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 ...
We think of "matter" as stuff made of atoms. That kind of matter is an insignificant amount . Something like 84 percent of the matter in the universe is invisible and unidentifiable "dark matter."
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?
07/18/23 The actual nutritional value of our food depends on the quality of soil in which it is grown. Healthy soil, healthy people, healthy planet. David R. Montgomery & Anne Biklé
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
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.
05/09/12 Did the ancient moon have a magnetic field like Earth's? And why do scientists need to know? Benjamin Weiss
01/26/16 An explanation of the most spectacular explosions in the universe, and their possible impact on life. Raul Jimenez
09/24/15 A leader in the study of exotic microbes at hydrothermal vents explains the significance and the potential of these life forms. Peter Girguis
03/27/18 The "mind" is not an isolated entity; it is connected to a physical-social environment. Alan Jasanoff
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. Daniel Cziczo
10/10/14 A leader in the international research on marine sediments explains how climate history is recorded in ocean sediments. Richard Murray
07/2014 The Connor Lab at Boston University is a leader in the effort to understand how viruses infect and how cells learn how to block infection. John Connor
10/29/24 A study by HSPH epidemiologist Joel Schwartz and British colleagues has revealed a much greater impact of fossil fuel pollution on health and on worldwide mortality rates than previously thought. Joel Schwartz
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
An outstanding researcher and advocate for international policies to protect wildlife, environment and resources.
