Lab leak – True origins of Covid-19 • Hacker News Board

Re: Lab leak – True origins of Covid-19

#31

Post by therealpygon » Sun, Apr 20, 2025, 1:54 PM UTC

tim333 wrote: post #27

therealpygon wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet the CIA still maintains a low confidence, who would clearly have more information than either of us, despite being directed to back that ploy. Wonder why.

Dunno. There's a lot of politics in what all US government funded bodies say. The US after all were heavily involved with the lab research. The Germans don't have much bias here and recently: >Germany's foreign intelligence service believed there was a 80-90% chance that coronavirus accidentally leaked from a Chinese lab, German media say. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz7vypq31z7o which is roughly the odds I'd…

Sure, you can try to find supporting opinions on any topic. In either case, whether it was a lab leak or not, it’s not like anything would be different. Nor does it matter, given that the modifying strains for pathogens for research purposes is what every research lab does, because that is what virology is. If you recall, this is the same COVID that Trump and his followers said “does not exist”, then “was nothing more than a common cold”, was “no more deadly than the flu”, could be cured with a dewormer, that masks don’t help despite it being universally known that it does, so on and so forth. For those same people then to try to use the opposite of that misinformation they were spreading as a dunk now is comically hypocritical, as can be expected from MAGA/Trump.

Re: Lab leak – True origins of Covid-19

#32

Post by tim333 » Sun, Apr 20, 2025, 2:31 PM UTC

therealpygon wrote: post #31

tim333 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dunno. There's a lot of politics in what all US government funded bodies say. The US after all were heavily involved with the lab research. The Germans don't have much bias here and recently: >Germany's foreign intelligence service believed there was a 80-90% chance that coronavirus accidentally leaked from a Chinese lab, German media say. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz7vypq31z7o which is roughly the odds I'd…

Sure, you can try to find supporting opinions on any topic. In either case, whether it was a lab leak or not, it’s not like anything would be different. Nor does it matter, given that the modifying strains for pathogens for research purposes is what every research lab does, because that is what virology is. If you recall, this is the same COVID that Trump and his followers said “does not exist”, then “was nothing mor…

>Nor does it matter

There is the matter of trying to prevent the next one. It kind of looks like there were other incidents around the WIV before covid 19 and it was a systemic issue of dangerous research without proper safeguards, and I doubt the WIV was the only lab at it.

There's a bit of an issue that if a researcher makes some dangerous new virus in the lab they get an interesting paper out of it, maybe tenure, and don't worry very much about that it could kill a million people in the one in a thousand chance it escapes. But a one in a thousand chance of a million deaths is still a statistical expectation of a thousand deaths.

Re: Lab leak – True origins of Covid-19

#33

Post by tim333 » Sun, Apr 20, 2025, 2:34 PM UTC

throwaway290 wrote: post #30

throwaway290 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When far right puts politics above true science it's not surprising. They always do that anyway. But when left put politics above true science then science gets discredited for everybody. And thanks to FOIA everybody knows that this happened with COVID in 2020/21 and far right has this fact to support their "science bad" and various conspiracy talking points for many years.

you know you're onto something when you piss off both sides at once. they downvote but have nothing to object haha

I think some of the details were maybe a bit unproven. I was a bit surprised how partisan it went in the US. I'm in the UK and we didn't have that sort of left right split on lab leaks or vaccine use.

Re: Lab leak – True origins of Covid-19

#34

Post by therealpygon » Mon, Apr 21, 2025, 12:38 AM UTC

tim333 wrote: post #32

therealpygon wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, you can try to find supporting opinions on any topic. In either case, whether it was a lab leak or not, it’s not like anything would be different. Nor does it matter, given that the modifying strains for pathogens for research purposes is what every research lab does, because that is what virology is. If you recall, this is the same COVID that Trump and his followers said “does not exist”, then “was nothing mor…

>Nor does it matter There is the matter of trying to prevent the next one. It kind of looks like there were other incidents around the WIV before covid 19 and it was a systemic issue of dangerous research without proper safeguards, and I doubt the WIV was the only lab at it. There's a bit of an issue that if a researcher makes some dangerous new virus in the lab they get an interesting paper out of it, maybe tenure,…

It happens several times a year in the US alone, often unreported, and about 100 times a year worldwide. I don’t disagree that every lab can have improved precautions. I know I for one am encouraged by how focused the conversation is on improving domestic lab safety and encouraging our global community to introduce stricter controls by… checks notes …staring a trade war with them, firing staff in various related agencies, decreasing research funding, decreasing health department staff, and decreasing oversight while…checks notes agains …blaming Biden. I’m shocked by how the new administration is so capable of honing in on the root of problems.

Re: Lab leak – True origins of Covid-19

#35

Post by throwaway290 » Mon, Apr 21, 2025, 4:18 AM UTC

tim333 wrote: post #33

throwaway290 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you know you're onto something when you piss off both sides at once. they downvote but have nothing to object haha

I think some of the details were maybe a bit unproven. I was a bit surprised how partisan it went in the US. I'm in the UK and we didn't have that sort of left right split on lab leaks or vaccine use.

They got emails from FOIA, this is not a "prove" thing, it is public documents.

Many scientists were concerned with artificial origin but forced to go with political message and when publishing the proximal origins paper the goal was "disprove lab leak" not find the truth.

Related FB & IG suppression of lab leak mentions by CDC moderation happened all over the world including the UK. I won't duplicate the links but those are reputable sources. Your opinion was shaped by US left.