Negotiating uncertainty: Asteroids, risk and the media

Public Understanding of Science

Volumn 19, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 16-33

  Mellor, Felicity ^a  

^a IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 73549124345     PISSN: 09636625     EISSN: 13616609     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0963662507087307     Document Type: Article

References (92)

1. Arthur, C. (1998) That Was Close: Earth Dodges Death By Just 600,000 Miles..., The Independent 13 March, p. 1.
2. Asher, D. (2003) Avoiding Asteroid Scares II, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 6 September. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc090603.html.
3. Atkinson, H., ed. (2000) Report of the Task Force on Potentially Hazardous Near Earth Objects. London: HMSO.
4. Beck, U. (1992) Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: SAGE.
5. Beck, U. (2000) Preface, in S. Allan, B. Adam and C. Carter (eds) Environmental Risks and the Media, pp. xii-xiv. London: Routledge.
6. Binzel, R.P. (1997) A Near-Earth Object Hazard Index, in J.L. Remo (ed.) Near-Earth Objects: The United Nations International Conference, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 822, pp. 545-51. New York: New York Academy of Sciences.
7. Binzel, R. (1998) How to do a Better Job Next Time, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 31 March. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc033198.html.
8. Binzel, R.P. (2000) The Torino Impact Hazard Scale, Planetary and Space Science 48: 297-303.
9. Britten, N. (1998) The End is Nigh, Scottish Daily Record 13 March, p. 7.
10. Browne, M.W. (1998) Debate and Recalculation on an Asteroid's Progress, New York Times 13 March, p. 16.
11. Buie, E. (1998) October 26, 2028 Could Be Our Last Day, The Herald 13 March, p. 1.
12. Campbell, B.L. (1985) Uncertainty as Symbolic Action in Disputes among Experts, Social Studies of Science 15: 429-53.
13. Canavan, G.H. (1994) Cost and Benefit of Near-Earth Object Detection and Interception, in T. Gehrels (ed.) Hazards Due to Comets and Asteroids, pp. 1157-89. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
14. Chapman, C. (1998a) A Case Study of the Asteroid XF11 1998 Affair, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 1 April. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc040298.html.
15. Chapman, C. (1998b) A Comment on Duncan Steel's Pandora's Box, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 2 April. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc040298.html.
16. Chapman, C. (1999) The Asteroid/Comet Impact Hazard, Southwest Research Institute, 2 July. URL: http://www.boulder.swri.edu/clark/ncar799.html.
17. Chapman, C. (2003) Perspectives on the Impact Hazard in a Dangerous World, AAAS Symposium on The Asteroid/Comet Impact Hazard: A Decade of Growing Awareness, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Denver, 14 February.
18. Chapman, C. and Morrison, D. (1989) Cosmic Catastrophes. New York: Plenum Press.
19. Chapman, C. and Morrison, D. (1994) Impacts on the Earth by Asteroids and Comets: Assessing the Hazard, Nature 367 (6 January): 33-40.
20. Chapman, C.R. and Mulligan, B.M. (2002) NEO Impact Hazard Scales in the Context of Other Hazard Scales, Poster Abstract, American Astronomical Society, Division for Planetary Sciences, Birmingham, AL, 8 October.
21. Chesley, S.R., Chodas, P.W., Milani, A., Valsecchi, G.B. and Yeomans, D.K. (2002) Quantifying the Risk Posed by Potential Earth Impacts, Icarus 159: 423-32.
22. Cookson, C. (1998) Asteroid Threatens to Hit Earth, Financial Times 13 March, p. 3.
23. Daily Telegraph (1998) Don't Laugh: Chances of Being Hit by an Asteroid are Sky High, 14 March.
24. Dowdney, M. (1998) End of the World?, Mirror 13 March, p. 7.
25. Dunwoody, S. and Peters, H.P. (1992) Mass Media Coverage of Technological and Environmental Risks: A Survey of Research in the United States and Germany, Public Understanding of Science 1: 199-230.
26. Evening Standard (1998) Not Nigh After All, 13 March, p. B11.
27. Friedman, S.M., Villamil, K., Suriano, R.A. and Egolf, B.P. (1996) Alar and Apples: Newspapers, Risk and Media Responsibility, Public Understanding of Science 5: 1-20.
28. Giorgini, J. (2000) Let's Militarize the Impact Risk Assessment!, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 9 November. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc110900.html.
29. Guardian (1999) Big Bang Theory, 29 July, p. 3.
