ROR Labs - Page 11 of 15 - Everyday risk, examined with evidence

Conflict and War | Political and Geopolitical Risk

War’s Civilian Deaths Are Mostly Not Caused by Weapons. Of 29 Million Attributed to Wars Since 1990, 21 Million Were Infection, Childbirth and Hunger.
BySeung Hyoun Kim September 10, 2026October 2, 2026

Key takeaways · 12 min read In the largest global analysis, wars between 1990 and 2017 were associated with 29.4 million excess civilian deaths after battle deaths had been removed from the data. 21.0 million of those were communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional; 6.0 million were non-communicable disease; 2.4 million were injuries other than combat,…

Read More War’s Civilian Deaths Are Mostly Not Caused by Weapons. Of 29 Million Attributed to Wars Since 1990, 21 Million Were Infection, Childbirth and Hunger.
Environmental and Climate Risk | Storms and Flooding

Twelve Inches of Water Carries Away a Car. More Than Half of Flood Deaths Are People Who Drove Into It.
BySeung Hyoun Kim September 8, 2026October 4, 2026

Six inches knocks an adult down and twelve carries away most cars — and over half of flood drownings are drivers. Meanwhile the official maps miss about six million American properties.

Read More Twelve Inches of Water Carries Away a Car. More Than Half of Flood Deaths Are People Who Drove Into It.
Banking and Deposits | Financial Risk

Deposit Insurance Stops at $250,000. Since 2008, Uninsured Depositors Have Actually Lost Money in Six Per Cent of Failures.
BySeung Hyoun Kim September 8, 2026October 2, 2026

The limit is per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category — and it is triggered only by a bank failing. Uninsured depositors lost money in 63% of US failures from 1992 to 2007 and in about 6% since. That was a change in practice, not in law.

Read More Deposit Insurance Stops at $250,000. Since 2008, Uninsured Depositors Have Actually Lost Money in Six Per Cent of Failures.
Healthcare Systems | Infrastructure Risk

Ransomware Raises In-Hospital Deaths by a Third. The Case That Made It Famous Was Investigated as a Homicide, and Cleared.
BySeung Hyoun Kim September 7, 2026October 2, 2026

Among Medicare patients already admitted when a ransomware attack began, in-hospital mortality rose 34 to 38 per cent. The harm also spreads to hospitals that were never attacked — and the security remediation that follows a breach has a measurable cost of its own.

Read More Ransomware Raises In-Hospital Deaths by a Third. The Case That Made It Famous Was Investigated as a Homicide, and Cleared.
Isolation and Belonging | Social Risk

Loneliness Raises the Risk of Dying by Fourteen Per Cent. The Fifteen-Cigarettes Line Came From Somewhere Else.
BySeung Hyoun Kim September 7, 2026October 2, 2026

The 50 per cent figure everyone quotes is an average across measures that disagree. Across 90 cohorts and 2.2 million adults, social isolation raised mortality risk 32 per cent and loneliness 14 — and every improvement in method makes the number smaller.

Read More Loneliness Raises the Risk of Dying by Fourteen Per Cent. The Fifteen-Cigarettes Line Came From Somewhere Else.
Political and Geopolitical Risk | Travel and Borders

Three Per Cent of American Deaths Abroad Were War or Terrorism. And the Evacuation, If It Comes, Is a Loan.
BySeung Hyoun Kim September 7, 2026October 2, 2026

Two decades of consular records put war and terrorism at 3% of non-natural deaths of US citizens abroad and vehicles at 29%. What the advisory levels do not do, why the insurance excludes exactly this event, and why a government evacuation is a promissory note rather than a rescue.

Read More Three Per Cent of American Deaths Abroad Were War or Terrorism. And the Evacuation, If It Comes, Is a Loan.
Psychological and Social Manipulation | Social Engineering

Romance Scam Victims Were Better Educated Than People Who Never Fell for One. The Newest Version Never Asks for Money.
BySeung Hyoun Kim September 7, 2026October 4, 2026

A comparison of 200 romance fraud victims with 10,723 people who were never scammed found victims middle-aged and better educated, with self-rated security knowledge predicting nothing. The current version of the fraud asks for an investment rather than a favour, stepping between the two standard warnings.

Read More Romance Scam Victims Were Better Educated Than People Who Never Fell for One. The Newest Version Never Asks for Money.
Interface and Persuasion | Psychological and Social Manipulation

The Same Offer Went From 11% Acceptance to 42%. Only the Buttons Changed.
BySeung Hyoun Kim September 7, 2026October 2, 2026

Randomised experiments show manipulative interface design nearly quadrupling acceptance of an unchanged offer, while raising its price fourfold changed nothing. What works, what is overstated, and why enforcement rather than vigilance is what altered the interfaces.

Read More The Same Offer Went From 11% Acceptance to 42%. Only the Buttons Changed.
Bullying and Harassment | Social Risk

The Four Things Schools Do About Bullying Are the Four the Guidance Says Not To.
BySeung Hyoun Kim September 4, 2026October 4, 2026

Zero tolerance, peer mediation, group treatment and assemblies are all identified as misdirections — and one of them can leave the bullied child worse. What works cuts bullying by about a fifth, and that figure needs a caveat.

Read More The Four Things Schools Do About Bullying Are the Four the Guidance Says Not To.
Accident and Physical Hazard | Work and Machinery

Lockout Was Not Even Attempted in Most Fatal Machine Maintenance Accidents. Most of Them Were Cleaning Jobs.
BySeung Hyoun Kim September 3, 2026October 4, 2026

OSHA investigation records show lockout was not attempted at all in at least 59% of fatal machine maintenance incidents, and a national audit of 2,632 machines explains why: procedures were posted at 9% of them. What the evidence says about guards, locks, and the short jobs that kill.

Read More Lockout Was Not Even Attempted in Most Fatal Machine Maintenance Accidents. Most of Them Were Cleaning Jobs.