More than one in three Russians incorrectly believes the sun revolves around the Earth according to a new poll.
The survey, conducted by VTsIOM, found that 35 percent of Russians agree with the statement that "the Sun revolves around the Earth."
Sixty-one percent of respondents disagreed with the statement, with the remaining 4 percent saying they were unsure, according to Forbes Russia.
In total, 1,600 Russians, spread across the country, were polled for the VTsIOM survey titled "Why Enlightenment Is Necessary, or Again About Common Misconceptions."
Over the past 15 years, according to VTsIOM data, the proportion of Russians who wrongly think the sun revolves around the Earth increased by 7 percent.
In 2007, the statement had the backing of just 8 percent of respondents.
The survey also found that 12 percent of Russians think "the Earth makes a complete revolution around the Sun in one month."
In fact, it takes Earth 365 days, five hours and 59 minutes to orbit the sun. This equates to once a year over a four-year period, with the additional time over 365 days accounted for by a leap year.
However, this is an improvement on previous results, with 20 percent of Russians backing the incorrect statement in 2011 and 14 percent in 2007.
Russians also improved their performance when asked questions about radiation.
Just 7 percent incorrectly said radioactive milk becomes safe to drink after being boiled, less than half of the 2007 figure.
The survey found that 21 percent of Russians believe early humans shared Earth with dinosaurs, whereas they were actually separated by nearly 65 million years.
A similar poll, conducted by YouGov, in 2015 found that 14 percent of Americans thought dinosaurs and humans "definitely" lived alongside each other, while 27 percent believed they "probably" did.
Only marginally more respondents correctly thought they did not, with 43 percent saying this was either "definitely" or "probably" the case.
From the Russian poll, experts divided the country into three categories, based on the level of scientific understanding.
In total, 35 percent were judged to be highly scientifically literate, as opposed to 44 percent who ranked medium and 21 percent low.
Those ranking low tended to be older, not educated beyond the secondary level and living in rural areas.
Researchers from VTsIOM concluded, on balance, that Russians' scientific understanding is improving.
"Although a significant part of Russians continue to be mistaken about the rotation of the Sun around the Earth, the share of those who give incorrect answers has decreased for the rest of the misconceptions presented, that is, the overall level of scientific literacy of the population is gradually growing," the researchers said.
In 2016, a series of articles published by the Russian Orthodox Church, in the country's Tatarstan region, claimed that dinosaurs were still alive 2,000 years ago.
One of the pieces speculated whether the dragon in the legend of St. George may actually have been a dinosaur.
More recently, a Gallup poll released ahead of this year's Independence Day found the number of Americans "extremely proud" of their nationality has fallen to a record low.
Just 38 percent of U.S. adults said they were "extremely proud" to be American, the lowest level since Gallup began asking the question in 2001.
Another 27 percent of Americans said they were "very proud" of their nationality, along with 22 percent who were "moderately proud."
In total, 9 percent of Americans were "only a little" proud of their nationality, and 4 percent were "not at all proud" to be U.S. citizens.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is covering U.S. politics and world ... Read more
