Jailed for falling to predict an earthquake!

[GlaikitFizZombie]

Is it just me or is this mental?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20025626

Bonkers as conkers

I was just about to post about this! I am utterly gobsmacked that this even went to trial never mind that they were convicted. 6 years!! Totally and utterly ludicrous!!

This is awful. Nothing can be predicted with 100% certainty. Perhaps with 99.9999% certainty, but not 100%.

Totally crazy.

Maybe michael Fish should be jailed for that hurricane!

I'm so glad I'm not the only one!

Where does this blame culture stop?

Well, as the report suggested, the Italian justice system is notoriously Byzantine. I doubt they'll serve time, and imagine their sentences will be overturned on appeal. In the Italian system, no-one believes the first 'verdict' is the true one. Defendants have a further 2 chances to overturn an original verdict, and very frequently do. Moreover, regional courts often pass sentences, etc., more as 'gesture' justice, and the charges are almost always overturned on appeal to the higher courts.

Still, it's a terrible precedent to set.

Even if this judgement is eventually overturned it still must have been a hellish time for the scientists involved. What effect will this have on future seismic events? Either the scientists all saying "We have absolutely no idea. At all. Not a clue. Sorry" or them saying "We're not 100% sure there won't be an earthquake so, to be on the safe side, evacuate every town and city! Run! Run like the wind!"

Neither is going to be much help but they'd definitely be what I'd be thinking about if I were in their position.

Blame culture at it's worse.

I'm appalled by this one and I hope a higher court frees these people as soon as humanly possible. Any scientist dealing with natural phenomena can only ever offer probabilities and not certainties. I could be wrong but I don't think even the law-suit-happy Americans have jailed a meterologist for calling a hurricane slightly wrong. The Italians have made themselves look ridiculous.

That is awful. It will defer anyone from wanting to go into the geosciences. It requires the best brains to attempt to predict earthquakes and vocanic erruptions. Italy needs the best science to prevent disasters like Pompeii and to protect people from future earth quakes.