TheESP – Ep. #258 – Small Evil vs. Big Evil

This week Annika has got some real nutty advice in the mail. She has also made a cameo on the Skeptic Zone, check it out!. Things are flying in the air, in Norway it was a meteor (landing as a meteor-ite, thank you very much) and in Sweden it was a real(?) UFO!
Rudolph II (“Holy Roman Emperor, Batman!”) died in 1612, but his contribution to our understanding of the universe lives on. Pope Francis’ bishops are dropping like flies as if God doesn’t exist, we get a Covid-19 update and then it’s time for us to look at the news:

• The COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Handbook by S. Lewandowsky
• Antivaxxers minority but very loud
• The journal Nature retracts paper linking BMI with honesty
• Talk to me – Corona Edition, App launched in English and German
• Wikipedia just turned 20
• EFSA approves mealworms as human food
• Consultation launched over gene edited food in England
• Our forests on track to reaching a tipping point
• Fake doctor withdraws from lawsuit

We finish with a Really Wrong Award going to the Irish Commission to investigate the infamous Mother-and-Baby homes.

Enjoy!

Segments:
Intro; Greetings; This Week; Pontus Pokes the Pope; Covid Update; News; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takes

Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe

0:00:26 INTRO

0:00:51 GREETINGS

• Annika did a cameo on the Skeptic Zone, episode 640
  • the Skeptic Zone, ep 640: https://skepticzone.libsyn.com/the-skeptic-zone-640-17january2021
  • Direct link to the cameo (Youtube): https://youtu.be/o-iPyC3nh_8?t=961
• Meteorite hits Norway
  • NewsInEnglish.no: https://www.newsinenglish.no/2021/01/11/hunt-is-on-for-latest-meteor-in-norway/
• Swedish UFO sighting
  • Sydsvenskan: https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2021-01-14/iakttagelse-fran-2018-klassas-som-ufo

0:10:36 THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICISM

• Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II died on 20 January 1612
  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor

0:17:08 PONTUS POKES THE POPE

• SMALL EVIL VS. BIG EVIL
  • Crux: https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2021/01/deadly-week-sees-at-least-10-bishops-die-from-covid-19/
  • Vatican.va: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20201221_nota-vaccini-anticovid_en.html
  • Nebraska Medicine: https://www.nebraskamed.com/COVID/you-asked-we-answered-do-the-covid-19-vaccines-contain-aborted-fetal-cells

0:24:33 COVID UPDATE

• This week in covid-19
  • The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/one-year-since-we-first-reported-on-this-coronavirus-what-weve-learned-and-still-need-to-know-152762
  • Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/syringe-cakes/
  • Our World in Data: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/cumulative-covid-vaccinations
  • WHO: https://www.euro.who.int/en/media-centre/sections/statements/2021/statement-update-on-covid-19-a-tipping-point-in-the-course-of-the-pandemic
  • Science Alert: https://www.sciencealert.com/iceland-tracks-and-contains-covid-19-by-genetically-sequencing-every-positive-case
  • Times of Isreal: https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-data-shows-50-reduction-in-infections-14-days-after-first-vaccine-shot/
  • Politico EU: https://www.politico.eu/article/angela-merkel-vadimit-putin-russian-vaccine/
  • Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/norway-vaccine-deaths/
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/31/china-approves-sinopharm-covid-19-vaccine-for-general-use

0:33:24 NEWS

• INTERNATIONAL: The COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Handbook by S. Lewandowsky
  • Covid-19 Handbook: https://hackmd.io/@scibehC19vax/home
  • Universität Erfurt: https://www.uni-erfurt.de/universitaet/aktuelles/news/news-detail/the-covid-19-vaccine-communication-handbook
• HUNGARY: Antivaxxers minority but very loud
  • Telex.hu: https://telex.hu/tudomany/2021/01/12/oltasellenesseg-virustagadas-milab-vizsgalat-kutatas
  • Qubit.hu: https://qubit.hu/2021/01/13/zajos-felhergelt-kisebbseg-vezerli-a-magyar-oltasellenesseget-de-a-valosagban-egyre-tobben-vallalnak-az-oltast
  • Euractiv: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/commission-hungary-free-to-buy-chinese-vaccine/
• INTERNATIONAL: The journal Nature retracts paper linking BMI with honesty
  • Retraction Watch: https://retractionwatch.com/2021/01/13/springer-nature-journal-retracts-bmi-honesty-paper/
• GERMANY: Talk to me – Corona Edition, App launched in English and German
  • GWUP: https://blog.gwup.net/2021/01/15/talk-to-me-training-fuers-reden-mit-corona-leugnern-und-verschwoerungsglaeubigen/
• INTERNATIONAL: Wikipedia just turned 20
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jan/15/wikipedia-at-20-last-gasp-of-an-internet-vision-or-a-beacon-to-a-better-future
• INTERNATIONAL: EFSA approves mealworms as human food
  • DW: https://www.dw.com/en/eu-food-agency-approves-mealworms-as-human-food/a-56216471
• UK: Consultation launched over gene edited food in England
  • BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55576187
• INTERNATIONAL: Our forests on track to reaching a tipping point
  • Science Alert: https://www.sciencealert.com/forest-will-start-emitting-more-co2-than-they-absorb-by-2050-if-we-don-t-make-changes
  • the Conversation: https://theconversation.com/climate-change-what-would-4-c-of-global-warming-feel-like-152625
• HUNGARY: Fake doctor withdraws from lawsuit
  • Telex.hu: https://telex.hu/tudomany/2021/01/17/visszavonta-a-vadat-az-aldoktor-aki-ragalmazasert-perelte-be-a-tudomanyos-vegzettseget-ketsegbe-vonokat

1:02:20 REALLY WRONG

• IRELAND: “THE COMMISSION OF INVESTIGATION INTO MOTHER AND BABY HOMES”
  • the Irish Examiner: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40205747.html
  • Report at Gov.ie: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/22c0e-executive-summary-of-the-final-report-of-the-commission-of-investigation-into-mother-and-baby-homes/

1:06:15 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species.”

/ Desmond Morris (24 January 1928 – ), British Zoologist, author of The Naked Ape (1967) /

1:07:52 OUTRO

1:09:07 OUT-TAKES