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.
One of the best indicators that the universe began with a bang is the radiation it left behind...
Lynn Margulis's theory of how microbe combinations led to complex cells in evolution was rejected by the scientific establishment for years.
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...
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
12/02/19 Most of the matter in the universe is invisible --and scientists still do not know what it is. This is a brief story of how the idea of dark matter was very slowly accepted.
05/12/15 What scientists are learning about the "dark ages" of the early universe -before light emerged. Lincoln Greenhill
07/10/19 Nectar and pollen are sources of food for bees, but some of these sources may also help to reduce certain pathogens. Lynn Adler
12/17/15 The compelling search for entirely new forms of life elsewhere in our solar system and the universe. David Toomey
07/28/17 The long struggle to commit the international community to prepare for the worldwide climate crisis. Henrik Selin
06/21/18 Harvard's Law School Environmental Clinic shows us how we can use the law to save our environment. Wendy B. Jacobs
11/06/14 Viral infections that were once obscure are potentially global threats in a highly linked world. New tools are being deployed to identify and block these diseases. John Connor
03/20/13 The potential danger of long-term use of ADHD drugs. Robert Whitaker
12/20/11 Desalination offers a solution to the water shortage problem... John Lienhard V
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
An evolutionary toxicologist considers why some organisms adapt to our toxic world while others do not.
A distinguished and award-winning scientist who has worked for decades to raise public awareness of the impact of environmental toxins on the developing brain