A quarter of Americans are unaware of one of the most-basic tenets of science — that the earth revolves around the sun, a National Science Foundation poll shows.
The survey of more than 2,200 people in the United States included 10 questions about physical and biological science, reports Phys.org. Not only did respondents not know about the Earth's orbit, the average score of 6.5 questions correct barely earned a passing grade.
The results, released at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago Friday, showed just 74 percent of the respondents knew about the Earth's orbit, and fewer than half, or 48 percent, knew about the theory of human evolution.
The results from the test, conducted every two years, are to be included in a National Science Foundation report to President Barack Obama and lawmakers.
One-third of the survey's respondents said science should get more government funding, and 90 percent said the benefits of science outweigh any dangers.
Ninety percent of the respondents also said they want to learn more about medical discoveries.
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Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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