In Sweden, Lidl has decided to install sound systems that play classical music for its crop, with the idea that music is beneficial to plant growth.
In the spring, Lidl commissioned the government research institute RISE to analyze the effect of music on plants, and the studies showed that music can have a positive effect on plants. For example, one study showed that 100% of alfalfa seeds exposed to music developed sprouts when either classical music, waltzes or natural sounds were played. The same study found that several types of music also had a positive effect on lettuce.
– Although plants don't have ears, they can sense vibrations from sound waves, and a number of scientific studies have shown that music promotes plant growth, influencing both root length and crop size, for example. Our report shows that different genres of music benefit the growth of different plants”, says Tora Råberg, researcher at RISE, in a press release.
Another study showed that pea plants grew 38% taller when classical music was played, compared to plants that were not allowed to grow to music.
Five Lidl growers have now played classical music from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, fresh herbs and apples.
These products will be sold in all Lidl stores across the country from week 35. To identify the products, which will be sold under the private label Matriket, they will be marked with a blue note.
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A patient who lost both hands after a severe infection has undergone a unique double hand transplant in Stockholm, Sweden. The operation, which took 19 hours and involved approximately 40 staff members, was performed in collaboration between Södersjukhuset and Karolinska University Hospital.
The patient is now working on rehabilitation and has slowly begun using the new hands in daily life.
As a result of a multi-year close collaboration between Södersjukhuset and Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden has now performed its second-ever double hand transplant, announces Södersjukhuset on its website.
The procedure, exceptional in its complexity, marks a major step forward for reconstructive surgery and transplant care in the country.
– The hand transplant is the result of fantastic teamwork and collaboration within the region. The transplant demonstrates the high level of expertise we have at Södersjukhuset, in Stockholm Region, and in Sweden, says Karouk Said, hospital director at Södersjukhuset.
Extensive and demanding teamwork
The 19-hour operation required a team of approximately 40 specialists, including hand surgeons, plastic surgeons, transplant surgeons, and anesthesia and intensive care staff.
Tobias Laurell, head of operations and hand surgeon at Södersjukhuset, emphasizes that collaboration and planning were crucial.
– Losing your hands means great suffering. We have been in contact with the patient for several years before the hand transplant. Now it is fantastic to see how the patient is gradually regaining function in the new hands, which is a process that takes a long time and requires extensive rehabilitation. Such a complex and rare operation requires teamwork between many different professional groups.
Tobias Laurell, head of operations and hand surgeon at Södersjukhuset. Photo: Johan Adelgren
The background to the unique operation is extensive. The surgeons have conducted simulations, practiced scenarios, and built up a joint hand transplant program.
Matching donor hands has been particularly demanding – blood type, antibodies, skin tone, and hand size must match very precisely.
Additionally, blood circulation must be restored very quickly after the hands are connected, which places very high demands on logistics.
Early results and rehabilitation
Three months after the operation, the patient has already begun using the new hands in daily life: writing and eating with utensils are examples of early progress.
Rehabilitation started just a few days after the operation and now takes place daily.
According to transplant surgeons at Karolinska, this procedure is not just an individual success – it is a prestigious project for Swedish highly specialized care.
– For us who usually transplant internal organs, it has been fascinating and different to be able to see the transplanted hands and the patient's progress, says senior physician Helena Genberg at Karolinska Institute.
Because the body can reject the transplanted hands, the patient requires lifelong immunosuppressive treatment.
The transplant surgeons and Regional Donation Center at Karolinska University Hospital have been responsible for the immunosuppressive treatment and advanced logistics around the transplant.
– It is exciting that our experience of transplantation and immunosuppressive treatment is being used in this exciting project, says Torbjörn Lundgren, senior physician at ME Transplantation at Karolinska University Hospital.
Risks and future perspectives
Despite the successes, the risks are significant. The transplant requires lifelong medication and careful follow-up, and rehabilitation is both time-consuming and mentally demanding.
Additionally, there is the issue of access to donor organs – matching is difficult and the number of donors is limited. However, the operation demonstrates that Swedish transplant care is at the forefront even when it comes to extremely complex surgical procedures.
If rehabilitation continues to go well, this could pave the way for more similar transplants and even closer collaboration between hospitals.
At the same time, many questions remain: How do you ensure enough donors? How does healthcare manage the long-term costs and risks? And what role should advanced reconstructive surgery have in future healthcare policy?
"We feel great gratitude toward the person and the relatives who made this possible through donation after death," concludes the press release from Södersjukhuset.
Note: The first double hand transplant in Sweden took place in December 2020, when a woman became the first person in Scandinavia to undergo such an operation at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden.
After the Swedish government, together with the Sweden Democrats party, significantly raised the cap for return migration grants, support for receiving the grant is now increasing among certain immigrant groups.
The Swedish government's significant increase of the return migration grant at the turn of the year is meeting mixed reactions among the population. A new opinion poll shows that support is strongest among foreign-born residents in so-called vulnerable areas – and weakest among left-wing voters.
At the same time, debate is growing about how the grant should be used and what effects it may have for municipalities and the state.
When the Tidö government (Sweden's center-right coalition government) raises the return migration grant from approximately €900 to €31,000 at the turn of the year, the goal is to encourage more migrants who are deemed difficult to integrate to voluntarily return to their countries of origin.
