On march to highlight ‘vital role’ of science in life
SCIENTISTS flooded streets across the country yesterday in a display of defiance as fears of a post-truth age looms large over academia.
Physicists, astronomers, biologists and celebrities were among the ranks of the March for Science in London.
It was one of hundreds of similar events taking place around the UK and the world, including in Cardiff.
Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi was seen mingling with activists at the event in London. People in Cardiff brought along placards reading “SOS Support our Scientists” and “Science: the inconvenient truth” and doesn’t do politics, it just melts”.
The event also featured speeches from speakers such as Professor Nora De Leeuw from Cardiff University.
Concerns that rhetoric threatens to override research flared in the UK last summer when ex cabinet minister Michael Gove claimed that the public “have had enough of experts”.
Organisers said the spectre of fake news and the growth of misinforma- “Ice tion made it crucial to highlight “the vital role that science plays in each of our lives and the need to respect and encourage research that gives us insight into the world”.
In London, supporters gathered outside the Science Museum bearing placards on which double helices and chemical symbols sat alongside political slogans.
Hundreds of protesters marched to Parliament Square past bastions of scientific inquiry such as the Royal Society.
The Commons Science and Technology Committee this month stressed the importance of allowing scientists and experts to come to the UK following Brexit.
It followed a host of warnings from influential figures in the scientific community that divorce from the Continent could have a crippling impact on research.