Keeping the public safe amid wildfires involves dealing with a lot of uncertainty. Staying put isn’t always best, but evacuating carries its own risks – like driving quickly on smoke-filled roads. California officials may be able to draw lessons from what happened in a major fire in London in 2017, when English fire officials faced a similar quandary.

Laurence Alison from the University of Liverpool and University of Massachusetts Lowell’s Neil Shortland study how people manage in extreme circumstances – like massive fires – and explain how emergency workers and military personnel can better prepare themselves to make decisions in life-or-death situations.

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Also today:

Top story

When faced with a wildfire, responders must act quickly and decisively to save lives. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

Making life-or-death decisions is very hard – here’s how we’ve taught people to do it better

Laurence Alison, University of Liverpool; Neil Shortland, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Emergency responders and military personnel need to think creatively – even imaginatively – to save lives under pressure. Analyzing the Grenfell Tower Fire in London reveals useful lessons.

Education

Ethics + Religion

Politics + Society

  • Anti-Semitism in the US today is a variation on an old theme

    Pamela S. Nadell, American University

    A task force has been assembled in the US Senate to fight anti-Semitism. A specialist in Jewish-American history says the group has a big job ahead of it. Anti-Semitism has a long history in the US.

  • Why there is no Kurdish nation

    John Broich, Case Western Reserve University

    Despite many attempts, the Kurds have never won and kept their own nation -- though, after World War I, they came close.

Science + Technology

Environment + Energy

Today’s quote

Sleep apnea affects about 18 million adults in the U.S. and an estimated 1 billion people worldwide.

 

A good night’s sleep, a long-sought dream for sleep apnea patients, may be in closer reach

 

Eric Kezirian

University of Southern California

Eric Kezirian
 
 
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