It turns out that we might not be as smart as we think we are, at least when it comes to basic science. A Pew Research Center study asked American adults to answer 12 basic science questions and found that only 6% were able to correctly answer every question, according to an article from Mental Floss. All is not lost, however: the majority of test-takers still answered more questions right than wrong.
According to the article, 86% of respondents could identify the Earth’s core as its hottest layer, and 82% recognized that uranium was the element needed to make nuclear materials. Only 35% knew that amplitude determines the loudness of a sound wave, however, and even fewer realized that water boils at lower temperatures at higher altitudes. More young respondents than old knew that radio waves transmit cell phone calls while the older folks more successfully identified the inventor of the polio vaccine, according to the article.
Read the entire article here.