This post originally appeared on DISCOVER’s Discoblog.

If you can’t laugh about the federal government’s repeated attempts to muzzle scientists whose findings don’t jibe with the administration’s political agenda…well, what can you laugh about?

The Union of Concerned Scientists decided to fight hubris with humor by launching the Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest this spring. The voting is open, and this is the last week to pick your favorite—all voting ends on Friday. The final 12 entries are pretty good—we have our favorites here at DISCOVER, but we don’t want to sway the polling.

“Science Idol,” as the contest has been nicknamed, may not attract the national attention of its television namesake. But perhaps dealing with government interference with humor will open a few more eyes—or at least we’ll get a good laugh out of it.

Image: iStockphoto