The Senate’s scientific divide

By THE DATA TEAM

DEMOCRATS and Republicans in Congress seem to agree on very little these days. From the economy to health care to national security, compromise and bipartisanship are rare. Polarisation is the norm. It is little wonder then that science has in recent years become a source of some of America’s sharpest political debates. New research suggests that this partisan divide is evident not only in Washington’s corridors of power, but on social media.