After this month's election in the UK, New Scientist writes that science may be on shaky ground.
The Conservative party lost its majority in the snap election and to keep its hold on governing, it is working with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party. New Scientist, though, writes that that party doesn't have a good track record, science-wise, as DUP politicians have appointed a climate change denier as the environment minister of Northern Ireland and have called for creationism to be taught in school.
New Scientist adds that in the post-election reorganization, Prime Minister Theresa May appointed Michael Gove as environment minister for England and Wales, and says Gove is most widely known for saying "people in this country have had enough of experts."
Still, Nature News notes that some researchers are hopeful that the election results will mean that the UK will have a "softer exit" from the European Union as May and her party have lost their mandate for a "hard exit."
"Science has a lot to lose from a hard Brexit," Sarah Main, executive director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, tells Nature News. "So the prospect of a minority government yielding a softer Brexit is likely to appeal to science leaders who have been pushing to retain a range of EU benefits."