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...
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?
The necessary ingredients and conditions; formation of life's molecules; Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) ....
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
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
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
03/11/14 Astronomer Joan Najita explains the challenge of understanding how planetary systems are created.
11/07/19 Science for the Public mini-series : They Didn't Believe It! Brief stories about science discoveries that were very slow to be accepted
07/10/12 In probably the most extreme environmment on Earth, organisms are thriving. Peter Girguis explains how.....
03/18/14 Cells make decisions that turn out to be random. Jané Kondev explains the implications of that surprising discovery.
02/08/17 An important new book connects the dots between the role of microbes in healthy soil and in human health. David Montgomery and Anne Biklé
03/11/25 Due mainly to climate change and wasteful agricultural practices, the supply of freshwater is rapidly diminishing across the globe. Governments must quickly develop advanced conservation and sustainability policies. Jay Famiglietti
03/22/21 Designing a wearable device to study brain function and dysfunction, with a goal of precise therapeutic interventions to treat neurodegenerative diseases Shawn Kelly
07/23/13 Determining the relationship between environmental contaminants and the global increase in autism. Marc Weisskopf
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
A splendid discussion of the initial resistance to --and ultimate acceptance of—many fundamental concepts of modern astrophysics/astronomy
A leading researcher on stellar disk formation discusses what astronomers now know --and don't know-- about the formation of solar systems