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.
From the first moments of the universe to the formation of atoms ...
The unexpected and unlikely nature of the photon was hard to believe
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?
The discovery of organisms thriving in extreme temperatures and conditions deep undersea, deep in the Earth, deep in the ice suggests that life, once it emerges, is extraordinarily resilient..
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
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
05/06/24 WGBH Forum Network webinar. 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
03/08/16 Reconstructing the relationship between biological evolution and geology, climate, environment. Andrew Knoll
03/18/19 An explanation of the complex relationship between the oceans and atmosphere, and how that balance makes the planet function. Amala Mahadevan
07/12/16 How a combination of innovative conservation techniques and involvement of local villages is combating damage in the Himalayas. Kamal Bawa
06/12/14 Many nations prohibit GMO foods, but the US doesn't even require labeling. What can science tell us about GMOs? Sheldon Krimsky
06/07/22 An increasing percentage of the Food and Drug Agency's funding comes from the pharmaceutical industry. How does this arrangement affect the agency in general and the approval of new medications in particular? Aaron Kesselheim
02/04/14 Materials scientist Javier Fernandez discusses the "plastisphere" crisis and how it motivated the development of biodegradable "shrilk."
03/29/22 An innovation attracting great interest: an abundant, inexpensive clay might be used to remove the greenhouse gas methane from the atmosphere. Desiree Plata
An acclaimed scientist and award-winning author, whose books on the relationship between geology, environment and evolution are both brilliant and accessible.
A prominent law professor provides a how-to to create the public momentum that will ensure environmental protections.