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.
Section #1 explains the AI basics: GenAI, AGI, ASI; GPT; how AI is "trained"; AI errors, AI "consciousness"; and AI hype
Section #2 explains the multiple impacts of AI: AI databases; copyright; jobs; cognition
Section 3 discusses important AI threats: AI deceptions; political AI; military AI; and AI disobedience
Section 4 describes the warnings of many AI leaders and experts: that the potential damage of AI is very real, and that governmental controls are absolutely necessary.
Stellar death explosions produce massive gas and dust clouds, and some of that detritus becomes solar systems ...
Evidence for destruction of the ozone hole was rejected for decades
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?
Partly in order to understand its amazing complexity, and partly in order to advance medical therapies. So, how do you create a viable cell?
05/14/24 WGBH Forum Network Webinar. The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), specifically designed to measure the universe's expansion, has now produced the largest and most precise 3D map for the expansion analysis. And the first results of the survey are amazing. Paul Martini
06/18/24 WGBH Forum Network webinar. CERN’s Large Hadron Collider has made very significant discoveries (including the Higgs boson), but physicists now need to expand the probe. Tulika Bose
02/18/25 Is there life beyond Earth? So far, despite the discovery that there are billions of planets in our galaxy, and our increasingly sophisticated probes for life, we still don’t know. Life and the conditions for its emergence are both very complex phenomena. Mario Livio
10/23/24 The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and other advanced technologies are providing unprecedented data about the early universe. Astronomers are developing a new understanding of how the earliest stars and galaxies emerged. Julian Muñoz
10/04/22 The most sophisticated telescope ever created is now producing its first deep-space images, revealing an astonishing universe. Silas Laycock
09/24/15 A leader in the study of exotic microbes at hydrothermal vents explains the significance and the potential of these life forms. Peter Girguis
03/27/18 The "mind" is not an isolated entity; it is connected to a physical-social environment. Alan Jasanoff
06/03/14 A major authority on ocean sediments discusses what these deposits tell us about past and present climate. Richard Murray
03/29/16 An expert on climate change policy explains the coming global challege and the role of public commitment. Henrik Selin
01/30/18 A comprehensive approach to public health: the body, the environment, the culture, the conditions. Sandro Galea
03/26/19 New approaches and technologies offer fresh insights to antibiotic resistance, and real solutions. Gautam Dantas
02/14/12 Efficient production of solar energy with solar thermo-electric generators (STEGs)... Gang Chen
06/26/16 An author-activist urges public engagement to ensure the transition to renewable energy. Philip Warburg
A distinguished scientist who has contributed significantly to our understanding of the evolution of cognition, communication and language
An innovative engineer who has developed a famous electric eye, and a brain stimulation device among other devices