Scientists across the world take to the streets to demand freedom from political interference – Telegraph.co.uk

In Los Angeles, Danny Lederman, the 26-year-old director of digital media for the county's Democratic party, said "We used to look up to intelligence and aspire to learn more and do more with that intellectual curiosity. And we've gone from there to a society where ... our officials and representatives belittle science and they belittle intelligence. And we really need a culture change."

The rallies in more than 600 cities put scientists, who generally shy away from advocacy and whose work depends on objective experimentation, into a more public position.

Scientists said they were anxious about political and public rejection of established science such as climate change and the safety of vaccine immunisations.

"Scientists find it appalling that evidence has been crowded out by ideological assertions," said Rush Holt, a former physicist and Democratic congressman who runs the American Association for the Advancement of Science. "It is not just about Donald Trump, but there is also no question that marchers are saying 'when the shoe fits.'"

Despite saying the march was not partisan, Holt acknowledged it was only dreamed up at the Women's March on Washington, a day after Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.

But the rallies were also about what science does for the world.

"Most people don't know how much funding for the sciences supports them in their lives every day. Every medical breakthrough, their food, clothing, our cellphones, our computers, all that is science-based," said Pati Vitt, a plant scientist at the Chicago Botanic Garden. "So if we stop funding scientific discoveries now, in 10 years, whatever we might have had won't be; we just won't have it."

View original post here:

Scientists across the world take to the streets to demand freedom from political interference - Telegraph.co.uk