The call made in the February 2024 post (linked above), for scientists to step into the role of influencers is more urgent now than ever, as science faces unprecedented attacks. A recent article in Nature underscores the vital need for scientists to actively engage in media and political mobilization to protect the integrity of science from growing political interference. It highlights unionization and collective labor action as powerful tools not only in defending not just science, but democracy itself.
But resistance demands what no institution can manufacture and no algorithm can supply, courage. The courage to speak when silence protects careers, to defend evidence when power demands obedience, and to stand by inconvenient truths when retreat would be easier. Science has never advanced because everyone felt safe. It advanced because someone was willing to question authority, endure hostility and refuse to surrender reason to fear. A scientific community that loses that courage may keep its laboratories, journals and titles and still lose the very soul of science.
The article leaves no room for complacency: it is time for scientists to rise and act, for inaction or weak compromises will only leave science vulnerable. Now is the moment for scientists to step forward, use their voices, and become the champions of truth and progress the world needs. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01062-7
