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.
Stars formed in clusters in the huge clouds that became the early galaxies...
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?
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
01/25/11 The Large Hadron Collider probes the most fundamental level of nature.......... Steven Nahn
09/25/13 Astrophysicist and popular science author, Mario Livio, talks about his science, his writing, and his passion for art
07/09/13 the unique "antifreeze" blood and skeletal mutations of the Antarctic Icefishes provide insights into both climate change adaptations and human disease. H. William Detrich, III
04/10/18 A collaboration of ocean and space scientists that will advance our understanding of exo-worlds, such as Enceladus and Europa. Peter Girguis
12/09/21 A distinguished geologist compares the human impact on our planet with the impacts of natural catastrophes over billions of years. Based on his book, A Brief History of Earth, this discussion is a sequel to an earlier conversation. Andrew Knoll
06/18/15 A visit to the Helmuth Lab at NEU's Marine Science Center to learn how scientists investigate effects of changing climate on coastal ecosystems. Brian Helmuth
04/18/17 An explanation of how environment, community, class, and other factors must be included in public health. Sandro Galea
11/11/20 Because of climate change, many regions are experiencing diseases introduced by unfamiliar insects, microbes, and other sources. This situation requires a new approach to training medical students. Gaurab Basu, M.D., MPH
11/10/15 What we can do to speed up the transition to renewable energy, despite Big Oil's well funded resistance. Jeff Deyette
05/14/13 Why public acceptance of wind power can differ from one community to another. Maria Petrova
A distinguished geophysicist who has been instrumental in discoveries of deep-sea volcanoes and other ocean ridge geological phenomena.
