Study: Breakthroughs can boost public’s trust of science but only temporarily

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 This 2016 digitally-colorized electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the Zika virus, in red. (Cynthia Goldsmith/CDC via AP)

This 2016 digitally-colorized electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the Zika virus, in red. (Cynthia Goldsmith/CDC via AP)

Columnist Tom Friedman notes in his opinion piece in Wednesday’s New York Times that President Donald Trump has yet to name a science adviser; he pulled out of the Paris climate accord without any input from scientists; and he’s proposing a budget for fiscal 2018 that eliminates the Department of Energy’s innovation lab and slashes funding for key national science and medical labs.

In that context, a new Annenberg Public Policy Center study examines factors that influence public confidence in science. NewsWorks Tonight host Dave Heller spoke to study co-author Dr. Joe Hilgard about the findings.

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