We make it a point to know the basics about some things. American history, say: thirteen colonies; manifest destiny, blah, blah, blah. Ditto sports: Babe Ruth, baseball; Magic Johnson, basketball. Check. But science? Not so much. It’s not just the recent National Science Foundation study showing that 1 in 4 Americans does not know the Earth orbits the sun (spoiler alert: it does), or those who haven’t yet gotten the memo that Pluto is not a planet (really, it’s not, move on Pluto partisans).
It’s a whole final exam worth of basic stuff that we truly ought to know to be good science citizens—of the universe, not just of the world. See how you score on this list of Ten Things You Really Should Have Learned By Now and If You Haven’t It’s Definitely Time You Start.
- TIME's 100 Most Influential People of 2022
- Employers Take Note: Young Workers Are Seeking Jobs with a Higher Purpose
- Signs Are Pointing to a Slowdown in the Housing Market—At Last
- Welcome to the Era of Unapologetic Bad Taste
- As the Virus Evolves, COVID-19 Reinfections Are Going to Keep Happening
- A New York Mosque Becomes a Refuge for Afghan Teens Who Fled Without Their Families
- High Gas Prices are Oil Companies' Fault says Ro Khanna, and Democrats Should Go After Them
- Two Million Cases: COVID-19 May Finally Force North Korea to Open Up
