It’s all over Twitter and even the creator of Harry Potter said the exchange validates the existence of the social media platform: Renowned astrophysicist Katie Mack posted the most elegant, yet powerful response to a climate doubter that tried to attack her credibility.
The exchange started when Mack tweeted the following:
Honestly climate change scares the heck out of me and it makes me so sad to see what we're losing because of it.
— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) August 15, 2016
Right away, she got an answer from Twitter user @gary4205, whose bio reads: Texan, Conservative Activist, Record Holding DragRacer, Editor & Publisher A Time For Choosing.
Maybe you should learn some actual SCIENCE then, and stop listening to the criminals pushing the #GlobalWarming SCAM!
— Gary P Jackson #Conservative (@gary4205) August 15, 2016
But Mack hit back with grace and elan:
I dunno, man, I already went and got a PhD in astrophysics. Seems like more than that would be overkill at this point.
— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) August 16, 2016
The astrophysicist, who is based at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and has done research on issues such as dark matter, black holes, and cosmic strings at Caltech, Princeton, and Cambridge, says she is passionate about doing science outreach both through traditional means such as publishing articles in journals and magazines, and on social media.
This latest Twitter encounter got her 5,647 retweets and 16,100 likes on just a couple of tweets.
Haters continued to blast her:
if climate change worries you so much maybe you should stop being a "connoisseur of airplane food" as a first step...hm.
— Sissi Adamski (@nerdess) August 17, 2016
But apparently trolls were outnumbered by defenders, including author J.K. Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter.
YAS @AstroKatie GET IT. #science #womeninSTEM https://t.co/pI78QmI5VD
— Perrin Ireland (@experrinment) August 16, 2016
this is tweet of the Year! which emoji best describes your facial expression whilst u were typing that burn: 🙄🤑😌😴😔😏
— Scotty Fin (@FinScotty) August 16, 2016
It got to the point where Mack actually had to defend poor Gary from a growing onslaught. At the same time, she found herself declining invitations to enter politics.
Tweeps it is not necessary to tweet at Gary, I think he knows what happened by now
— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) August 16, 2016
I really don't think that would go well -- I would keep sneaking out of important meetings to work on science stuff
— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) August 16, 2016
I mean look if there is any global conspiracy anywhere about anything, I'm so not in on it.
— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) August 16, 2016
my 9 yr old asked tonight 'I won't be alive when #climatechange gets bad will I mum'? Felt sad she'll still be in primary school
— @GrettaPecl (@GrettaPecl) August 16, 2016
so beautifully expressed your empathy💝. Something lacking in the #climatechange delutionals/deniers💔
— SaralinaLove.com aka Sarah West Love (@SarahWestMusic) August 16, 2016
If we change to renewable Tech then its a new boom in that field. New Science, New Money, Less damage
— Phil Hadfield (@hadphild) August 17, 2016
Right here in my ocean, I see so much gone from my childhood days😢 And I'm not a scientist. I only walk and look.
— neena maiya (@neenamaiya) August 16, 2016
I think about this a lot. We are smart enough to figure out how to live off of solar and wind power. We choose not to.
— yovanah (@myladythoughts) August 15, 2016
Gary?
— Sterling_Plisken (@SterlingPliskin) August 16, 2016
Gary?
Gary?
No response? pic.twitter.com/ChBCeiWGWX
Good night, Twitter. Thank you for being such a gloriously weird place. 🌌
— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) August 16, 2016
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I'm not convinced that it was
I'm not convinced that it was necessary to write an article about tweets, but it could have been done with only two of them quoted. This is a pathetic story. I come to this site to get away from this kind of stuff.
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