We have a global pandemic raging about the globe and hardly anyone seems to really want to figure out how it originated?
Please read all 30 tweets here from a Harvard/MIT post-doc Alina Chan. I
https://twitter.com/Ayjchan/status/1320344055230963712
https://twitter.com/Ayjchan/status/1320344905466679296
I'll admit I totally understand all of her points an apparently many non-scientists don't either so she tried to do a Cliff Notes summary here:
We aren’t allowed to talk about this, put your muzzle back on
I wonder if rojo has linked us all to a conspiracy theory here? Because that would be totally out of character...
IR wrote:
I wonder if rojo has linked us all to a conspiracy theory here? Because that would be totally out of character...
He has, shock horror.
Dull AF.
If you want to go down the rabbit hole watch this podcast from Bret Weinstein, a former biology professor. In short, these guys argue that it's at least plausible that coronavirus escaped from an academic research lab (perhaps due to lax protocols or something).
I can't really figure out why the origin matters though. (And, as a corollary, why some people are calling these guys conspiracy theorists.)
It is possible - there is always human error. There are also malicious people in the world.
But as a whole, it strongly looks like it originated in nature.
This is a very good article rojo, especially the end:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200317175442.htm
"...This is how previous coronavirus outbreaks have emerged, with humans contracting the virus after direct exposure to civets (SARS) and camels (MERS)...."
IMO it's mutation due to global warming. We are living in a period of evolutionary change. It's not going away.
No thanks.
rojo wrote:
Please read all 30 tweets here from a Harvard/MIT post-doc Alina Chan.
stan the corgi wrote:
IMO it's mutation due to global warming. We are living in a period of evolutionary change. It's not going away.
Your opinion, with no basis in fact, is rather unimportant.
rojo wrote:
We have a global pandemic raging about the globe and hardly anyone seems to really want to figure out how it originated?
We are still trying to figure out why letsrun was on the forefront of spreading conspiracy theories about the Corona virus.
Aren't all these Chinese-Americans in Academia getting busted for espionage and/or misinformation? Would need to learn more about her, thanks for the link..
Coronarona wrote:
rojo wrote:
We have a global pandemic raging about the globe and hardly anyone seems to really want to figure out how it originated?
We are still trying to figure out why letsrun was on the forefront of spreading conspiracy theories about the Corona virus.
This is why I can't stand rojo.
But follow the money.
It's obvious someone is getting paid to distribute the misinformation, and this site is complicit at the very least, maybe directly involved.
the media is corrupt wrote:
stan the corgi wrote:
IMO it's mutation due to global warming. We are living in a period of evolutionary change. It's not going away.
Your opinion, with no basis in fact, is rather unimportant.
COVID is likely to have an zoonotic origin. With deforestation (also responsible for climate change) leading to species displacement and greater contact between humans and species on previously undeveloped land; it's likely COVID is just the first of a long list of novel viruses we are going to experience.
Welcome to the sixth mass extinction event.
Walt the pangolin wrote:
Coronarona wrote:
We are still trying to figure out why letsrun was on the forefront of spreading conspiracy theories about the Corona virus.
This is why I can't stand rojo.
But follow the money.
It's obvious someone is getting paid to distribute the misinformation, and this site is complicit at the very least, maybe directly involved.
+1
All this misinformation about how lockdowns are a good thing, how masks are essential outdoors, how no one is having their lives ruined by such stupid, inhumane measures.
A Global Pandemic? Raging around the Globe ya say?
Isn't that what Pandemics do?
gdm wrote:
If you want to go down the rabbit hole watch this podcast from Bret Weinstein, a former biology professor. In short, these guys argue that it's at least plausible that coronavirus escaped from an academic research lab (perhaps due to lax protocols or something).
I can't really figure out why the origin matters though. (And, as a corollary, why some people are calling these guys conspiracy theorists.)
https://youtu.be/q5SRrsr-Iug
I was going to link this podcast if you didn't first. Anyone who is really interested should listen to it before judging. The Scientific evidence points a high likelihood of a lab leak. Note this does not mean it was on purpose. There have been numerous viral lab leaks including at US labs.
The circumstantial evidence definitely points to a lab leak.
It matters for 2 reasons. If it leaked from a lab then the Chinese may have some insight on fighting or treating it. Not telling the world is a huge violation of a number of International law. The other reason is the legality of GOF research needs to be evaluated. Bret goes into detail on the potential risks. This is the ideal time for this time of research to be reevaluated but it would be a shame if it wasn't for political reasons.
Also read Yuri's article in Medium.
Walt the pangolin wrote:
Coronarona wrote:
We are still trying to figure out why letsrun was on the forefront of spreading conspiracy theories about the Corona virus.
This is why I can't stand rojo.
But follow the money.
It's obvious someone is getting paid to distribute the misinformation, and this site is complicit at the very least, maybe directly involved.
Way to derail rojo's thread with legitimate questions.
You can't figure out why the origin matters?! MONEY!!! No one wants to be liable for a global pandemic haha
Hardly anyone? All those 'eating powdered bats' and 'lab accident' topics had been talked to death half a year ago already.
There have been a number of instances of a COVID 19-like pneumonia in various parts of China since the SARS outbreak that were related to bats. Chinese miners clearing out bats and bat poo came down with a COVID 19 like pneumonia back in 2012. A similar outbreak was found in a rural Chinese community that appeared to be tied to the seasonal wild mushroom harvest. The mushrooms were often covered in bat poo.
The Chinese have a difficult cultural, environmental and economic relationship with bats. Eating bats is fairly rare "delicacy" in China. But bat guano's use in Chinese traditional medicine is much more common and widespread. There are lots of Chinese people in caves harvesting bat guano even after the outbreak. Also, both rural and urban development in China have been butting up against large bat colonies. Deforestation for agriculture and urbanization in China are also putting people and bats too close for comfort.
So, the Chinese would like to have the narrative out of the COVID 19 outbreak be that it was the result of one market selling bats or Pangolins for consumption by a very small portion of the Chinese population. That is an easy fix for the Chinese. But if the COVID 19 outbreak was the result of bat guano harvesting or the encroachment of people on bat ecosystems, the fix for that is very, very difficult. It would be akin to getting Americans to give up hamburgers to help fight global warming. Chinese medicine has been around for 10,000 years and is still very popular. And development patterns in China are not going to be able to take into account encroachment on wild bat ecosystems without great expense. China does not want to have to confront either narrative and is probably putting their finger on the scale in the published research to try to steer the debate away from much more difficult issues.