30. Ham, P. (1998) Apocalypse Now, The Sunday Times 15 March, p. 2.
31. Hawkes, N. (1998a) 6.30pm, October 26, 2028-Could This be the Deadline for the Apocalypse?, The Times 13 March, p. 1.
32. Hawkes, N. (1998b) Asteroid Leaves Us Staring at Apocalypse, The Times 13 March, p. 5.
33. Hawkes, N. (1998c) Asteroid Experts Postpone End of World, The Times 14 March, p. 16.
34. IAU (1999) Dealing with the Impact Hazard: An International Project, Press release, 22 July.
35. Irwin, A. (1998) Asteroid May Spell Doom for Human Civilisation, Daily Telegraph 13 March.
36. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (1998) Asteroid Will Miss Earth by 'Comfortable Distance' in 2028, Press release, 12 March.
37. Kidger, M. (1999) One Other Down Side of the Torino Scale, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 12 November. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc111299.html.
38. Kidger, M. (2003) Impact Scares in Modern Times, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 3 September. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc090303.html.
39. Kiefer-Olsen, J. (2000) Torino Scale Has a Credibility Problem, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 17 July. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc071700.html.
40. Kristensen, L.K. (2003) NEOs Cannot be Graded by a Single Scale, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 7 October. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc100703.html.
41. Lewis, J. (1997) Rain of Fire and Ice: The Very Real Threat of Comet and Asteroid Bombardment. Reading, MA: Helix Books.
42. McKie, R. (1999) World-If it's a Risk 10, We're All Doomed, The Observer 8 August, p. 20.
43. McLean, J. (1999) New Way to Tell if Asteroids Will Wipe Us All Out, Scottish Daily Record 21 July, p. 17.
44. McNaught, R.H. (1998) e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 16 March. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc031698.html.
45. Marsden, B. (1997) Overview of Orbits, in J.L. Remo (ed.) Near-Earth Objects: The United Nations International Conference, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 822, pp. 52-66. New York: New York Academy of Sciences.
46. Marsden, B.G. (1998a) IAU Press Information Sheet, 11 March.
47. Marsden, B.G. (1998b) IAU Circular Number 6837, 11 March.
48. Marsden, B.G. (1998c) How the Asteroid Story Hit: An Astronomer Reveals How a Discovery Spun Out of Control, Boston Sunday Globe 29 March, p. E1.
49. Marsden, B.G. (1998d) Just When You Thought 1997 XF11 Had Gone Away, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 2 April. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc040298.html.
50. Marsden, B.G. (1999a) Possible Remedies for the Torino Scale, Explorezone 10 November. URL: http://explorezone.com/archives/99_11/10_marsden_comment.htm.
51. Marsden, B.G. (1999b) Torino Simply Needs Tweaking, Space.com 9 November. URL: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/marsden_response_991109.html.
52. Marsden, B.G. (2003a) XF11 + Five, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 12 March. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc031203.html.
53. Marsden, B.G. (2003b) Interpreting Short-arc Orbits, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 12 September. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc091203.html.
54. Maury, A. (2000) More Scales, or Why I Will Never Use the Torino Scale, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 8 May. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc050800.html.
55. Mellor, F. (2007) Colliding Worlds: Asteroid Research and the Legitimisation of War in Space, Social Studies of Science 37(4): 499-531.
56. Milani, A. (1999) Near Earth Objects Dynamic Site (NEODyS), e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 8 March. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc030899.html.
57. MIT (1999) MIT Researcher Creates Scale to Assess Earth-Asteroid Close Encounters, Press release, 22 July.
58. Morrison, D. (1998a) The Close Approach of Asteroid 1997 XF11, IAU statement, 14 March.
59. Morrison, D. (1998b) NEO News 20 March. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc032398.html.
60. Morrison, D., Chapman, C.R. and Slovic, P. (1994) The Impact Hazard, in T. Gehrels (ed.) Hazards Due to Comets and Asteroids, pp. 59-91. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
