Slack / Private Message Drop — page 129

Even the Fox news bloke seemed a tad unconvinced. Interesting that she mentioned Zhang's lab though. That won't do him any favours. [2020-08-03 06:51:03] [Robert Garry] [thread - ID: 2020-08-03 06:51:03] More great reporting by Ed Yong. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-fail ure/614191/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share"Science famously self-corrects. But during the pandemic, the same urgent pace that has produced valuable knowledge at record speed has also sent sloppy claims around the world before anyone could even raise a skeptical eyebrow. The ensuing confusion, and the many genuine unknowns about the virus, has created a vortex of fear and uncertainty, which grifters have sought to exploit. Snake-oil merchants have peddled ineffectual silver bullets (including actual silver). Armchair experts with scant or absent qualifications have found regular slots on the nightly news. And at the center of that confusion is Donald Trump." He did miss one snake oiler: https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/msnbc-virus-expert-says-he-contracted-covid-19-evidence-says-otherwise whose been f'ing up outbreaks for years: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/outbreak/ [2020-08-03 06:53:50] [Andrew Rambaut] [thread - ID: 2020-08-03 06:51:03] Yes - this is really great article. Ed does this stuff so well. [2020-08-03 07:35:50] [Robert Garry] He should be nominated for a well-deserved Pulitzer - truly. [2020-08-04 17:16:55] [Eddie Holmes] You can almost see the froth coming from this mouth: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cla.12425 [2020-08-04 23:03:47] [Andrew Rambaut] Bloody cladists. What unconstructive sanctimonious dribble. [2020-08-05 00:11:08] [Eddie Holmes] I couldn't be a cladist. I couldn't cope with that level of anger all day. Please pass to Paul Sharp. [2020-08-05 11:09:42] [Robert Garry] Eddie - is this another "parody" article? From the critic of Andersen et al. "As a side note, an amino acid is a "composite character," meaning it is composed of different parts (the nucleotides) that may represent separate evolutionary events. ... Future work would do well to examine the actual nucleotide sequence when investigating genetic evolution and ancestry, and keep "function" of the translated product as a different question, important as it may be." [2020-08-05 11:13:32] [Andrew Rambaut] Cladists are daft and pompous. [2020-08-05 11:15:30] [Robert Garry] I know the type... [2020-08-05 12:51:11] [Robert Garry]