ground ’s hottest layer is the effect , we use uranium to build nukes , and sea tide are created by the gravitational pull of the Moon . Like , duh ! But did you also know that the boiling point of piss decrease with increasing altitude , or that bounty determines the intensity of a sound wave ? Huh ?
Maybe you ’re a smartypants who did screw all those sciencey fact . ( Or you ’re going to tell me you did , regardless ) . But if so , you ’re ahead of the curve ball , grant to a new Pew Research Study that polled 3,278 grownup on 12 canonical science question .
Overall , Americans gave more right than incorrect answers — good ! And unsurprisingly , people with college or graduate level got the most question veracious . But only 6 % of study respondents received a stark grievance , suggesting that some piece of “ common ” knowledge are n’t so common , after all — such as how light travels through a magnifying field glass .
And there are a few far-flung misconception that I ’m trying really intemperately not to bankrupt my grimace against a paries over . For instance , nigh a one-quarter of survey respondents say that astronomy is “ the field of how the positions of stars and planets can act upon human behaviour . ” I ’m sorry , but that ’s a different field of study altogether — it ’s called bullshit . spell that one down .
Of course , the questions in the Pew survey present only teensy midget gash of introductory scientific cognition , and a rather physical - sciencey one . That bias could explain why men tended to mark slightly high-pitched than women — old Pew research surveys note that sexuality gaps on scientific noesis disappear on health and biomedical topics :
But despite its limitation , the sight does manage to bait out some interesting radiation diagram . For instance , the vast absolute majority of youthful people know that radio set waves convey electric cell phone call , while only 57 % of adult over the age of 65 have figured this out . On the other hand , adult age 65 and old civilize American ’s young when it follow to correctly identifying the developer of the polio vaccinum ( hint : it was n’t Einstein ) .
Wait , so….young mass are into technology and drill by history ? Okay , maybe we already roll in the hay that . show the full story — and take the interactional quiz , now that I ’ve given you half the answer ! — here .
adjoin the source at[email protected]or follow heron Twitter .
Top epitome via Shutterstock
EducationScienceSurveys
Daily Newsletter
Get the dependable technical school , skill , and culture news in your inbox day by day .
tidings from the future tense , deliver to your present .
You May Also Like
