Happy Science Day, the country of dunno!

On Science Day, February 8, 2011, the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTSIOM) presented the results of a study on the most common scientific misconceptions of Russians.

The majority of respondents are sure that radioactivity is the work of human hands (55%). Our fellow citizens are also convinced that antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria (46%). A third of respondents seriously believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth (32%), and over the past four years there have been even more such respondents (from 28% in 2007). A slightly smaller proportion of Russians claim that the first humans lived in the same era as dinosaurs (29%).

About a quarter of our fellow citizens mistakenly believe that the laser works by focusing sound waves (26%). A fifth of respondents seriously believe that the mother's genes determine the sex of the child (20% versus 25% in 2007) and that the Earth makes a complete revolution around the Sun in one month (from 14% in 2007 to 20% in 2011). Approximately the same proportion of Russians deny that electrons are smaller than atoms (18%) and do not believe that humans evolved from early human species (17%).

Somewhat less often, Russians tend to deny the fact that the oxygen we breathe is produced by plants (14%) and that radioactive milk can be made harmless by boiling it (11%). In the minority are those who disagree with such discoveries as the movement of continents (9%) and the high temperature of the center of the Earth (8%)

Scientific misconceptions are more common to women than men. Thus, women are more likely to believe that radioactivity is the work of human hands (58% vs. 51% among men), believe in the ability of antibiotics to kill viruses as well as bacteria (48% vs. 43%, respectively) and are more likely to claim that the Sun is a satellite of the Earth (34% vs. 29%, respectively). However, there is an exception: men more often than women believe that the laser works by focusing sound waves (29% vs. 23% among women).

The initiative All-Russian VTSIOM survey was conducted on January 29-30, 2011. 1,600 people were interviewed in 138 localities in 46 regions, territories and republics of Russia. The statistical error does not exceed 3.4%.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru08.02.2011