagree and try to see the other end of things

If its their job - get paid to report and warn about upcoming earthquakes and they didn't WHEN all the evidence was right in front of them they are at fault. If they cut corners making their job easier resulting in them not obtaining the evidence they are also at fault.

I think what this law suit is about is to try and figure out if they did their job by the book. If they did they'll be fine, if corners were cut they will not be.

I'm sure the law suit is based on the same premise of a lifeguard getting sued for chatting it up with a pair of boobs while someones drowning or a Cop stopping for Coffee on his way to a armed robbery.

[Protege v2.5]

There has certainly been decades of research into radon and earthquake predictability, particularly in Japan, but interest in the topic has dwindled, as it has for many alleged clues that might predict quakes. Paul G. Silver of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Washington, D.C., a seismologist who co-authored a review on earthquake prediction in 1976, offered this reaction to the Italian quake and Giuliani: “It is highly unlikely that radon research has gotten to the stage where radon could be used as the basis for making an actual prediction. We still do not yet know how to predict earthquakes, so I think his warnings were treated properly. Some news outlets reported increased seismic activity over the past few weeks in the area. If true, this would still not be sufficient to issue a warning, given our present state of knowledge. To my knowledge, neither radon nor any other kind of observation [other than foreshocks] has been shown to be a reliable precursor of earthquakes. Of course, it would be useful to see his observations."

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencein...n-quake-r.html

[TheFlash42]

Poli sci majors have won... Its no use being science/math smart anymore