JohnArbuthnot

Next week on 6th May the tickets are released for ESC Liverpool. They may sell out fast, so be quick! In other news we note the demise of Desmond Morris and if you liked are interview with Kat Ford, a preprint of her Glastonbury article is now available online! In TWISH we learn about the Scottish polymath John Arbuthnot, and then, it’s time for the news:

• UK: GP struck off register for garlic oil cancer cure claims
• ROMANIA: Romania leads EU measles cases as vaccination rates collapse
• AUSTRIA: Doctor using fake therapies and bogus diagnostics now in court
• UK: Food intolerance tests have become a multimillion-pound industry
• BELGIUM: SKEPP handed out their yearly awards

Illegal peptide sales promise you the world, but are unproven, costly, and possibly dangerous. For that, they are Really Wrong.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote; Outro; Outtakes
 
0:00:26 INTRO

0:00:51 GREETINGS

• ESC Liverpool 2026: Early bird tickets go on sale 6th May 2026, 11am CET!
  • ESC Liverpool: https://escliverpool.org/
• Desmond Morris died
  • Skeptic.com: https://www.skeptic.com/article/desmond-morris-1928-2026-a-keen-observer-of-the-human-condition/
• Preprint of Kat Ford’s article is now available online
  • OSF: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/df39p_v1

0:08:10 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 29 April 1667: Polymath and pioneer of statistical analysis John Arbuthnot was baptised
  • RCP Museum: https://history.rcp.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/john-arbuthnot
  • Mac Tutor (St Andrews): https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Arbuthnot/

0:15:04 NEWS

• UK: GP struck off register for garlic oil cancer cure claims
  • BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9pd7ykq08o
• ROMANIA: Romania leads EU measles cases as vaccination rates collapse
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/18/romania-eu-measles-cases-vaccination-rates-collapse
  • ECDC: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/rubella/surveillance-and-disease-data
• AUSTRIA: Doctor using fake therapies and bogus diagnostics now in court
  • Salzburger Nachrichten: https://www.sn.at/panorama/oesterreich/kaerntner-arzt-wegen-todes-zweier-patienten-vor-gericht-art-646997
• UK: Food intolerance tests have become a multimillion-pound industry
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/apr/12/at-home-food-intolerance-blood-tests
• BELGIUM: SKEPP handed out their yearly awards
  • SKEPP: https://skepp.be/kritisch-denken/nerdland-wint-zesde-vijs-2025

0:37:21 REALLY WRONG

• Really Wrong: Illegal peptide sales promise beauty and health – instead they are unproven, costly, and possibly dangerous
  • Body of Evidence: https://bodyofevidence.ca/181-peptides-the-latest-injectable-craze
  • DN: https://www.dn.se/sverige/olagliga-peptider-utlovar-skonhet-en-valdigt-cynisk-bransch/

0:41:16 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“Every great scientific truth goes through three stages. First, people say it conflicts with the Bible. Next they say it has been discovered before. Lastly they say they always believed it.”
/ Louis Agassiz (28 May 1807 – 14 December 1873), Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth’s natural history. /

0:42:55 OUTRO

0:44:17 OUT-TAKES