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.
Stellar death explosions produce massive gas and dust clouds, and some of that detritus becomes solar systems ...
Bruno was burned at the stake for asserting that the Sun was one of countless stars in an infinite universe
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?
Partly in order to understand its amazing complexity, and partly in order to advance medical therapies. So, how do you create a viable cell?
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
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
09/28/10 Some mysterious, invisible stuff is holding galaxies together. Peter Fisher
12/09/14 From the beginning of the universe to complex life: an explanation of the development of the cosmos. Eric Chaisson
08/09/16 An investigation of the two major questions about the origin of life, and their relevance in search for life elsewhere in the universe. Zachary Adam
08/30/18 Boston-area artists Susan Heideman and Michelle Lougee discuss their fascinating exhibit, "The Life of Forms."
08/31/15 Dudley Foster, the Woods Hole engineer closely associated with the Alvin's history, describes explorations of this famous deep-sea submersible. Dudley Foster
02/12/18 Today's global citizens can and must engage in the struggle to address climate change. Dan Cziczo
01/27/12 vThe Neural Prosthesis Lab at Boston University demonstrates the Brain-Computer-Interface: a communication device for the severely impaired. Frank Guenther
05/24/12 Genomic medicine will revolutionize health care, but it also introduces a challenge for data management. John Quackenbush
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
An international expert on the mechanisms of antibiotics resistance and a leader in creating public awareness
A prominent medical researcher whose studies are widely cited