Pandemic Refuges: Lessons from Two Years of COVID-19

View the paper “Pandemic Refuges: Lessons from Two Years of COVID-19”

Refuges have been proposed as a means of ensuring that at least some people survive a global catastrophe. While it would be better to avoid the catastrophe in the first place, if a catastrophe is to occur, a refuge could be a real difference-maker in terms of the long-term effects on human civilization. Prior refuges research emphasizes highly isolated locations such as underground, underwater, or in outer space. These exotic concepts may seem far removed …

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Catherine Rhodes Gives Online Lecture on Pathogenic Genetic Resources and Sovereign Rights

On Tuesday 12 June, GCRI hosted an online lecture by Catherine Rhodes entitled ‘Sovereign Wrongs: Ethics in the Governance of Pathogenic Genetic Resources’. Rhodes is a Research Fellow at the University of Manchester’s Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation, where she researches how science can address humanity’s major challenges, with a focus on the interplay between science and international processes. Her lecture is based on a paper she published of the same name [1].

Rhodes’s lecture raised the question of who owns ‘pathogenic genetic resources’, meaning …

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Catherine Rhodes To Deliver Online Lecture On International Pandemics Governance 11 June

GCRI’s next online lecture will be given by Catherine Rhodes, who is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at University of Manchester.

Here is the full talk info:

Sovereign Wrongs: Ethics in the Governance of Pathogenic Genetic Resources
Tuesday 11 June, 17:00 GMT (10:00 Los Angeles, 13:00 New York, 18:00 London)
To be held online via Skype. RSVP required by email to Seth Baum (seth [at] gcrinstitute.org). Space is limited.

Abstract: This presentation examines the implications of a new international approach to the governance of …

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Wei Luo Talks To GCRI About Geo-Social Visual Analytics And Pandemics

Wei Luo is a PhD candidate in Geography at Pennsylvania State University and researcher in Penn State’s GeoVISTA Center. He’s also a good friend of mine from my own time at Penn State Geography. Yesterday, Wei presented his research on geo-social visual analytics to GCRI, exploring how this research applies to global catastrophic risk.

Visual analytics can be defined as “the science of analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces”. As an illustration of visual analytics, Wei recommends the video Precision Information Environments Envisioning the future …

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