Chicago (AFP) - Americans are enthusiastic about the promise of science but lack basic knowledge of it, with one in four unaware that the Earth revolves around the Sun, said a poll out Friday.

The survey included more than 2,200 people in the United States and was conducted by the National Science Foundation.

Nine questions about physical and biological science were on the quiz, and the average score -- 6.5 correct -- was barely a passing grade.

Just 74 percent of respondents knew that the Earth revolved around the Sun, according to the results released at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago.

Fewer than half (48 percent) knew that human beings evolved from earlier species of animals.

The result of the survey, which is conducted every two years, will be included in a National Science Foundation report to President Barack Obama and US lawmakers.

One in three respondents said science should get more funding from the government.

Nearly 90 percent said the benefits of science outweigh any dangers, and about the same number expressed interest in learning about medical discoveries.

Well it really doesn't. It circles around the center of mass of the solar system which is usually inside the sun but not always.

What the **** are you talking about?

To the OP: /sigh

What the **** are you talking about?

To the OP: /sigh

Yeah I edited it out, he's referring to the barycenter which I realized shortly after.

But we don't. We revolved around a point usually within the sun's mass. It's not semantic at all. It's close enough for grade schoolers to get but it should be a distinction jr high and up are aware of.

Yeah but it's a distinction that is irrelevant in the context of the original poll. Has the Earth ever had an orbit that didn't have it going around the sun?

So yes, the earth does revolve around the sun.

Elmo's right. The Earth technically doesn't orbit the sun directly - two bodies orbit each other.

I would like to see the actual wording of the question, and does it ask if it circles, or revolves? Or is it multiple choice where one choice is "revolves" and another is "rotates"? Many people might have just confused the 2 words if that were the case.

As for "can't read", almost no adult Americans can't read at all. Generally, what's meant is that they read at some disgracefully low grade level.. but they can read at least some things. Often, also their reading comprehension is low, so even though they technically understand the words, they aren't getting the overall ideas of what they're reading.

Technically the Earth doesn't "circle" anything, since its orbit is an ellipse not a circle if we want to split hairs.

However, in general usage, the Earth still orbits Sol, in the same way that any object orbits another. The ISS orbits the Earth/ISS barycenter too, the only difference there is that the barycenter is within the radius of the Earth itself.