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.
Huge regions of apparent nothingness throughout the universe are full of surprises....
Evidence for destruction of the ozone hole was rejected for decades
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
12/06/22 The only way to understand the emergence of the earliest structures in the universe is through complex computer simulations. Here's how they are created and tested. Mark Vogelsberger
04/14/2014 The investigation of how super-galaxies form is expected to provide insight into other mysteries such as dark matter and dark energy. Arjun Dey
10/08/19 A cell's size and the proportions of its components are strictly determined, but where do the rules come from? Scientists are still trying to figure that out. Jané Kondev
12/09/09 Genetic material in ancient fossils yields an amazing profile of extinct organisms. Chris Organ
04/12/21 The accelerating Arctic and Antarctic glacial melts will affect sea levels and land masses in different areas of the globe --often far from the polar regions. Natalya Gomez
08/31/15 Dudley Foster, the Woods Hole engineer closely associated with the Alvin's history, describes explorations of this famous deep-sea submersible. Dudley Foster
09/08/20 A distinguished physician-researcher explains the many threats to children's health all over the world, and how millions of young lives are saved by the W.H.O. Davidson Hamer, M.D.
12/11/12 Visual representation is essential for the communication of science concepts and data. Bang Wong
12/05/23 GBH Forum Network webinar (noon). By 2050, some 75 percent of the world population will live in cities. Future urban design will emphasize not only innovative architecture and engineering, but optimal environmental and social aspects of city dwelling also. The urban future might also include settlements beyond Earth. Justin Hollander
06/25/13 The cooling systems of power plants use an enormous percentage of our diminishing freshwater supply. What's the solution? John Rogers
An interdisciplinary approach to the evolution of complexity in the cosmos -from subatomic particles to life
Leading research on one of the most important areas of biology: "Ecological systems are the archetypal complex systems."