Read through the following newspaper article that you can find HERE.
Post your comments in response to the following questions:
-Should scientists be held accountable for earthquake predictions?
-Do you think that it is right that their punishment was a jail sentence?
-What could be the negative impacts of this court case?
I think that it is really stupid for the scientists to be jailed under the circumstances as it was an extreme punishment and they could have been under lots of pressure before the earthquake determining if there was going to be an earthquake, however i also think that the scientists were being really idiotic for not predicting an earthquake after 400 TREMORS in 4 MONTHS. I mean, have they ever SEEN history, this happens all the time.
ReplyDeleteBy Samer
Elias 9F
1) Scientists and geographers should be accountable for earthquake predictions
ReplyDelete2)Yes, because they gave wrong information about something really serious
3)That it wasn't there fault
Twyford geography
ReplyDelete- No, because its very hard to predict a natural disaster as it can change due to conditions.
- No, because again it is hard to accurately predict an earthquake or Tsunami.
- That people will say that it was wrong to punish the scientists. They will also lose trust.
Eloise 9R
I personally think it is the scientist fault because they had the right equipment and knew how to use it correctly. However I think that a punishment for jail is unfair because it was a once off and all the other times they have got it right and this would mean that other way would be used possibly not working.
ReplyDeletethe court case might have a negative impact because people would lose trust in the scientists meaning people might even die not knowing if an earthquake was coming.
Rachael Evans 9F
I believe that the scientists should be held accountable for earthquake predictions due to the fact that it is partly there job to make us aware of when the earthquakes will happen, why or what will cause the earthquake to occur and also how badly it will affect the area of land. I do not think that it is right that their punishment was a jail sentence because although they had given false reassurances they, hadn't done anything merely as bad that deserved to be given a sentence of 6 years in jail. I believe that this sentence was inappropriate to what they had done. The negative impacts of this court case would be that other scientists would prefer to not work in this field of predicting earthquakes as a slightly false prediction could lead to punishments just as bad or maybe even worse.
ReplyDeleteSome good responses to the article, it's always interesting to hear people's contrasting opinions. Please remember that your posts will not shown straight away as I have to moderate and approve them first. Happy Blogging :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think scientists should be held accountable for their predictions, however a jail sentence seems a little too much considering that their job is purely predictions, and no truth. It ain't right to put up scientists like that for saying their views...despite it costing people's lives. But the jail sentence will no doubt affect scientists al around the world and possibly make them refuse to help countries simply because the risk of being put in jail is too high...Great job Italy.
ReplyDelete-No because sometimes people makes mistakes thats life! Also it is very hard to predicts exactly when it was gunna happen.
ReplyDelete-No, because all they made was 1 wrong reading and its hard to tell if and earthquake is coming
-A negative impact is that people may not trust the scientists any more and may not want to become a scientist that finds out if an earthquake is coming as they may be worried about making a wrong decision
Georgia W.
1. I think scientists should only be held accountable, if they gave bad predictions with murderous intent, if they made a mistake it's tragic but inevitable.
ReplyDeleteTheir best bet is to get as many people to predict the earthquake as possible to improve the accuracy of their predictions and to keep people on their guard as they never know when precisely an earthquake might happen.
2.I don't think it's right that they received a jail sentence as it was a mistake.
3.This court case may discourage people to take up the profession and so their may be less people to predict earthquakes in future
Joel 'the coolest' Maisanda
I do not think think they should go to jail for just one mistakes. Mistakes are just part of life. It not like they wanted it to happen I think they just lose their jobs as it was their fault.
ReplyDeleteI do not think think they should go to jail for just one mistakes. Mistakes are just part of life. It not like they wanted it to happen I think they just lose their jobs as it was their fault.
ReplyDeletesaul G
I think that the scientists should definitely been punished as they committed manslaughter and should be punished as such, even if that involves going to prison. Some people may say that it was only one mistake but a local researcher predicted it and as it is the scientists job to predict earthquakes, if they mess-up they should be held responsible for their actions.
ReplyDeleteHowever, earthquake predictions are only predictions so I think that the sentence shouldn't have been so harsh.
Negative impacts of this could involve people not trusting scientists in future and it could also cause scientists to work independently from governments.
Abi M
1. No, because scientists can't always get things right and accurate. And things can always go wrong.
ReplyDelete2. No, because it may have just been a human error and may not have been on purpose.
3. There will be less scientists to predict future earthquakes and less reliability between the ones that are still at work.
Kadima D. 9F
I don't think scientists can be held entirely responsible for their predictions. They did cause disaster but you can't always be right. I think a prison sentence was definitely too harsh. But i don't know what else they could do without making it look like a kinda pick and mix punishment system. They were advising on the basis of probability, which is always risky. I also think that this will deter scientists from voicing their opinions, which could have even worse consequences.
ReplyDelete-They should be held responsible for giving the town false safety and exposing them to danger.
ReplyDelete-They should not go to jail because this was not confirmed a federal offence and i think they should have been fired and fined to make sure this did not happen again.
-This may discourage other scientists from doing their jobs because there is the risk of being arrested at any mistake.
- They should be held responsible as their predictions if incorrect can danger millions of people.
ReplyDelete- I think that they should not have been jailed as they didn't break the law and they wouldn't always be 100% sure on the outcome. Maybe a huge fine would've been better
- Other scientists would be discouraged as there may be even bigger consequences worse than going to jail.
No, because its very hard to predict an earthquake as it can change all the time
ReplyDelete- No, again because its not their fault and also they should be given another chance
this may put off other scientists from the idea of the job because they will be scared of going to jail for 6 years.
Nicolas B.9C