Live updates from the global March for Science

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Bonn

Protests abound in Germany, not all science-related

About 500 people have gathered in drizzly rain in Bonn for a science march with no marching but plenty of signs and several speeches. Many people here said they had a hard time deciding which protest to join this weekend. Several large pro-European Union demonstrations are scheduled for Sunday. And plenty of protests are planned in nearby Cologne where right-wing party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is holding a convention this weekend. The party's manifesto has this to say on climate change: "For as long as the earth exists, the climate will change. Policies of climate protection rely on useless computer models of the IPCC. Carbon dioxide is not a harmful substance, but an essential part of life."

Several people here said they knew friends and colleagues who had decided to join those protests to take a stand for science. Other protestors decided to join the March for Science, still somewhat stunned at how the world had changed in recent months. "I really still can't believe we have to fight for facts," says Stephanie La Hoz Theuer, a Brazilian expert on international climate policies who lives in Bonn. "But here we are. You can't take progress for granted." --Kai Kupferschmidt

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LONDON

London march revving up

The March for Science London is about to set off from outside the Science Museum. From there marchers will go along the side of Hyde Park, along Picadilly, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square and then down Whitehall to Parliament Square. A rally there is due to start at 2 p.m. There is a genial atmosphere and numbers are in the thousands.

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PARIS

In Paris, a marchsandwiched between a terror attack and presidential elections

The March forScience in Paris will start in less than an hour at the Jardin des Plantes, abotanical garden, from where it will make its way past a series of researchlandmarks on the Left Bank, to finish at the Place St. Michel. It’s one of twodozen events today in France and its overseas territories.

The French marchoften to express their political views, and scientists are no exception; labcoats have flooded the streets and squares of Paris and other cities many timesthe past decade to protest lagging funding, a lack of permanent jobs , orproposed reforms to the academic system. The organizers of today’s march say ina statement that the event is partly about Donald Trump’s “hostile ideology”with respect to science, but also about threats in France, includingpoliticians’ focus on “innovation and the knowledge economy.”

How many peopleshow up today is anyone’s guess. It’s an extraordinary time in France, andParis is on edge. Tomorrow is the first round of what could be the most consequentialpresidential electon in half a century; right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen ofthe National Front, abhorred by most French academics, is expected to proceedto the 7 May run-off easily. (Here’s a Science news story about the race.) Andthis past Thursday, a gunman attacked a police bus on the Champs Elysées, afamous shopping boulevard here, killing a policeman. (The shooter, aradicalized Frenchman with a violent and criminal past, was also killed.)Several of the main presidential candidates canceled their campaign appearancesyesterday.

The French, inother words, have many other things to worry about besides the future ofscience, which could put a damper on today’s event. On the other hand, it couldalso motivate people to come out and express their trust in science and reason.It will be interesting to what extent the presidential race -- in which sciencehas been notably absent—plays a role in the march. --Martin Enserink

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CAMBRIDGE

London calling

Science's Erik Stokstad is heading from our bureau in Cambridge, U.K. to the London march. At the train station, he met Rebecca Gladstone, right, a postdoc at the Sanger Institute, and Elizabeth Beales, left, who is associated with the Babraham research campus. They said they are marching to get people excited about science. Gladstone's shirt offers a quick lesson in the scientific method.

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SEOUL

Robots help Korean science community engage the public

The March for Science in Seoul has turned its event into something of a science fair. A variety of science-related groups set up about 15 booths to disseminate information and attract children with biology and robotics demonstrations.

"We were trying to share science with the public," says Seungwhan Kim, a physicist at Pohang University of Science and Technology who chairs the local organizing committee. And the weather cooperated. "It's a beautiful Saturday, sunny and with clear skies; a lot of families were coming to the area," says Kim. The booths, located in a plaza in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul, were open from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. and attracted "a steady stream of people," Kim says.

An hour of speeches began at 2 p.m. local time, with 10 researchers and teachers describing their lives as scientists to an audience sprawling over the steps of the center. And at 3 p.m., there finally was a march, with about 1000 participants, proceeding through the city's Gwanghwamun district and returning to the center.

