Thread by @emmecola

Some "conspiracists" always get it right!

Conspiracist, January 2020: "#RaTG13 virus looks like BtCoV/4991 described in an old paper that you didn't cite!" 📄

Average scientist, January 2020: 😴

Shi Zhengli, July 2020: "Yes, it was the same virus."

#SARSCoV2 #SARS2origins

1/

Conspiracist, May 2020: "Look, these sequences in database are dated 2017/2018. So you didn't sequence RaTG13 this year, as you wrote in the paper!" 🔬

Average scientist, May 2020: 😴

Shi Zhengli, July 2020: "Yes, actually we got the sequence in 2018."

2/

Conspiracist, May 2020: "Have a look at these Chinese theses we found on the internet: RaTG13 was found in a #mineshaft were people died of #pneumonia!" 😱

Average scientist, May 2020: 😴

Shi Zhengli, June 2020: "Oh yes we found it there, but.. well, the cause was a fungus"

3/

Conspiracist, June 2020: "A fungus? But the theses say the cause was an unknown #virus!" 📖

Scientist, June 2020: 😴

Shi Zhengli, November 2020: "Well, you're right, actually we thought it was a virus."

4/

Conspiracist, May 2020: "What if there were other #SARS-like viruses in that mine, besides RaTG13?" ❓

Average scientist, May 2020: 😴

Shi Zhengli, November 2020: "Ha yes, there were other 8 SARS-like viruses there, but we only published one of them"

5/

Conspiracist, July 2020: "Hey but this #pangolin paper is cheating with data!" 📊

Average scientist, July 2020: 😴

Nature editors, November 2020: "This is a serious matter. Let's investigate this paper."

6/

Dear scientists, please stop labelling as #conspiracists those people who are simply doing the job that you're supposed to do.

We all have a civic duty to promote #transparency and fight scientific misconduct. Don't stay silent! Speak up against bad science.

Addendum: the dates of the "conspiracist" discoveries are more like educated guesses: the real exact dates are lost under thousands of tweets sent this year!

By the way, I am collecting those dates and create a more precise timeline (thanks @franciscodeasis for helping me!).