cannot be fooled.” We would do well to keep this in mind when tackling many of the
world’s other pressing challenges.
Ultimately, the purpose of science is to establish evidence that can be used to solve
problems. This can take time, and often involves scientific debate. Science is a dynamic
process: observations are gathered, protocols established, experiments carried out,
verifications made, errors tracked down. Consequently, it can be confusing and
frustrating for those seeking immediate certainty. But as more evidence is gathered and
analysed, results become increasingly precise (though often more complex), and the
basis for decision-making steadily becomes clearer.
Communicating how science works to the wider public can be hard, but it is vital. The
media—both the traditional kind, and social-media platforms—bear great
responsibility in this respect. Traditional media should rely on evidence-based
reporting and explanations, rather than chasing clicks by giving credence to far-fetched
positions or nonsensical claims. And social-media platforms have a duty to monitor and
flag misleading information.
The covid-19 pandemic triggered an unprecedented scientific mobilisation to
understand the virus and to find responses, treatments and vaccines. The effort among
scientists is international and collaborative as the urgency of dealing with the pandemic
has fostered worldwide co-operation. It must also be multidisciplinary: beyond the
efforts in the biomedical sphere, disciplines from mathematics to social sciences are
needed in the long fight against the coronavirus to give adequate support to policy-
makers. CERN has played its part by contributing computing resources and making
expertise available. A group of physicists at CERN has also designed a low-cost
ventilator that can help patients recovering from covid-19, in particular those in
developing countries.
As well as challenging scientists directly, the crisis highlights the difficulty of keeping
track of huge numbers of results and publications, guaranteeing quality, making
progress efficiently and coherently, and ensuring co-ordination and co-operation among
competing groups. It also highlights the question: how can scientific results be equitably
shared with industry and society as a whole? The question predates the pandemic and
applies to a wide range of scientific fields. The crisis has shown the value of taking an
open and multilateral approach to answering it.
In recent years policymakers have placed much emphasis on research that is problem-
oriented rather than curiosity-driven. But when it comes to understanding covid-19,
crucial contributions have come from seemingly unrelated fields: producing images of
the virus using electron microscopes would not have been possible, for example,
without quantum mechanics. Science in all its aspects is a single and essential
endeavour, and covid-19 has shown the importance of putting its results at the heart of
decision-making. When scientific evidence is respected and multilateral collaboration
fostered, solutions come faster—for the benefit of all.