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.
One of the best indicators that the universe began with a bang is the radiation it left behind...
The correct interpretation of light spectra from stars was presented by a young researcher whose evidence was initially rejected.
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 long reign of bacteria, the eventual branching and diversification, symbiogenesis, the dramatic mass extinctions and resurgence of life...
01/14/21 Mathematics is the foundation of everything in Nature: structures, dynamics, processes. Understanding that foundation changes our perception of Nature. Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan
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
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.
12/02/14 How do scientists investigate exoplanet atmospheres --and what are they discovering? Mercedes Lopez-Morales
01/04/21 The human body requires a gravity environment. So how do aerospace engineers plan for the colonization of space? Developing artificial gravity is a major objective. Ana Diaz Artiles
02/10/16 The author of "Our Robots, Ourselves" discusses the limits of robot autonomy. David Mindell
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.
02/29/20 It took almost a century to determine if and how continents moved (continental drift). In the 1960s irrefutable evidence showed that tectonic plates caused regular shifts of the planet’s magnetic polarity, volcanoes and earthquakes -and the drift of continents.
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
08/30/22 The U.S. healthcare system ranks last among 11 high-income countries. We spend more than other nations on medical care, but the service is seriously inadequate. What can be done? Melissa Gariddo
10/26/10 A major breakthrough in the restoration of vision. Shawn Kelly
11/27/18 The anti-science mentality and policies threaten public health, environment, and safety --and also our progress in many scientific fields. What we need to do. Andrew Rosenberg
05/18/22 Just how effective is Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), the much-promoted solution to the excess atmospheric CO2 from fossil fuels? June Sekera and Neva Goodwin
First-rate advice from the most cited nutritionist internationally: a guide to improving health through a good diet
An astrobiologist investigates the possible role of ultra-violet radiation in the emergence of life on exoplanets around M dwarf stars