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Articles on Risk

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Protective measures and their safety assurances can change how people act around risk. Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse via AP

When safety measures lead to riskier behavior by more people

Behavioral economists explain how widespread use of face masks, hand sanitizer and other preventive measures could counterintuitively encourage riskier behaviors around coronavirus.
Dale Palmer prepares his home in NSW for the bushfires. The decision to stay and defend one’s property requires a person to be mentally, as well as physically, prepared. AAP/Darren Pateman

It’s hard to breathe and you can’t think clearly – if you defend your home against a bushfire, be mentally prepared

In catastrophic fire conditions, leaving early is the only safe option. But in other conditions, one thing that’s often overlooked in decisions to stay or go is how mentally tough you need to be.
Accepting a donor kidney with a small risk of carrying HIV or hepatitis B or C might be worth thinking about. from www.shutterstock.com

Organs ‘too risky’ to donate may be safer than we think. We crunched the numbers and here’s what we found

Organs from gay men or injecting drug users, often rejected for transplants, could safely be used, so long as donors test negative for infections such as HIV, and hepatitis B and C.
Eating lots of red meat increases your risk of cancer and a range of chronic diseases. Sailing Gypsy/Shutterstock

Yes, we still need to cut down on red and processed meat

The advice is still to limit your red meat intake to a maximum of 500g a week. So why did some headlines tell us otherwise this week?
Clinical trials are important, but can’t get us to medicine prescribing that is 100% effective. Image Point Fr/Shutterstock.com

Why drug trials are only part of the answer to making sure medicines work

Clinical trials are used to establish that medicines work. But these don’t take into account the genetic differences between us that can mean very different outcomes for different patients.
A government-commissioned report estimated that South Australia’s ban on genetically modified crops cost canola growers A$33 million since 2004. Greenpeace/AAP Image

GM crops: to ban or not to ban? That’s not the question

South Australia has lifted its moratorium on GM crops, while Tasmania has extended its ban. But the question should no longer be a simple binary of being “for” or “against” GM technology.
Surf threatens beach houses on Dauphin Island, Alabama, September 4, 2011 during Tropical Storm Lee. AP Photo/Dave Martin

Why are Atlantic and Gulf coast property owners building back bigger after hurricanes?

‘Building back better’ refers to making communities more disaster-proof and resilient after they take a hit. But instead, some US owners are building back bigger homes in vulnerable places.
How much is your backpack and the laptop that it contains worth to you? Nicola/Flickr

Lessons from the Moscow airport crash: your luggage or their lives

More than 40 people died in the May 5, 2019 crash, and reports indicate that passengers taking luggage with them may have slowed the evacuation. So what do we need to do to stop such behaviour?

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