Feel smarter in just a minute a day with Scientific American’s podcasts. Recent topics include “What’s Behind the Birthers’ Obama Belief” (the scientific rationalization is called “implicit social cognition”) and “Swinging Arms Save Energy” (a study found people use more energy keeping their arms still while walking).
Subscribe to podcasts from the 60-Second Science, 60-Second Earth and 60-Second Psych series via RSS or on iTunes. Or just visit http://scientificamerican.com/podcast.
If you already feel like a science whiz, test your knowledge against that of the average American with Pew Research Center’s Science Knowledge Quiz.
Pew’s research found that Americans think science has a positive effect on society and makes people’s lives easier, but they have trouble grasping abstract science, according to a July 2009 report:
“Americans are knowledgeable about basic scientific facts that affect their health and their daily lives. But the public is less able to answer questions about more complex science topics.”
Take the quiz yourself and see how you fare.
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