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.
Paradoxical objects that underscore the mystery of the universe, black holes seem the ultimate destructive force, but may be essential to the stability of galaxies...
What is so obvious to us was not understood until Ben Franklin's famous 1752 demonstration.
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..
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
05/08/17 A description of exoplanet atmospheres and how scientists attempt to analyze these alien atmospheres. Alexandria Johnson Alexandria Johnson
08/15/19 Dark matter is believed to comprise five-sixths of the matter in the universe, but cannot be "seen." Now, technical innovations offer closer observation and maybe new physics. Tracy Slatyer
04/10/18 A collaboration of ocean and space scientists that will advance our understanding of exo-worlds, such as Enceladus and Europa. Peter Girguis
11/17/15 The science of neural networks reveals the awesome complexity of normal speech production and also brings help for language disorders. Frank Guenther
09/26/23 Clouds protect the planet and play an essential role in climate dynamics. How will the rapidly heating planet affect that relationship? Daniel Cziczo
11-14-23 The warming oceans will seriously affect global climate. Developing accurate models of how and when those impacts will occur requires analysis of both contemporary and historical data. Hali Kilbourne
12/10/20 How neuroscientists probe the neural mechanisms behind disorders such as Parkinson's disease and other motor dysfunctions.. Jill Crittenden.
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
06/25/13 The cooling systems of power plants use an enormous percentage of our diminishing freshwater supply. What's the solution? John Rogers
02/04/14 Materials scientist Javier Fernandez discusses the "plastisphere" crisis and how it motivated the development of biodegradable "shrilk."
A writer who also teaches science-technical writing (as well as literature)
A public policy practitioner and researcher whose work and publications are focused on the public economy and public goods production.