Abstract: Recent media portrayals link climate change skepticism to evolution skepticism, often as part of a larger “antiscience” tendency related to membership in conservative religious groups Using nation

Abstract: In an era of rapid technological change and an increasingly global economy, investments in research and development are crucial for spurring economic growth and sustaining competitiveness. Yet, across the U.S. federal government, scientists are playing a decreasing role in the policymaking that supports this investment, often being pushed out by a political agenda that is stridently antiscience. Meanwhile, Americans are becoming more distrustful of democratic institutions, the scientific method, and basic facts—three core beliefs on which the research enterprise depends. The United States remains the unquestioned global leader in science and innovation, but given a White House that disregards the value of science and an American public that questions the very concept of scientific consensus, sustaining the U.S. commitment to science won't happen without a fight.

Abstract: Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (IEAM) was established to explore the connection between the environmental sciences and the use of the factual information that those sciences produce to manage the environment. Management of the environment in order to achieve the results desired by society depends upon a clear and accurate understanding of both environmental and social realities, and an honest and unbiased bridge between them. Unfortunately, environmental decision making in too many cases is no longer rooted in scientific facts and findings but rather is heavily influencedbyvalue judgments,political concerns,emotions,and na€ve calls for simple solutions, inadequate for a complex world. It is particularly worrying that scientific findings are, these days, attacked almost routinely by politicians and special interest groups, who propose alternative descriptions of reality or even reject science outright (Otto 2016). This antiscience movement relies on “alternative facts” that are presented as valid science but fall outside the rigors of the scientific method and the peer-review process (MartinezConde and Macknik 2017). Instead, alternative facts are generated by cherry-picking data, distorting the findings of published peer-reviewed studies, concocting unfounded theories, and publishing papers or books that merely mimic peer-reviewed publications. The resulting alternative facts are often in sharp contrast to factual evidence. These alternative facts increasingly pollute the body of scientific information used for tackling challenges in environmental and public health management (e.g., McGarity and Wagner 2012). In 1995, Carl Sagan discussed the role of science in society in his classic work “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.” More than 20 years later, his concerns and arguments are more relevant than ever, as society faces ever more wicked environmental problems. These problems are nonlinear and complex, have an uncertain scope and scale, and have noanalytical solutions. Suchproblems are resolvedonly by

Abstract: Vaccines are among the scientific topics that draw most interest in the public sphere. The discussion, however, can produce polarization, eventually becoming a controversy between "supporters of science" and "antiscience people". The aggressiveness of some anti-vaxxers, and their resistance to scientific evidence, can induce the belief that the confrontation is worthless, because many think that the top-down approach is the only one that can be used. The premise of this approach is that the gap of information is the main barrier between the scientific community and the society. However, from the '80s to date, studies have shown the fallacy of some assumptions of the so-called "deficit model", including the claim that the communication of science can be reduced only to dissemination and popularization of scientific facts. Studies and experiences, even in public health communications about vaccines, have highlighted the relevance of public engagement, social context, values systems, "lay knowledge" and the complexity of the relationship between science and society, fostering the emergence of new communication models. In the "knowledge society" we need effective communication to all, because people make use of scientific facts when they are involved in decisions on many public issues. Therefore, an evidence-based assessment of each communication approach and an evaluation of the effectiveness of methods in different contexts are required.

Abstract: The article discusses the antiscience attitudes of portions of the populations on the right and left end of the political spectrum in the United States. The author argues that members on both ends have an antiscience bias, doubting scientific theories and findings conflicting with their religious and political beliefs. He discusses an October 2017 talk by psychologist Asheley Landrum at Texas Tech University on factors influencing perceptions of science in Republicans and Democrats.