Scientists on Saturday took the unprecedented step of staging marches in more than 600 cities worldwide in the face of what they see as a growing political assault on evidence-based knowledge. Thousands of scientists and their supporters attended March for Science events in such cities as Cape Town, London, Madrid and Seoul, as well as in Australia, Brazil, Canada and Nigeria. [...] The March for Science thrusted scientists, who generally avoid advocacy and whose work is based on impartial experimentation, into a more visible spotlight.

This Saturday, in over 500 cities worldwide, thousands of people will take to the streets for an unprecedented show of support for all things evidence-based. The range of different groups joining the March for Science — from librarians to artists to teachers to oncologists — highlight the truth behind a phrase that is often dismissed as a cliché: Science really is a universal language. And it is that universality that makes science the ideal conduit for diplomacy in this moment in history.