Notices
Understanding and engineering the firearm ecosystem in the United States
On July 9 at 10AM in Maxwell Conference Room (DET Cittadella Politecnica - 5th floor) , Prof. Maurizio Porfiri, Institute Professor of the New York University Tandon School of Engineering and Director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress, will hold a seminar entitled "Understanding and engineering the firearm ecosystem in the United States".
Abstract: The United States leads high-income countries in both firearm homicide and suicide rates, with close to fifty thousand firearm-related deaths per year – a figure higher than motor vehicle-related deaths. A fundamental step toward reducing firearm-related harms is to understand causal relationships among potentially contributing factors, such as firearm prevalence, state legislation, media exposure, and people’s opinion on firearm safety. These factors, linked to one another in a complex and multifaceted way, form the “firearm ecosystem.” This talk presents new insight into the firearm ecosystem on three different scales. On the macroscale (nation and states), we put forward an information-theoretic framework to unravel causal links between mass shootings, media coverage on firearm control, and firearm prevalence. Our analysis points at a previously overlooked link between media and firearm prevalence, suggesting that people might rush to buy guns after a mass shooting as they fear that new regulations may come into effect and their right to acquire a weapon be challenged. On the mesoscale (cities), we apply scaling theory to study firearm prevalence, accessibility, and violence throughout the country. We demonstrate a superlinear scaling of violence and a surprising sublinear scaling of both prevalence and accessibility, suggesting that guns are seen as a class of infrastructure for the country (like roads or bridges). On the microscale (people), we detail the modus operandi of fame-seeking mass shooters using the information-theoretic concept of surprisal. Our analysis demonstrates that these individuals carefully plan their attacks to be different from past shooters and that the tendency to deviate from history is, in fact, rewarded by fame.
Bio: Dr. Maurizio Porfiri is an Institute Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, with tenured appointments in the Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, and the Director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress of New York University. He received M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech, in 2000 and 2006; a “Laurea” in Electrical Engineering (with honors) and a Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Toulon (dual degree program), in 2001 and 2005, respectively. He has been on the faculty of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department since 2006, when he founded the Dynamical Systems Laboratory. Dr. Porfiri is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He has served in the Editorial Board of ASME Journal of Dynamics systems, Measurements and Control, ASME Journal of Vibrations and Acoustics, Flow: Applications of Fluid Mechanics, IEEE Control Systems Letters, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I, IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering, Mathematics in Engineering, and Mechatronics. Dr. Porfiri is engaged in conducting and supervising research on complex systems, with applications from mechanics to behavior, public health, and robotics. He is the author of more than 400 journal publications, including papers in Nature, Nature Human Behaviour, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Physical Review Letters, PNAS Nexus, and eLife. He was included in the “Brilliant 10” list of Popular Science in 2010 and his research featured in major media outlets, such as CNN, NPR, Scientific American, and Discovery Channel. Other significant recognitions include National Science Foundation CAREER award; invitations to the Frontiers of Engineering Symposium and the Japan-America Frontiers of Engineering Symposium organized by National Academy of Engineering; invitation to the third and fourth World Laureate Forums; the Outstanding Young Alumnus award by the college of Engineering of Virginia Tech; the ASME Gary Anderson Early Achievement Award; the ASME DSCD Young Investigator Award; the ASME C.D. Mote, Jr. Early Career Award; the Research Excellence Award from New York University Tandon School of Engineering; and the Aspen Institute Italian Award for Scientific Research.
Abstract: The United States leads high-income countries in both firearm homicide and suicide rates, with close to fifty thousand firearm-related deaths per year – a figure higher than motor vehicle-related deaths. A fundamental step toward reducing firearm-related harms is to understand causal relationships among potentially contributing factors, such as firearm prevalence, state legislation, media exposure, and people’s opinion on firearm safety. These factors, linked to one another in a complex and multifaceted way, form the “firearm ecosystem.” This talk presents new insight into the firearm ecosystem on three different scales. On the macroscale (nation and states), we put forward an information-theoretic framework to unravel causal links between mass shootings, media coverage on firearm control, and firearm prevalence. Our analysis points at a previously overlooked link between media and firearm prevalence, suggesting that people might rush to buy guns after a mass shooting as they fear that new regulations may come into effect and their right to acquire a weapon be challenged. On the mesoscale (cities), we apply scaling theory to study firearm prevalence, accessibility, and violence throughout the country. We demonstrate a superlinear scaling of violence and a surprising sublinear scaling of both prevalence and accessibility, suggesting that guns are seen as a class of infrastructure for the country (like roads or bridges). On the microscale (people), we detail the modus operandi of fame-seeking mass shooters using the information-theoretic concept of surprisal. Our analysis demonstrates that these individuals carefully plan their attacks to be different from past shooters and that the tendency to deviate from history is, in fact, rewarded by fame.
Bio: Dr. Maurizio Porfiri is an Institute Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, with tenured appointments in the Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, and the Director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress of New York University. He received M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech, in 2000 and 2006; a “Laurea” in Electrical Engineering (with honors) and a Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Toulon (dual degree program), in 2001 and 2005, respectively. He has been on the faculty of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department since 2006, when he founded the Dynamical Systems Laboratory. Dr. Porfiri is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He has served in the Editorial Board of ASME Journal of Dynamics systems, Measurements and Control, ASME Journal of Vibrations and Acoustics, Flow: Applications of Fluid Mechanics, IEEE Control Systems Letters, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I, IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering, Mathematics in Engineering, and Mechatronics. Dr. Porfiri is engaged in conducting and supervising research on complex systems, with applications from mechanics to behavior, public health, and robotics. He is the author of more than 400 journal publications, including papers in Nature, Nature Human Behaviour, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Physical Review Letters, PNAS Nexus, and eLife. He was included in the “Brilliant 10” list of Popular Science in 2010 and his research featured in major media outlets, such as CNN, NPR, Scientific American, and Discovery Channel. Other significant recognitions include National Science Foundation CAREER award; invitations to the Frontiers of Engineering Symposium and the Japan-America Frontiers of Engineering Symposium organized by National Academy of Engineering; invitation to the third and fourth World Laureate Forums; the Outstanding Young Alumnus award by the college of Engineering of Virginia Tech; the ASME Gary Anderson Early Achievement Award; the ASME DSCD Young Investigator Award; the ASME C.D. Mote, Jr. Early Career Award; the Research Excellence Award from New York University Tandon School of Engineering; and the Aspen Institute Italian Award for Scientific Research.