Step aside PizzaGate, QAnon and chemtrails: there's a new conspiracy theory in town.
Climate change isn't to blame for the deadly winter storm in Texas... Bill Gates is, some conspiracy theorists believe.
The Microsoft co-founder has taken time out of his busy schedule planting microchips in Covid vaccines to attack the Lone Star state with blanket of fake snow, at least according to some have-a-go scientists on TikTok.
Several users are posting "proof' the inclement weather is actually the nefarious work of the software billionaire, because he, well... we're not quite sure why yet.
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View Story"This goes out to our government and Bill Gates. Thank you Bill Gates for trying to f------ trick us that this is real snow," one woman declares as she unveils her amateur science experiment: a cigarette lighter and a supposed snowball.
"You'll see it's not melting and it's going to burn," she exclaims, as she holds the flame to the sus snow. "Snow don't burn. Snow f------ melts. No water, no dripping, no nothing."
"If I put this s--- in the microwave, it's going to start sparking because there's metal mixed in it."
“snow” lmao hell yes pic.twitter.com/KPpOC9RYpU
— beer rat (@redbullbaby420) February 21, 2021 @redbullbaby420
And thus was born the idea for the next science experiment, as she loaded the "snow" (actually providing her own air quotes here) into the microwave.
Thankfully, the microwave doesn't explode, and the mysterious white substance actually does begin to melt.
She's not the only Texan unconvinced; another experiment going viral on social media, a woman ignites a roaring flame on a tea light, and holds a ball of ice above it for literally seconds; and somehow, the ice doesn't immediately transmute into flowing water.
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View Story"Not melting... and turning black," she noted.
She follows up her experiment by plugging in a hairdryer and holding a chunk of ice above it.
"Holding a piece of ice over an electrical device may be just slightly dumber than voting for Ted Cruz," one Twitter observer noted. "Slightly."
Holding a piece of ice over an electrical device may be just slightly dumber than voting for Ted Cruz.
— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) February 21, 2021 @notcapnamerica
Slightly.pic.twitter.com/v9ChBWOQLL
As many people on Twitter pointed out, the snowballs won't instantly start dripping because the water is absorbed by the rest of the snow; should the damning experiments have continued past the first few seconds, the snow would have indeed melted.
As for the mysterious black substance; that's soot. It's caused by the butane from the lighter -- not the actual snow itself.
Since Bill Gates spends much of his time, money, energy and knowledge battling against climate change, we're still not sure what his critics think he hopes to achieve by freezing Texas... but stay tuned to TikTok to find out.