The FBI's lab leak investigation | Hacker News Reader

The FBI's lab leak investigation

vanityfair.com

16 pointspurglet17 comments

https://web.archive.org/web/20250227181008/https://www.vanit...

> In reality, much of Shi’s research on bat coronaviruses was done at a BSL-2 level, says Bannan, in labs that do not require specialized air filtration or full gowns.

Wait. They were conducting research into the ways coronavirus could jump to humans in a lab without the controlled airflow systems designed to prevent spread of airborne pathogens?

The reason why this research was shifted from the US to China was because it was so dangerous that Congress shut it down here and only batshit crazy people would do it...

Luckily one of the guys responsible for funneling US funding for this risky research to Wuhan was one of the leads of the WHO investigation into COVID's origin. I'm sure there was no conflict of interest.

> It’s a debate in which legitimate scientific arguments vie for attention with partisan attacks and wild conspiracy theories. But so far, there is no smoking-gun evidence to definitively resolve whether COVID-19 spilled over naturally from animals at a market in Wuhan or whether it resulted from a laboratory accident in the city, where one of the world’s foremost coronavirus research facilities had amassed a vast repository of virus samples.

There’s literally no evidence that it spilled over naturally from animals in a market. That’s the wildest conspiracy theory, promoted by those who have a vested interest in it not having been a lab leak.

There was a very fun debate on this, summarised nicely here[1]. Two parties took opposing positions on lab leak theory, with 2 independent expert judges (accepted by both participants). Loser had to pay the winner 100K USD

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/practically-a-book-review-r...

There’s not only evidence but multiple peer-reviewed papers arguing that the wet market theory is the most likely. Can you specify which of them you read and why you think they can be categorically rejected?

How many of those papers authors were paid off by the NIH or other agencies to report what they did?

We know that some were bribed, so it's not out of hand for me to ask

Those are serious accusations. Do you have any evidence suggesting that they’re true?

This kind of lab accidents happen all the time, this being a crappy lab it was more a question when than if.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_laboratory_biosecurity...

Which specify incidents do you think involved bribes?

"No smoking gun" is not the same as "literally no evidence".

This is just an excuse for Trump to say the 2020 pandemic wasn't his fault, and he shouldn't be blamed for it and the 2020 election wAs wrong.

Lab leak or wet market, Trump's pandemic response is what it is, but for propaganda/Fox News purposes, a lab leak is exonerating.

You're suggesting that Trump is working with The Atlantic to push this narrative via this article?

Pretty sure the article is from vanity fair

Whoops. Doesn't really change my overall point though.

No, I'm suggesting that The Atlantic is trying to read the tea leaves and do things that they think will please Trump and his base.

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