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.
Stars formed in clusters in the huge clouds that became the early galaxies...
The explanation for the geological relationship between continents was originally heresy
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?
01/14/21 Mathematics is the foundation of everything in Nature: structures, dynamics, processes. Understanding that foundation changes our perception of Nature. Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan
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
07/16/19 The destabilization of Earth's complex carbon cycle is associated with past mass extinctions. This mathematical model predicts a coming sixth mass extinction. Daniel Rothman
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
12/14/21 The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is the most advanced probe of the relationship between dark energy and the expansion of the universe. A unique project in astronomy. Arjun Dey
09/17/24 How migratory creatures navigate so accurately to their seasonal destinations, sometimes thousands of miles away, is still often a mystery. What do scientists know, and what are they still trying to discover? Charles Walcott
06/07/11 Aaron Bernstein, M.D, MPH and author explains how the unprecedented loss of biodiversity impacts human health.
01/10/17 A fascinating look at the vital role of seagrass in marine ecosystems............ Barnabas Daru
06/11/24 WGBH Forum Network webinar. Industrial agriculture (“Big Ag”) is a major contributor to global warming, environmental destruction, and disruption of good farming traditions. There is a better way to feed the world without destroying the planet. Tim Wise
09/27/16 Advances in nanotechnology are revolutionizing medicine. A leader in the field describes recent developments and his commitment to making them available to a wide public. Sameer Sonkusale
01/30/18 A comprehensive approach to public health: the body, the environment, the culture, the conditions. Sandro Galea
11/25/19 How the world-class Sustainable Design Lab at MIT combines architecture, engineering, physics --and creative genius-- to design the optimal urban environment. Christoph Reinhart
05/29/13 The award-winning D-Lab's unique approach to improving lives in the poorest nations. Amy Smith
Insightful essays about the relationship between environmental damage and extinction
