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.
From the first moments of the universe to the formation of atoms ...
A poison that was initially considered a solution to disease-bearing insects and harmless to humans and animals became lethal
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..
01/14/21 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
07/16/19 The destabilization of Earth's complex carbon cycle is associated with past mass extinctions. This mathematical model predicts a coming sixth mass extinction. Daniel Rothman
12/14/21 The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is the most advanced probe of the relationship between dark energy and the expansion of the universe. A unique project in astronomy. Arjun Dey
12/20/16 A guide to fundamentals of astrophyics at a time of many exciting --and sometimes puzzling-- discoveries. Priyamvada Natarajan
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
08/23/21 In his latest book for the general public, an esteemed geologist makes the dynamics of our planet and its lifeforms accessible to all. A must-read for all who care about our Earth. Andrew Knoll
05/06/14 A distinguished authority on Earth's geochemical systems explains the deep relationship between life and planetary environment. Charles Langmuir
07/05/22 Scientists struggled for decades to get an EPA ban on Chlorpyrifos, a widely used pesticide known to impair brain development. As autism, ADHD and other developmental conditions increased, vested interests blocked efforts to regulate Chlorpyrifos and other agricultural toxins. Philip Landrigan
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.
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
A distinguished geophysicist who has been instrumental in discoveries of deep-sea volcanoes and other ocean ridge geological phenomena.
This innovator is developing breakthrough devices for clean energy, medical monitoring and other areas of mechanical engineering.