Science touches so many aspects of modern life that it's hard to keep up. Through our programs and this website, Science for the Public provides up-to-date information about scientific innovations, discoveries, and issues that are shaping modern knowledge.
05-06-24 WGBH Forum Network webinar, 12:30 PM EDT. All sorts of animals engage in imaginative types of play. Is this behavior just creature-entertainment, or is it important for development and bonding? David Toomey
05/14/24 Our universe is expanding because of dark energy --one of the greatest mysteries in science. The major project devoted to understanding that expansion and dark energy is the target of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). DESI has produced the largest and most precise 3D map of our cosmos ever constructed. And the first results of the survey are amazing. Paul Martini
04/23/24 Promoted for years as a means to strengthen bones and lower risk of multiple diseases, improved studies by JoAnn Manson and others revealed that Vitamin D supplements were not very effective at all. Natural sources, including sunshine, are much better. It’s important to understand why. JoAnn Manson
03/19/24 A prominent biologist explains the crucial importance of biodiversity for life on Earth, and how the sixth mass extinction fractures that stability. Michael Reed.
02/09/24 GBH Forum Network webinar (noon ET) The extreme level of atmospheric CO2 is well beyond a “capture and storage/sequestration” solution, yet the hype persists that some clever extraction innovation will resolve the problem. Charles Harvey
Huge regions of apparent nothingness throughout the universe are full of surprises....
The evidence for a 4-billion-years-old Earth was a serious contradiction of the widely held Biblical view
Mounting evidence suggests a link between chemicals in consumer products and breast cancer.
What's so important about an atmosphere? Find out here.
Many of the most important advances in scientific understanding were initially rejected or ignored.
In an era of global science, other nations are increasing their science budgets. Why aren't we?
Hibernation, dormancy, suspended animation, revival from apparent death; the line between life and death...
07/18/23 The actual nutritional value of our food depends on the quality of soil in which it is grown. Healthy soil, healthy people, healthy planet. David R. Montgomery & Anne Biklé
10-17-23 WGBH Forum Network webinar PFAS, a group of chemicals added to many everyday products, became a concern years ago among medical researchers, but governmental agencies were slow to impose regulations. Philippe Grandjean
02/21/23 There is increasing concern about the impact of social media on mental health, especially among young people. What causes this problem and how should it be addressed? Jacqueline Sperling
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01/13/15 How culture influences science and why we should be aware of that relationship. David Kaiser
10/25/17 Finally, an explanation of how voting districts can be unfairly sliced and diced. Justin Solomon
10/10/18 The acquisition of even one language is very complicated. But there are some --called hyperpolyglotals-- who learn dozens of languages. How does the brain do this? Evelina Fedorenko
04/29/15 At the Summons Lab at MIT, scientists probe soil and rock samples from both ancient Earth and --using remote instruments-- Mars for bio-molecules. Roger Summons
01/15/13 A discussion of the exceptionally well-documented climate change in Massachusetts. Richard Primack
11/18/14 How vested interests have misled and confused the public over the years about many critical issues: DDT, tobacco, the ozone hole, environmental toxins, climate change. Naomi Oreskes
07/05/22 Scientists struggled for decades to get an EPA ban on Chlorpyrifos, a widely used pesticide known to impair brain development. As autism, ADHD and other developmental conditions increased, vested interests blocked efforts to regulate Chlorpyrifos and other agricultural toxins. Philip Landrigan
05/30/23 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has aptly described the opioid crisis as the “worst drug overdose epidemic in [US] history.” How did that happen? Andrew Kolodny, M.D.
03/06/18 Irrefutable evidence for why we should --and can-- transition to renewable energy without delay. Mara Prentiss
10/24/23 Imagine a future world in which clean electricity is available anywhere you go. The generic Air-gen effect innovation means that this future world can become a reality. Jun Yao
Important probe of traditional assumptions about cell proliferation, particularly in the case of cancer
