Vehement protesters: in May 2012 opponents of genetic engineering demonstrate in Harpenden (UK). The source of their outrage? A test field sown with wheat genetically modified by Rothamsted Research. | Leon Neal/AFP/GettyImages

A desperate appeal: the researchers of Rothamsted Research try to explain the purpose of the Harpenden test field to critics of genetically modified products. They use a YouTube video to try and convince the activists not to destroy the field. | Rothamsted Research

An important voice: Noam Chomsky speaks at the United Nations in New York in 2014 about the prospects for a solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. | Image: Keystone/DPA/Dennis Van Tine/Geisler-Fotopress

Predictable provocation: in an interview with the climate researcher Ken Caldeira, the Fox News moderator Lou Dobbs tries to make the scientist’s arguments sound absurd. | Screenshot

An attentive audience or critical doubters? Experts in action at the US pavilion of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. | Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Christophe Ena

An expert under siege by the media: German Ramirez, a specialist in tropical illnesses, reports on the successful treatment of a Spanish nurse who was infected with Ebola in 2014. | Image: Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Reassuring the public: Rick Knabb, the director of the US National Hurricane Center, addresses the media during a press conference for Hurricane Preparedness Week in 2017. | Image: Rhona Wise/AFP/Getty Images