TheESP – Ep. #419 – London Eye is falling down

Flying unicorns exist in Portugal and you can vote for your favorites on the Portuguese Skeptics’ web site (COMCEPT) before 1 April. By coincidence this is also the deadline for getting the Early Bird discount for the European Skeptics Congress in Lyon, so sign up in time! On a sadder note, Annika will have to take a few months off from the podcast, but she promises to return in June. But before that, we have a whole lot of news to go through:

• INTERNATIONAL: AI will increase energy use and climate misinformation
• INTERNATIONAL: Is rapamycin a cure for old age?
• GERMANY: Arson attacks against Tesla Giga factory driven by misconceptions regarding electromobility
• UK: Helpline for people leaving faith
• INTERNATIONAL: Are there any benefits to the Wim Hof method?
• UK: London Eye moving to Scotland?

For a change we have a Really Weird Award to hand out – the man who got hundreds of covid shots just to be on the safe side (we suppose). Luckily he seems to be OK.

Enjoy!

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

0:00:52 GREETINGS

• The Flying Unicorn Awards
  • COMCEPT: https://comcept.org/2024/03/15/votacao-para-o-premio-unicornio-voador-2023/
• ESC 2024: Register by 31 March to get Early Bird discount!
  • ECSO: https://www.ecso.org/esc2024/
• Annika is taking a break

0:12:42 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 23 March 1919: Foundation of the predecessor of the National Fascist Party in Italy, a powerhouse of propaganda
  • History.com: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mussolini-founds-the-fascist-party
  • National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/benito-mussolini-rise-of-fascism-in-italy

0:22:23 NEWS

• INTERNATIONAL: AI will increase energy use and climate misinformation
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/07/ai-climate-change-energy-disinformation-report
• INTERNATIONAL: Is rapamycin a cure for old age?
  • Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/03/15/rapamycin-longevity-drug/
  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirolimus
• GERMANY: Arson attacks against Tesla Giga factory driven by misconceptions regarding electromobility
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/05/leftwing-vulkan-group-claim-responsibility-tesla-factory-pylon-arson-attack-berlin
• UK: Helpline for people leaving faith
  • Humanists UK: https://humanists.uk/2024/02/21/humanists-uk-launches-dedicated-faith-to-faithless-helpline-for-people-leaving-religions-and-cults/
• INTERNATIONAL: Are there any benefits to the Wim Hof method?
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/mar/13/wim-hof-breathing-cold-exposure-method-benefits-study
• UK: London Eye moving to Scotland?
  • the National Scot: https://www.thenational.scot/news/24180773.london-eye-moving-scotland-scots-question-viral-post/

0:49:49 REALLY WEIRD

• Really Weird: Hypervaccinated man
  • Science Based Medicine: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/hypervaccination/

0:56:34 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.”
/ Marie Curie (7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. /

1:00:51 OUTRO

1:02:06 OUT-TAKES