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...
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?
The discovery of organisms thriving in extreme temperatures and conditions deep undersea, deep in the Earth, deep in the ice suggests that life, once it emerges, is extraordinarily resilient..
01/07/25 Why climate scientists are very concerned about the global heat trend, how they analyze it, and what must be done. Mathew Barlow & Jeffrey Basara
09/26/23 Clouds protect the planet and play an essential role in climate dynamics. How will the rapidly heating planet affect that relationship? Daniel Cziczo
02/09/24 GBH Forum Network webinar (noon ET) The extreme level of atmospheric CO2 is well beyond a “capture and storage/sequestration” solution, yet the hype persists that some clever extraction innovation will resolve the problem. Charles Harvey
03/08/21 Gravitational waves produced by colliding neutron stars are providing unique information about the universe. Edo Berger
06/26/20 The particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider represent a search for a new physics in the form of new particles or forces that account for unknowns about the cosmos. Markus Klute
10/05/17 A tour of the fascinating world of mushrooms. This is way beyond the supermarket. David Hibbett
07/10/19 Nectar and pollen are sources of food for bees, but some of these sources may also help to reduce certain pathogens. Lynn Adler
09/12/17 Clouds are an essential component of the dynamics of climate change. Here's how that works. Daniel Cziczo
01-17-23 Coastal wetlands and salt marshes absorb huge amounts of CO2. Scientists are working to understand this complex process when such ecosystems are especially stressed by climate change. Robinson Fulweiler
05/30/23 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has aptly described the opioid crisis as the “worst drug overdose epidemic in [US] history.” How did that happen? Andrew Kolodny, M.D.
09/23/14 The scientist who led the sequencing of the Y chromosome explains its evolution, its survival, and possible relationship to conditions and diseases that affect mostly males. David Page
05/29/13 The award-winning D-Lab's unique approach to improving lives in the poorest nations. Amy Smith
11/12/13 A panel of experts presents the known scientific, health and environmental facts about fracking. Phartiyal_Pallavi, Aaron Bernstein, William Moomaw, Andrew Rosenberg
A distinguished geophysicist who has been instrumental in discoveries of deep-sea volcanoes and other ocean ridge geological phenomena.
A prominent seismologist explains how and where earthquakes and tsunamis are generated