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.
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
09/24/24 WGBH Forum Network webinar, The alarming increase in global warming has stimulated interest in solar geoengineering, a means of shading the planet --but not a means of reducing the source of warming, the excessive CO2 and methane in the atmosphere. It is essential that we understand the promotion of a very risky "solution" to the global crisis. Daniel Cziczo
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
09-03-24 The book Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal by Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin is one of the most important books on our urgent global issue. Robert Pollin discusses the economic factors underlying the climate crisis and the strategy needed to shift to a Global Green New Deal which will restore the planet and civilization. Robert Pollin
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
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
Huge regions of apparent nothingness throughout the universe are full of surprises....
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?
The long reign of bacteria, the eventual branching and diversification, symbiogenesis, the dramatic mass extinctions and resurgence of life...
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.
05/16/23 Microbial ecosystems sustain all ocean life. That vital foundation will be disrupted by deep-sea mining and the impact may be extensive. Julie Huber and Beth Orcutt
05/10/21 Healthy soil depends on healthy microbial ecosystems. These invisible communities have a very complex relationship. Kristen DeAngelis
01/14/21 Mathematics is the foundation of everything in Nature: structures, dynamics, processes. Understanding that foundation changes our perception of Nature. Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan
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.
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
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
04/25/17 Some ways to show how marine organisms actually experience climate change. Brian Helmuth
02/15/21 The amazing mechanisms by which viruses infect cells and the challenge of developing effective vaccines. Forian Douam
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
10/16/12 How university educational outreach programs encourage high school students' interest in science. Irene Porro
05/23/17 The great potential of ordinary plants in the development of "green" batteries. Alán Aspuru-Guzik
Reknowned for introducing a paradigm shift in the understanding of complex networks
A distinguished social scientist who analyzes the relationship between Big Agriculture, health and environment