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.
Huge regions of apparent nothingness throughout the universe are full of surprises....
a fiber valued for its many practical applications has a long history of deadly impact
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..
10/24/23 Imagine a future world in which clean electricity is available anywhere you go. The generic Air-gen effect innovation means that this future world can become a reality. Jun Yao
01/09/24 GBH Forum Network Webinar. Innovations in bio-engineering are revolutionizing medicine. Preservation of tissues, organs, sperm/eggs can be preserved in several different ways for future use. It's a real challenge, but the methods are improving quickly. Mehmet Toner.
10/11/22 Geothermal energy is an ideal source of renewable energy, but it can be hard to access. Here's a plan. Paul Woskov
03/08/21 Gravitational waves produced by colliding neutron stars are providing unique information about the universe. Edo Berger
06/26/20 The particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider represent a search for a new physics in the form of new particles or forces that account for unknowns about the cosmos. Markus Klute
12/14/10 The cell's self-defense repair kit against hereditary, environmental, and other threats. Sushil Alimchandani
04/09/19 What caused Earth's five mass extinctions --and most important--are we headed for a sixth? 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
05/08/18 Truly innovative research: nano-tech devices for medicine and environment. Sameer Sonkusale
12/12/19 Jonathan Levy of Boston University School of Public Health describes how urban air pollutants such as vehicle exhaust affect our health.
12/05/23 GBH Forum Network webinar (noon). By 2050, some 75 percent of the world population will live in cities. Future urban design will emphasize not only innovative architecture and engineering, but optimal environmental and social aspects of city dwelling also. The urban future might also include settlements beyond Earth. Justin Hollander
06/25/13 The cooling systems of power plants use an enormous percentage of our diminishing freshwater supply. What's the solution? John Rogers
Two textbooks by an international expert on Arctic biology and genetics
A researcher whose award-winning work on the origin of life receives a great deal of attention