Two foreign scientists were among the 10 speakers—one from Syria, the other from the U.S. There were also quite a few non-Koreans participating in the march. "It was an international event," he says. --Dennis Normile

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HO CHI MINH CITY

Half a dozen take to the streets in Saigon

Here are the people who participated in the March forScience in Ho Chi Minh City -- all six of them! A small but enthusiastic crowd,they say on their Twitter feed, which has a few more photos: “Only 6 of us herefor the #marchforscience in Saigon but we're excited!” --Martin Enserink

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DHAKA

Science supporters gather in Bangladesh

The science march in Bangladesh earlier today was what lookslike a fairly small gathering at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University in thecapital, Dhaka. Check out the Twitter feed of Arif Hossain of the BangladeshAlliance for Science for an impression. Here’s the alliance’s march promotionvideo. --Martin Enserink

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AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

Marchers credit science for humanity's advances

Waving banners reading from "Wasting Science is Wasting Solutions" to "Your Truth Needs Proof," an enthusiastic crowd of 300 to 400 people joined the March for Science in Auckland, New Zealand, this afternoon. Onlookers were captivated as the procession—made up of researchers, families and other science supporters—advanced up Auckland's Queen Street in the heart of the city.

The March for Science NZ organizers say they walked today for “science and knowledge to be reaffirmed as fundamental" to democratic decision-making in New Zealand, as well as to stand in solidarity with fellow scientists worldwide. March co-organizer Steph Borrelle, a conservation scientist at the Auckland University of Technology, told Science that she was also personally motivated to march as a woman in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). “I march to demand equity,” she said, "I march for all women who follow after us, so that they can flourish and make science better for everyone.”

Auckland’s march is the last of five taking place in New Zealand today, joining Christchurch, Dunedin, Palmerston North and Wellington. Following the march, the crowd gathered around the bandstand in Albert Park to hear a number of speakers.Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles, of the University of Auckland, began by stressing the importance of science to modern life. "Science is the reason that I—as a woman—am here today and didn't die 10 years ago when I was giving birth to my daughter," she said. "Science is why many of us didn't die before we got to the age of 5—how amazing is that?" Wiles also said that the scientists were standing with their colleagues in the humanities, who "are also taking a pounding from the government."

"When politicians use their belief systems to override the facts, the scientific facts, we are all in for a whole world of hurt," said Green Party co-leader James Shaw, thanking the crowd for standing with science. In New Zealand, "things aren't nearly as bad as they are in the United States in terms of that political discourse - but it could go that way,” he said. “We do need to stand up against that."

Shaw also stressed the importance of ensuring that science is properly funded in New Zealand. "You [scientists] are heroes, you save lives, you make the future better for all of us," he concluded. "Science is, and always will be, the reason that humanity moves forward," added Alexia Hilbertidou, founder and CEO of the NZ-based organization GirlBoss, which encourages young women to enter male-dominated STEM fields. She concluded: "We must be a generation brave enough to stand on the shoulders of science and see further - and then march forward into that future." --Ian Randall

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SYDNEY

Marchers spill into streets surrounding park

The event in Sydney started at noon local time with a lineup of speakers who found themselves addressing a crowd that filled Martin Place, a pedestrian mall stretching for several blocks in the central business district. "We're absolutely packed, the crowd is massive, well beyond expectations," says Stuart Khan, an environmental engineer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, told Science by phone. "People are overflowing onto the road," he adds. Speeches are wrapping up at 1 p.m. and then participants will march down Macquarie Street, past the building housing the New South Wales parliament, to Hyde Park, at the very center of Sydney.

The Sydney crowd probably numbers over 2000, says Jocelyn Prasad, media coordinator for the Australian marches. "We've got a wide variety of ages and groups, it's peaceful, and there is a great feeling of solidarity," she adds. "We're feeling pretty happy about it just now."

They don't yet have turnout numbers for the other 8 marches happening around Australia at different times today. But the other events also seem to be going well. "We're happy to be kicking it off globally, we're hoping they get a good turnout in the States," Prasad says. --Dennis Normile

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TOKYO

Small but enthusiastic crowd marching through downtown Tokyo

The numbers for the march in Tokyo are modest at just 50 to60, as a result of a late start on organizing. "It's not a huge number,but we are all quite excited, certainly," says Rintaro Mori, a healthpolicy expert at Japan’s National Center for Child Health and Development inTokyo. Starting at 11 a.m. local time, marchers were heading out from HibiyaPark, which is located in the heart of the capital's governmental ministrydistrict, and walk through the streets to Tokyo Station. "People from thegovernmental sector will be able to see us quite well," Mori says.

In addition to the typical signs pronouncing "Sciencenot Silence" and "Respect Science," Mori says several people arecarrying banners focusing on particular concerns, including the environment andrenewable energy. One marcher in Christian religious garb is carrying aJapanese language sign that reads: "Religious people respectscience."

You can see pictures of the Tokyo march on the Twitteraccount of @neuroamanda. --Dennis Normile