"Men de stiller ikke spørsmålene i søken etter svar. Svarene er uinteressante. De vil bare stille spørsmålene for å kunne gi inntrykk av å være kritiske. Gi inntrykk av å virke nysgjerrige, åpne og kunnskapssøkende."
It's coming together nicely.
#ScienceCounterpunch
If you want to know what two nerdy EU #scicomm guys are doing to @standupforscience.bsky.social, we created a podcast where people in the fight against anti-science share their stories, experience, learnings.
Every friday 5pm UK new amazing guests.
illustration: collage of tweets about the article
Are you familiar with the story of the EMI article?
If not, good for you, you did not waste time with a manufactured controversy aimed to sow distrust.
For the curious, here's how lab leakers tried (and this time, failed) to generate outrage: ▫️1/6 🧵 #covidorigin
Here is a strong-worded takedown video on many lab leak conspiracy peddlers.
I worked with @profdaveexplains.bsky.social on this and it will hit the lableak believers like a meteor.
Please enjoy "scicomm unfiltered":
youtu.be/ra0WKNhQZ0U?...
illustration image, made of a map of Antarctica (NASA svg) and SARS-CoV-2 virus (NIH BioArt)
Are you familiar with the story of the Antarctica sequences?
If not, good for you: you didn't clutter your brain with yet another Covid-origin damp squib, where innocuous data were made to look suspicious by misrepresenting a date.
For the curious, here's the story. ▫️1/9 🧵 #CovidOrigin
My friend @badboyofscience.bsky.social has an awesome new video out.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQnO...
English transcript available below the original text
Disse funnene passer mildt sagt ikke så godt med fortellingene til Sigrid Bratlie om covid‑pandemiens opphav.. @langsiktsenter.bsky.social
Med mindre koronavirusene i jungelen i Brasil har satt inn et "furin cleavage site" på pur f som del av en stor konspirasjon
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
"SARS-CoV-2 is too well-adapted to humans [hence, insert your favorite conspiracy theory]".
That was never right because, for one, SARS-CoV-2 is a pandemic virus so it necessarily had to be "well-adapted".
Now, a new study shows the same is true for BANAL-236 - a related virus isolated from bats.
My interview with Dr. Susan Monarez, former CDC Director, who was fired for doing her job, standing up for public health and science. Learn about her resilience and optimism.
erictopol.substack.com/p/dr-susan-m...
Graphic annotating some of Dr. Andersen's main points from his post onto his figure for prediction of MRCA date. Titled "Estimated date when pandemic genomes started diverging".
Great post. Enough people with minimal background try to over-interpret this that I thought it might help make good faith (but not inside baseball) interpretation easier to quickly annotate your graph with more general explanatory language.
A new bat coronavirus discovered in Brazil confirms what we already knew: nature handles furin cleavage sites just fine.
Lab leakers, don’t worry, you've got the track record to pivot seamlessly to a career in creative fiction writing.
Quick update on the news:
open.substack.com/pub/protagon...
This is 💯 Origin inside baseball, but I've always been perplexed by Baric's claim that our "market" studies could not be correct because, according to him, the molecular timing of the pandemic in in October, not later.
That was always wrong, but where did he get this October date from?
Well... 🧵👇
22-Oct 2022 headline from The Economist A new paper claims SARS-CoV-2 bears signs of genetic engineering But it has yet to be peer reviewed. And others strongly disagree
🧵Remember the preprint claiming SARS-CoV-2 has a "synthetic fingerprint"?
It said a restriction map was "extremely unlikely to have arisen by random evolution.”
I took its claims seriously.
The "synthetic fingerprint" hypothesis collapses. My new preprint explains why.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.23833
We’ve identified a highly divergent betacoronavirus from South American bat that encodes a functional furin cleavage site.
Another fascinating reminder of how diverse coronavirus evolution is in wildlife reservoirs.
#Virology #VirusEvolution #Bats #Coronavirus
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Had an entertaining discussion with Chris and Matt about my book, gurus, media manipulators and how it all fits with the current attacks on science and scientists by the MAGA movement and beyond.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrsV...
All academic institutions will soon realize we are in this together, facing an autocratic ruler who wants to destroy academia, science, and public health (together with media and courts - pick up a history book).
There is only one solution - stand up, speak up, and, critically, collective action.
A third of the way through Lab Leak Fever by Philipp Markolin. Fascinating look into the disinformation network amplified by social media and politicians that has put so much strain on hard working researchers, scientists and health professionals. @philippmarkolin.bsky.social
I’ve been waiting for this book, and it did not disappoint. Fantastic read — highly recommended!!
www.lab-leak-fever.com
Insignificant as it is, my work was misrepresented by this DOE ‘report’.
It is endlessly hilarious to me that the 5 denier scientists they are able to dig up for this ... are the same 5 denier scientists they were able to dig up 10 years ago, and 20 years ago.
One might ask why no new scientists are joining this faction. Must be the global conspiracy.
Our research has been engulfed by an endless torrent of lab leak conspiracy theories about the origin of the pandemic - even as the evidence for zoonosis has only grown stronger.
This fuels anti-science agendas and erodes public trust.
Now, we respond 👇
theconversation.com/how-conspira...
This interview from @debunk-the-funk.bsky.social of @peterdaszak.bsky.social is essential viewing.
Conspiracy theorizing about a COVID lab leak is creating dangerous conditions for scientists. But misinformers spread bullshit with reckless abandon.
It’s sickening.
youtu.be/XTGM4u-l_YY?...
🤣
Instead of endless conspiracy theories it's better to focus on the evidence of this Q instead.
Three 🌟 recent lay-resources 👇
@debunk-the-funk.bsky.social
youtu.be/eTlur4YIAo0?...
@gidmk.bsky.social
gidmk.substack.com/p/pandemic-r...
@michaelhobbes.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...
