TheESP – Ep. #444 – Happy Cucumbers

With an episode number like this, we have to start out with some numerology. Annika will be more off than on for a while and the promised record heat in Sweden actually delivered. In TWISH we hear about the sci-fi / philosophical writer Stanisław Lem who was born this week in 1921. Then we head for the news:

• SWEDEN: Music makes cucumbers happy
• UK: Hereditary seats to be removed from Lords
• INTERNATIONAL: No link between mobile phones and brain tumours
• UK / INTERNATIONAL: Bach Flower Remedies for perceived stress of nurses

We hand out a Really Wrong Award to the Carl and Veronica Carstens Foundation for funding dubious research, and that should be the end – but wait! Brian Eggo crashes the party! He tells all about the upcoming Skepticamp at QED. Don’t miss out!

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote; Interview; Outro; Outtakes
 
0:00:28 INTRO

0:00:51 GREETINGS

• Number 444 numerology
  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraphobia
• Annika will probably not be be around for a bit…
• Record heat in Sweden
  • Omni.se: https://omni.se/nya-svenska-varmerekordet-delas-av-tva-stader/a/0V9g7o
  • SMHI: https://www.smhi.se/en/climate/climate-indicators/climate-indicators-temperature-1.91472
  • SMHI: https://www.smhi.se/kunskapsbanken/meteorologi/svenska-temperaturrekord/svenska-temperaturrekord-1.5792

0:06:43 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 12 September 1921: Birth of sci-fi writer Stanisław Lem
  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Lem

0:13:07 NEWS

• SWEDEN: Music makes cucumbers happy
  • SVT: https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/skane/gurkor-gillar-klassisk-musik-ny-spellista-ska-ge-battre-skord
• UK: Hereditary seats to be removed from Lords
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/05/ministers-introduce-plans-to-remove-all-hereditary-peers-from-lords
• INTERNATIONAL: No link between mobile phones and brain tumours
  • the Conversation: https://theconversation.com/mobile-phones-are-not-linked-to-brain-cancer-according-to-a-major-review-of-28-years-of-research-237882
• UK / INTERNATIONAL: Bach Flower Remedies for perceived stress of nurses
  • Edzard Ernst: https://edzardernst.com/2024/09/bach-flower-remedies-for-perceived-stress-of-nurses-a-randomized-placebo-controlled-double-blind-clinical-trial/
  • VoF: https://www.vof.se/blogg/dr-bachs-blomsterdroppar/

0:34:09 REALLY WRONG

• Really Wrong: Carl and Veronica Carstens Foundation, for funding Kneipp study of long covid
  • Edzard Ernst: https://edzardernst.com/2024/09/the-carl-and-veronica-carstens-foundation-is-funding-a-nonsensical-kneipp-study-of-long-covid/

0:39:47 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“Skepticism is like a microscope whose magnification is constantly increased: the sharp image that one begins with finally dissolves, because it is not possible to see ultimate things: their existence is only to be inferred.”
/ Stanisław Lem (12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006), Polish writer of novels, short stories and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. /

0:40:53 INTERVIEW

• Surprise visit by Brian Eggo! All about Skepticamp at QED 2024!

0:46:23 OUTRO

0:47:38 OUT-TAKES