From the Guardian: scientists and non-scientists attempt to answer basic science questions. Example:
Q: Roughly how old is the earth?
A: Oh blimey. Well, I know that human beings have been going for about a million and a half years, so … I’m just grasping here. Something like 60 billion years or something like that, but that’s a grasp. I’m not a physical scientist and it shows. I’m probably not scientifically literate.
That answer was from a professor of neuropharmacology. (I’m not good with numbers either, so I’ll shut up now.)
Wow…that’s appalling. And Mother Earth would totally be offended. Doesn’t this guy know you should always low-ball the age guess?
In non-science dum-dum news, I heard a statistic recently that was shocking. I can’t recall the specific percentage, but I believe it was:
12% of American high school students surveyed could not locate Canada or Mexico on a world atlas.
That’s bonkers.
What’s a Mexico?
“What happens when you turn on the light?”
Ummm.. you turn off the darkness and your electric bill increases…