Science Issues

If all went according to plan, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft swept past Pluto this morning just before 8 a.m. Eastern time, offering scientists and the public a glimpse at the previously unexplored edge of the solar universe.

Politics are at the center of Americans’ views on many, but not all, science issues. Here are five facts from our new report.

Despite broadly similar views about the overall place of science in America, there are striking differences between the public and scientists’ views on a host of science-related issues, from whether genetically modified foods are safe to eat to whether the world’s growing population will be a major problem.

Six years ago, when the legislation was still being debated, 61% of Democrats and just 12% of Republicans favored the proposal. In the five years since the ACA became law, those differences have endured.

55% of Catholics rated Francis positively on addressing sex abuse, and 53% gave him high marks on environmental issues. But these were two out of nine areas in which Francis drew the least positive ratings.

Pope Francis will publish an encyclical addressing environmental issues and climate change this Thursday, a subject that continues to deeply divide Americans, including Catholics, along partisan and ideological lines.

A solid majority of U.S. Catholics believe that Earth is warming. But climate change is a highly politicized issue that sharply divides American Catholics, like the U.S. public as a whole, mainly along political party lines.

Popes have written encyclicals on an array of topics, ranging from the nature of work to the virginity of Jesus’ mother, Mary.