Slowly but surely scientists,and doctors are beginning to understand why people inevitably age and die. Slowly but surely, progress is occurring in the field of life extension. Much work remains to be done but in a country that declares,"life" as the first inalienable right in its Constitution, pursuit of indefinite life extension should be a national priority!

The late astronomer Carl Sagan said, "We have built a society dependent on science and technology, but are structuring our educational system so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a recipe for disaster". Do you agree, or disagree, and why?

Some say that the scientific consensus provides the best available information on the state of knowledge on an issue while others say that the scientific consensus is a meaningless concept. How important to you is it to make policy decisions based on scientific consensus?

What then does it take for you to believe in a scientific theory? We all know that Romney and Santorum will tell you that they do believe in some scientific theories. So we need to know which ones, and why they do believe in them.

12. Scientific Integrity. Many government scientists report political interference in their job. Is it acceptable for elected officials to hold back or alter scientific reports if they conflict with their own views, and how will you balance scientific information with politics and personal beliefs in your decision-making?

There are anti-science bills introduced and reintroduced every year, wasting time, money, and people's energy just to avoid pushing education back to the dark ages.

4. Education. A comparison of 15-year-olds in 30 wealthy nations found that average science scores among U.S. students ranked 17th, while average U.S. math scores ranked 24th. What role do you think the federal government should play in preparing K-12 students for the science and technology driven 21st Century?

Law, neuroscience, sociology.

Science has been increasingly under attack from a number of members of congress in recent years. Do you believe legislative decisions should be based on sound science or political ideology?

3. Energy. Many policymakers and scientists say energy security and sustainability are major problems facing the United States this century. What policies would you support to meet demand for energy while ensuring an economically and environmentally sustainable future?

How much longer are we going to stand for ID/creation nonsense to challenge evolution in public schools?

If they can't correctly answer this then they are incapable of accepting basic realities or are unable to accept that better information leads to better decisions. After all if you tell a creationist that the oceans are acidifying faster than they have in the last 300 my why do they care? They think the Earth is only 6,000 years old so to them it's just more "wrong" science.

13. Research. For many years, Congress has recognized the importance of science and engineering research to realizing our national goals. Given that the next Congress will likely face spending constraints, what priority would you give to investment in basic research in upcoming budgets?

One candidate denies the reality of global warming, the other agrees it's important but not top priority. I want them to specify what would have to happen or what would they have to find out that would make them realize it is top priority. If no amount of evidence would do it, then they need to admit this, because that would mean that they place short term political gain over even the most enormous tragedy.

The American Science Pledge asks candidates for elected office to commit to basing public policy decisions on the knowledge produced by science, which may be informed but not superseded by economic interests and their values. Will you sign the American Science Pledge?

I want to know what epistemology the candidates subscribe to. When a candidate says that he knows something, or states a fact, I'd like to have a general idea about how he knows those things. Was it a voice in his head, a gut feeling, a reasoned position, or what?

Measurement shows that the sea level is rising and that the ocean is becoming more acidic, leading to major changes in coastal communities and the availability of ocean products. What will you do?