Swedish News:

"Blood rain" on its way to Denmark – may hit Sweden. Magnecyl can help the aging of the brain according to Sahlgrenska in Sweden. Swedish storks trouble in Denmark. Max von Sydow receives Legion of Honor. 

  • "Blood rain" on its way to Denmark, may hit Sweden
    A so called "blood rain" is pulling in over Denmark and may hit Sweden as well. It’s not blood, of course, but rather polluted rain, in this case polluted by sand from the Sahara desert, which has followed the air streams and which colors the rain drops making them either red or yellow. “It happens once in a while, but is not that common,” says Therese Foughman, meteorologist at SMHI (Sweden's Meteorological and Hydrological Institute). “It’s more common among the countries along the Mediterranean, where the rain doesn’t have to travel as far.” She adds that it’s difficult to tell whether Sweden will experience it or not. “It depends on how much rain there will be. The rain covers great parts of Denmark, and will then move north towards Götaland and southern Svealand.” Blood rain or red rain is a phenomenon in which blood is perceived to fall from the sky in the form of rain. Cases have been recorded since Homer's “Iliad” composed approximately 8th century BC, and are widespread. Before the 17th century it was generally believed that the rain was actually blood. Literature mirrors cult practice, in which the appearance of blood rain was considered a bad omen, and was used as a tool foreshadowing events, but while some of these may be literary devices, some occurrences are historic. Recorded instances of blood rain usually cover small areas. The duration can vary, sometimes lasting only a short time, others several days.

  • Magnecyl can help the aging of the brain according to Sahlgrenska in Sweden
    A quarter of a Magnecyl (a Swedish pain killer brand, which contains acetylsalicylic acid – similar to an Aspirin) can put the brakes on the aging of your brain. According to a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy in Göteborg, that amount of Magencyl helped stop the decrease of intellectual capacity among older women. The 600 women are part of a group with cardiovascular diseases and they were given a daily low dose of acetylsalicylic acid to prevent heart problems. But what happened was, that the acetylsalicylic acid also aided their aging brain capacity. Researcher Silke Kern at the academy puts up a warning finger though: “We don’t know the effects in the long run of this routine treatment and we do not want to encourage older people to self medicate with pain killers in order to prevent dementia,” she says in a press release.

  • Swedish storks create trouble in Denmark
    Swedish storks are making trouble for the air traffic at Copenhagen Airport, as they stroll around the enormous runways looking for food. All attempts to scare the birds away with gas pistols, laser lights, and water canons have been in vain. The troublemakers are two young storks from the stork project in Skåne (Scania) and an elderly stork that’s joined them, according to Swedish TV4. The grassy fields near the runways have proved to offer veritable buffets for the birds; filled as they are with mice and field mice. “We’ve followed them around all day, but they elude us,” says Emma Ådahl, project leader of the stork project at Naturskyddsföreningen (the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation). Trying to put the birds to sleep by giving them chicken stuffed with sleeping aids is another failed attempt to move the storks. Plan B for now is to shoot a net over the birds in order to catch them.

  • Max von Sydow receives Legion of Honor
    France honors its Swedish born citizen with the highest distinction: The Legion of Honor. Max von Sydow (who no longer has a Swedish citizenship, only a French one, and who resides in Paris with his wife Catherine Brelet, a French filmmaker) was honored with the medal at a ceremony at the Lumiere 2012-Grand Lyon Festival. Frederic Mitterrand, France's former Minister of Culture and Communication, selected von Sydow as a Legion d'honneur recipient in 2011.