When a mission is too dangerous for humans, call in the robots …

Review of ‘Strong in the Rain’ by Lucy Birmingham and David McNeill — On 11 March 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck Japan …

In the wake of the L’Aquila disaster and trial, what should scientists do when they need to talk about risk?

At 03:32 on 6 April 2009, an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale devastated the Italian town of L’Aquila. The collapse or damage of nearly 20,000 buildings resulted in the loss of 309 lives, more than 1500 injuries and 65,000 people being displaced from their homes. Loss of life on such a large scale […]

There’s been a rumour flying around the internet that a mysterious fish from the deep predicted the Japanese earthquake. The fish is called Regalecus russelii or the Streamer fish. It is a member of the Oarfish family and lives 1,000m beneath the sea and is rarely seen on the surface unless sick or dying. They […]

It was 3.34am when the earthquake hit the zoo. It was in February last year and I was there at the time, staying with the director and his family. It’s hard to describe what happened during the earthquake. I was already awake, having been jolted from sleep by a cacophony of animal noises. I can’t […]