Inauguration Day has arrived, and by the time you read this, Donald Trump will be the leader of the free world.
We’ve extensively reported on why his ascension – and the appointment of his many profoundly unqualified and highly unscientific cronies – represents a rather unique threat to the progress of science both in the US and throughout the wider world. It’s more important now than ever before that researchers’ voices and concerns are heard loud and clear.
As spotted by Vox, a rather pertinent hashtag, #USofScience, is currently trending on Twitter. It appears that members of academia are using it to simultaneously protest against Donald Trump’s disrespect for science, while promoting the incredible advances that the scientific method and the careful pursuit of curiosity have given our species.
The rich tapestry of science is clearly on show for anyone to see. 3D printing, fighting cancer, vaccination programs, conservation biology, and Trump’s old nemesis – climate change – are just some of the fields of research included in some of these tweets.
We’ve included a selection of our favorites here, but feel free to jump on Twitter and show your support by using the hashtag yourself. Make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen – with Trump in power, science has a significant and unprecedented fight on its hands. Already, large federal research programs are set to be massively defunded or canceled entirely.
If you don’t want to see science trampled on by the members of the Trump administration, then there are three things you can do to fight back.
Firstly, make sure you support good scientific journalism wherever you may find it.
Secondly, do anything you can to help researchers themselves keep up their incredible, groundbreaking work. Whenever the chance arises, let them know you’ve got their back.
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, make sure that you choose to vote for lawmakers that actually care about and respect science.
[H/T: Vox]
