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Arguing with the anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers, flat earthers, and climate change deniers is a heck of a job. If you've ever tried, you’ll know what I am talking about.

And even though you recognize the fallacy in their arguments, like saying that masks don’t help to stop the coronavirus, you sometimes need heavy artillery.

Luckily, some people who know what they’re talking about have done everyone a service and stepped in to school the science deniers big time. From biochemists to sport scientists, these are some of the most mic-drop moves in stopping the spread of misinformation.

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Raine Soo
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I never knew that a simple apple had such a complex chemical composition. I learn something new everyday.

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Pamela24
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One of my favourite tweets of all time (the second one, obviously). I hope to be one day this articulate.

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These days, when there are so many science deniers, it may feel like arguing with them is absolutely pointless. But a 2019 study published in the journal Nature Human Behavior showed that it’s in fact worth arguing with them.

Philipp Schmid and Cornelia Betsch of the University of Erfurt in Germany conducted six experiments with 1,773 subjects. They assessed “how to mitigate the influence of a denier on the audience.”

The results showed that “not responding to science deniers has a negative effect on attitudes towards behaviors favored by science (for example, vaccination) and intentions to perform these behaviors.”

#4

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chi-wei shen
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Alan Turing was praised for what he has done during war time and condemned for whom he loved. That's the great tragedy of his life.

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Turnip and a Frog
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Polish cryptographers, Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski cracked the Enigma code. The Bletchley Park scientists with Alan Turing worked on codes, Enigma devices and principles built by the Poles in the process of deciphering. They managed to crack the toughest code, used for the deployment of marine vessels. Many sources, but, for example here: https://www.cia.gov/news-information/blog/2016/who-first-cracked-the-enigma-cipher.html

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Romenriel
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Another example: during WWII, sir Howard Florey and his team started to manufacture penicillin, which was then used to treat war injuries and saved another thousands hundreds or milions of lives.

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lily
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A bunch of Polish scientists: Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki, and Henryk Zygalski.

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CatWoman312
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And the gun you’re holding in the trenches was invented by an intellect not some stupid government dog.

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M O'Connell
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not to mention the mathematics that went into figuring out how to even manufacture it. Grit and determination might get you rocks and clubs, at best.

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K.Kobayashi
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And then the gay man was convicted for being gay, chemically castrated by court order, and committed suicide.

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Dave P
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

actually 95% of the work on this was done by the Poles, then a group of brits jumped in, finished the work with Polish help, took credit, and tried to write the Poles out of history.

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Asia
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Polish mathematicians were the first to decipher German military communications encrypted using Enigma machines before World War II and their work formed the foundation for later code-breaking at Bletchley Park, the famous British cryptology centre, during the war.

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alwaysMispelled
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not to mention who made all those technological advances in weaponry? In armored vehicles? Who built the ships and airplanes that carried those soldiers? What an absolute Twit.

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NoodleBear
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why does it matter if the man was gay? I don’t think that was necessary to mention. (No hate on LGBT, I’m bi)

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Adrienne Doyle
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It matters because he was chemically castrated by court order because being gay was a crime and committed suicide sometime after that chemical castration.

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xolitaire
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Alan Turing. Say his name god damnit. As awesome as this burn is, people need to stop leaving out the names.

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Agata Fronia
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Enigma wasn't cracked by Brits, that's a lie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_machine#Breaking_Enigma

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Magdalena Wiśniewska
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just to be more specific. Movie doesn't show the whole story. He didn't crack that code, in 1932 Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski solved it and THEN further english team finished their work.

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Christine Ladyman
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love such easy slapdowns of ignorance... those the ignorant can clearly see!

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Daniele Ribolla
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Alan Turing was a genius that, with the help of a lot of smart woman and guys, saved life of millions people and only because it was gay (OMG... what a shame! >:-( he's never been celebrated, not even in the present period. the reason is that it is still embarrassing for British politics, for a so shameful and ungrateful act.

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Karolina F.
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well this isnt entirely true, the enigma wouldnt be cracked without the work of the polish cryptologists - Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski and Jerzy Różycki. Read up before you try to sound smart.

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Origami Chik3n
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Academics and scientists worked tirelessly to create better steel for heroes' tanks, more powerful engines for heroes' planes, better ways to preserve food for heroes to eat in trenches. And the list goes on. If EVERYONE was "hero on the beaches and in the trenches", they would have been throwing rocks at enemy because there would be no one left to invent and produce weapons, ammunition, uniforms and other supplies. One thing is correct though - all the scientists and all the academics are powerless against this level of ignorance.

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Joyce Brazel
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

HE KILLED HIMSELF BECAUSE OF IT TOO. NO ONE ACCEPTED GAYS THEN.

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Eliyahu Rooff
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would also note that school teacher and poet Wilfred Owen served in the trenches in WW1, was decorated for heroism and died in combat two weeks before the Armistice. It wasn't just laborers who were cannon fodder.

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Randy Klefbeck
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Scientists came up with vaccinations to counter the effects of nerve gas that enemy scientists formulated.

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Karolina Kopańska
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Early codes was cracked by Poles - Jerzy Różycki, Henryk Zygalski, Marian Rajewski.

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Larry Schupp
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All of the machines and weapons used in any modern war were developed by engineers and scientists. Just sayin'

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Destiny Duraj
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow so there are some Brits who are as dumb as many Americans..thats eye opening..and really sad.

