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.
The kind of matter made of atoms accounts for a tiny fraction of the mass of the universe...
Geologists did not understand that massive meteorites could vaporize on 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?
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.
07/25/23 For centuries, we Earthlings have considered ourselves unique in the universe. Scientists today, however, tend to doubt our exceptionalism. But just how common might intelligent life be? Mario Livio
09/11/12 Confirming the Higgs boson is one of the great triumphs in the history of science. Steve Nahn
05/06/24 WGBH Forum Network webinar. All sorts of animals engage in imaginative types of play. Is this behavior just creature-entertainment, or is it important for development and bonding? David Toomey
03/08/16 Reconstructing the relationship between biological evolution and geology, climate, environment. Andrew Knoll
10/22/13 Clouds and the particles they contain are essential information for climate science. Here's how scientists gather and decipher that information............... Daniel Cziczo
10/28/13 A major ethicist and author talks about the geoengineering issue and his new book on that topic, Earthmasters
04/20/17 A tour of some innovative medical nano-devices at the Tufts University Nano Lab. Sameer Sonkusale
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
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
Professor Primack's innovative textbooks incorporate information relevant to specific regions where the texts are used
A prominent psychologist whose focus is anxiety explains how social media causes stress in teens.