WHO

Tickets for QED in Manchester (19-20 October) are now on sale and don’t forget Skepticamp on the day before! If all goes to plan, both András and Pontus may be among the speakers. But first we are looking forward to the European Skeptics Congress 2024, less than a month from now, 31 May – 2 June in Lyon, France! In TWISH we hear about how smallpox was announced eradicated this week in 1980 and then we take a look at the news:

• INTERNATIONAL: Big data reveals true climate impact of worldwide air travel
• SWEDEN: Swedish Skeptics’ awards for 2023
• INTERNATIONAL: Scottish Medical Journal retracts 13 papers due to concerns over potential paper mill activity
• FRANCE / INTERNATIONAL: Didier Raoult vs. Elisabeth Bik – case dismissed!

The Really Wrong Award goes to the UK for two cases of educational malpractice regarding allowing religious indoctrination.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-Takes
 
0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:51 GREETINGS

• Tickets sales are now open for QED!
  • QED: https://qedcon.org/tickets
• Sign up for ESC 2024 in Lyon!
  • ECSO: https://www.ecso.org/esc2024/

0:07:02 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 8 May 1980: WHO general assembly announces eradication of smallpox
  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox

0:15:16 NEWS

• INTERNATIONAL: Big data reveals true climate impact of worldwide air travel
  • Science Daily: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240430131900.htm
• SWEDEN: Swedish Skeptics’ awards for 2023
  • VoF: https://www.vof.se/blogg/arets-folkbildare-och-arets-forvillare-2023/
• INTERNATIONAL: Scottish Medical Journal retracts 13 papers due to concerns over potential paper mill activity
  • Retraction Watch: https://retractionwatch.com/2024/04/29/publisher-retracts-more-than-a-dozen-papers-at-once-for-likely-paper-mill-activity/
• FRANCE / INTERNATIONAL: Didier Raoult vs. Elisabeth Bik – case dismissed!
  • Elisabeth Bik on X: https://twitter.com/MicrobiomDigest/status/1783258523037749285

0:37:39 REALLY WRONG

• Really Wrong: Education and religion in the UK
  England scraps 50% rule on faith school admissions and N. Ireland’s problematic position on religious education
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/may/01/england-scraps-50-rule-on-faith-school-admissions
  • Humanists UK: https://humanists.uk/2024/05/02/northern-ireland-humanists-responds-to-court-of-appeal-ruling-on-re-and-collective-worship/

0:41:56 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“He, who will not reason, is a bigot; he, who cannot, is a fool; and he, who dares not, is a slave.”
/ William Drummond of Logiealmond. From Academical Questions (1805), preface, p. 15.
Drummond (Sept 1769 – 29 March 1828), was a Scottish diplomat and Member of Parliament, poet and philosopher. /

0:44:57 OUTRO

0:46:12 OUT-TAKES