61. Morrison, D., Chapman, C.R., Steel, D. and Binzel, R.P. (2004) Impacts and the Public: Communicating the Nature of the Impact Hazard, in M.J.S. Belton, T.H. Morgan, N.H. Samarasinha and D.K. Yeomans (eds) Mitigation of Hazardous Comets and Asteroids, pp. 353-90. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
62. NASA (1989) NASA Astronomer Discovers 'Near-Miss' Asteroid that Passed Earth, Release 89-52, 19 April.
63. NASA (1999) Near Earth Objects Scale Helps Risk Communication, Press release, 22 July.
64. Near Earth Object Science Definition Team (2003) Study to Determine the Feasibility of Extending the Search for Near Earth Objects to Smaller Limiting Diameters. NASA Office of Space Science.
65. Nelkin, D. (1995) Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science and Technology, 2nd edn. New York: W.H. Freeman.
66. Peiser, B.J. (1998) Why I Believe Nasa Was Wrong to Jump the Queue, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 26 March. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc032698.html.
67. Pinch, T.J. (1981) The Sun-Set: The Presentation of Certainty in Scientific Life, Social Studies of Science 11: 131-58.
68. Radford, T. (1998a) Now the Big Bang Theory that Could End it All, The Guardian 13 March, p. 1.
69. Radford, T. (1998b) End of the World Is Not So Nigh, The Guardian 14 March, p. 5.
70. Sagan, C. and Ostro, S.J. (1994) Dangers of Asteroid Deflection, Nature 368 (7 April): 501.
71. Sawyer, K. (1998) Huge Asteroid Due for a Close Call in 2028: Chance that Mile-Wide Body Will Hit Earth is Slight, Astronomers Report, Washington Post 12 March, p. A02.
72. Seattle Times (1989) Something to Worry About, 9 December, p. A5.
73. Shackley, S. and Wynne, B. (1996) Representing Uncertainty in Global Climate Change Science and Policy: Boundary-ordering Devices and Authority, Science, Technology and Human Values 21(3): 275-302.
74. Siegel, L. (1989) Earth to Asteroids, Other Natural Hazards: We Can Fight Back!, Associated Press 8 December.
75. Star, S.L. (1985) Scientific Work and Uncertainty, Social Studies of Science 15: 391-427.
76. Steel, D. (1995) Rogue Asteroids and Doomsday Comets: The Search for the Million Megaton Menace that Threatens Life on Earth. New York: John Wiley.
77. Steel, D. (1998a) On the Future Distribution of Impact Warning Times, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 17 March. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc031798.html.
78. Steel, D. (1998b) Pandora's Box is Open-You Can't Cram It All Back and Shut the Box, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 1 April. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc040198.html.
79. Steel, D. (2000) Target Earth. London: Time-Life Books.
80. Stilgoe, J. (2007) The (Co-)production of Public Uncertainty: UK Scientific Advice on Mobile Phone Health Risks, Public Understanding of Science 16: 45-61.
81. Stocking, S.H. (1998) On Drawing Attention to Ignorance, Science Communication 20(1): 165-78.
82. Stocking, S.H. (1999) How Journalists Deal With Uncertainty, in S.M. Friedman, S. Dunwoody and C.L. Rogers (eds) Communicating Uncertainty: Media Coverage of New and Controversial Science, pp. 23-41. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
83. Stocking, S.H. and Holstein, L.W. (1993) Constructing and Reconstructing Scientific Ignorance: Ignorance Claims in Science and Journalism, Knowledge 15(2): 186-210.
84. Sun (1998a) Patrick Excited, 13 March, p. 5.
85. Sun (1998b) XF11 Factfile, 13 March, p. 5.
86. Verschuur, G.L. (1996) Impact! The Threat of Comets and Asteroids. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
87. Verschuur, G.L. (1998) On Adopting a NEO Hazard Index, e-mail to Cambridge Conference Network 2 April. URL: http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/ccc/cc040298.html.
88. Weissman, P.R. (1994) The Comet and Asteroid Impact Hazard in Perspective, in T. Gehrels (ed.) Hazards Due to Comets and Asteroids, pp. 1191-213. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
89. Wickham, J. (2002) Armageddon Outta Here!, Daily Star 25 July, p. 21.
90. Wynne, B. (2001) Creating Public Alienation: Expert Cultures of Risk and Ethics on GMOs, Science as Culture 10(4): 445-81.
91. Zehr, S. (1999) Scientists' Representations of Uncertainty, in S.M. Friedman, S. Dunwoody and C.L. Rogers (eds) Communicating Uncertainty: Media Coverage of New and Controversial Science, pp. 3-21. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
92. Zehr, S. (2000) Public Representations of Scientific Uncertainty about Global Climate Change, Public Understanding of Science 9: 85-103.