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Logan Slaughter
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That "British Spirit" got millions of young men butchered at the Somme.

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b l a n c
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i really have no idea the point the first guy was tryna make

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Jay Tesst
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And as a thank you for the great work Alan Turing did, they chemically castrated him for being gay. He then commited suicide. Yes, that's how you say thanks.

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Anton Kider
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A gay man from Manchester ???? It was Alan Turing FGS...!!!

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Sasha Kuleshov
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh yes, the ol' British Spirit, the creator of the Lee–Enfield rifle, the engineer of the tank, the splitter of the atom, also the designer of the radar and the well-known inventor of the Penicillin, yay for them! :D

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Grumble O'Pug
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And there were a metric S**T TONNE of men who went on after the war to used the G.I. Bill go become scientists and scholars.

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Vicky Zar
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know this is controversial but if you speak about war..... well Albert Einstein and all who came after - Atomic Bomb

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TheExtremeSmell
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He was against the use of the bomb and never thought of his theory’s being used as a weapon.

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Kines Tezja
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why people always forget that it was Poles who cracked it :I

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M O'Connell
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's sad how few people know of the Polish contributions to the war effort. Take a look at the British reports regarding the Polish Navy in exile during the war (officially administered by the British Navy). The Germans paid dearly for fighting against men who had nothing left to lose.

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Mark Johanen
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3 years ago

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If the fact that Alan Turing made a great contribution to the war effort proves that it's perfectly okay to be gay, then by the same reasoning the fact that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence proves that it's perfectly okay to own slaves.

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Paul K. Johnson
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dear God-botherers. If god drowned everyone except one family on the planet because they were evil then he believed that unborn children could be evil (not to mention all the born children). You anti-abortion types must really hate god for that.

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Facing deniers can be treated as a concerned and important effort to fight misinformation. The authors of the study suggest that “not turning up to the discussion at all seems to result in the worst effect.”

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Meanwhile, showing up on an acquaintance's Facebook post, even if you think it's pointless, will surely do some good.

Interestingly, the authors claim that science deniers use the same rhetoric across domains. It means that “uncovering their rhetorical techniques is an effective and economic addition to the advocates’ toolbox.”

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WilvanderHeijden
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never ending story of idiots spreading a disease because they do not believe in science.

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#9

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Daria B
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think we should celebrate holidays of all existing religions, that should be given equally to all followers and non followers. Yay! Every day is a holiday! ♡

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Fish Boden
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can't believe that the idiot had 1.8k up-votes. Yowsers, so many dafties.

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WilvanderHeijden
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Lol. How dare you debunk the nonsense I'm spewing on the internet with science? Don't you ever do that again!!!!

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WilvanderHeijden
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even if you'd put the entire flat-earth movement in a spaceship and circle the earth in any way they want, they'd be telling you that it's a trick with mirrors and projectors. But at least they are harmless and don't hurt other people with their nonsense.

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Scagsy
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

President of the kick a*s roasting division of the IGF

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NavyDave
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I mean, astrophysics aren't directly related to climate change, but you can expect someone who has a PhD in it to know à lot more than someone so unintelligent that they spell virus vIRUS and say that people who believe the truth(that climate change exists) are criminals.

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Mama Panda
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

hahahaha I love it when people who have no flippin' idea who they are talking to make an a*s out of themselves. I always look up whoever I am in a discussion/argument/debate with before I make a comment that I might regret later. You never know if someone's background qualifies them to be right or not.

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WilvanderHeijden
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

History is there to teach the future lessons. But of course, you do need some kind of education to be able to understand those lessons.

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NavyDave
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Calculating the amount of valence electrons in a nucleus is easy, since there are none.

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#25

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Raine Soo
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People seem to forget that astronauts are bonafide scientists with degrees in engineering, and other biological and mathematical sciences. DId they think that they were just a bunch of space cowboys?

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Raine Soo
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"A little knowledge (learning) is a dangerous thing." Alexander Pope

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Raine Soo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The theory that vaccines cause autism has been completely debunked years ago. Did the anti-vaxxers not get the memo? It doesn't matter. They'll still believe rumour and hearsay over science.

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Tovah Roche
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Someone should probably tell them that Darwin believed in God and evolution simultaneously throughout most of his research years.

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WilvanderHeijden
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

More and more European countries make vaccinating mandatory. Unvaccinated children are banned from schools in those countries and parents can be forced to have their children vaccinated. And rightly so. Screw your "strong convictions" and "religious beliefs", our national health is endangered because of your b******t and we are getting tired of your stupidity.

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Csaba Hegedűs
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's so sad to see one thinks that if their kids are momentarily healthy without vaccination, that's proof that this state will keep up indefinitely. It most likely won't. It would be funny to see their faces when they realize their mistakes, but it won't, because it would be to the expense of the child who'd deserve better.

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#35

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Cori
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I instantly tune out anyone who refers to grown women as 'girls' anyway, especially when they're talking about an educated woman in a high level position. I'm fairly certain this same man wouldn't refer to a male meteorologist as a 'weather boy.'

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EA
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Tell that to the families of women who died from cervical cancer. Including a 15 year old girl in the UK a few years ago. Plus it’s been proven that men can be affected by HPV as well so some are campaigning for teenage boys to have the vaccine too. Oh and it might not cause cancer, but more often genital warts and other infections. Who would want to be protected from getting genital warts right?! Morons...

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Raine Soo
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The issue, my friend, is why do flat-earthers believe hokum without question?

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