The reform has created extensive political debate, not least after several red-green (left-wing) municipalities indicated their opposition to the measure.
This has led representatives from the Tidö parties and the Sweden Democrats to question whether state support should continue to municipalities that do not participate in the program.
Now a new survey from Indikator Opinion, commissioned by the Järvaveckan Foundation, shows that support for the significantly increased grant varies greatly between different groups.
Support varies greatly
According to the survey, attitudes are significantly more positive among foreign-born residents living in vulnerable areas than in the rest of the country.
In these areas, 39 percent say they are positive about an increased return migration grant, while 30 percent are negative. In the rest of the country – including both native Swedes and immigrants – the proportion of positive responses is 27 percent and the proportion of negative responses is 38 percent.
The most positive group is migrants who have lived in Sweden for less than five years and who also live in vulnerable areas. There, 46 percent say they view the grant increase positively.
Ahmed Abdirahman, CEO of the Järvaveckan Foundation, believes the reaction says something important about how people experience their situation in Sweden.
— That support for an increased return migration grant is greater among foreign-born residents in vulnerable areas may seem surprising at first glance. But the results show how complex the question of integration is. I see it as a sign that we need to talk more about opportunities, not just about benefits. When people don't feel included in nation-building, the willingness to consider other alternatives also increases, he says.
Right-wing voters more positive
The survey also shows large differences between different party sympathies. Among Sweden Democrats' voters, 47 percent are positive about the grant increase, while the corresponding proportion among Christian Democrats' voters is 45 percent.
The least support is found among Left Party and Green Party sympathizers, where a majority view the government's direction negatively.
Per Oleskog Tryggvason, opinion director at Indikator Opinion, emphasizes that the proposal is still unpopular among broader segments of voters.
— A significantly increased return migration grant is a relatively unpopular proposal among Swedish voters – clearly more people think it's bad than think it's good. Even though the proposal is significantly more popular among the Tidö parties' voters, there is a considerable proportion of right-wing voters who are skeptical. Based on these figures, it doesn't appear to be an election-winning proposal, he says.
The grant increase takes effect at the turn of the year. How many people will actually choose to apply remains to be seen – interest has been lukewarm so far, but the government hopes the new amount will change the situation.
Products containing muscimol from fly agaric mushrooms have become increasingly popular and are often sold as natural medicine. Now the Swedish Public Health Agency (Folkhälsomyndigheten) wants the government to stop the trade by classifying the substance as narcotics.
The fly agaric has long been regarded as a symbol of poisonous mushrooms, but it is not quite as toxic as the destroying angel (Amanita virosa) – which is deadly. Historically, the fly agaric is said to have been used by Siberian shamans, among others, to alter their state of consciousness in order to establish contact with the spirit world in rituals.
In Sweden during the 1800s, people hardly ate any mushrooms at all, but the fly agaric was still considered useful as it was used as an insecticide against flies, from which it also got its name. When food became scarce for Swedes, authorities tried to encourage more mushroom consumption, which briefly led to a group of mushroom enthusiasts claiming that the fly agaric was edible, something that Populär Historia has written about. During the 1970s, the mushroom began to acquire its bad reputation after new knowledge about mushroom species began to take shape.
Poses a risk
Muscimol is a psychoactive substance that can produce sedative and hallucinogenic effects, and today the substance is often promoted by so-called alternative health groups as a remedy for sleep disorders, among other things. So-called retreats are even organized where participants ingest the mushroom in ceremonial settings.
Now the Swedish Public Health Agency wants to classify the substance as narcotics. According to the agency, the substance is currently available for purchase as candy and in e-cigarettes through various online stores, and they emphasize that the mushroom is poisonous and that people are exposing themselves to risk. In addition to relatively common symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, and hallucinations, there are reports of people falling into comas after taking the preparation.
— It has properties that pose a danger to people's lives and health and which can be assumed to be used for the purpose of achieving intoxication, said Adli Assali, head of unit at the Swedish Public Health Agency, to P3 Nyheter.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned trade in muscimol at the end of last year. This summer, the Swedish Public Health Agency initiated its own investigation following a request from the Swedish Customs Service (Tullverket), which had seized the substance at border controls. The Swedish government will now decide whether the substance should be classified as narcotics in Sweden.
The Swedish government's proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 is facing strong criticism. In its consultation response, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service (Kriminalvården) states that it is not equipped to receive such young children in prison and that they should be cared for in other ways.
By July 1 next year, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service is expected to have built prison units for children where both 15–17-year-olds and 13–14-year-olds convicted of serious crimes will serve sentences. At the same time, places at the special youth homes (SiS homes, state-run institutions for youth care) will be phased out.
In the consultation response, the Prison and Probation Service writes that imprisonment at a young age can lead to negative consequences, and that children "as young as 13 should be cared for in other ways".
— These concerns become more significant the younger the children in question are, says Elisabeth Lager, acting legal director, to TT.
The Prison and Probation Service is clear that the organization does not have the required resources. It lacks both the expertise and suitable facilities to handle children as young as 13 within prisons, detention centers, or community-based sanctions such as probation. Practical issues such as education must also be addressed. At the same time, it is noted that the level of the age of criminal responsibility is ultimately a political matter.
Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer writes that the government will "carefully analyze all consultation responses". He emphasizes that society must "care for children in a completely different way than today" in cases of the most serious crimes, both to protect victims and society, but also the children themselves.
