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.
Paradoxical objects that underscore the mystery of the universe, black holes seem the ultimate destructive force, but may be essential to the stability of galaxies...
What is so obvious to us was not understood until Ben Franklin's famous 1752 demonstration.
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
10/25/17 Finally, an explanation of how voting districts can be unfairly sliced and diced. Justin Solomon
11/13/11 From the Big Bang to parallel universes... Max Tegmark
11/13/13 Ancient infant teeth reveal the importance of weaning patterns in human evolution. Tanya Smith
10/19/10 How photosynthesis --and life-- emerged in Earth's ancient chemical environment. Tanja Bosak and Alexander Petroff
03/21/15 The Cziczo Lab at MIT investigates the particles that form clouds and the vital role of clouds in climate change. Daniel Cziczo
01/11/21 Climate change has brought ocean acidification and ocean acidification is a serious threat to shellfish. What can be done to save sealife? Louise Cameron
10/08/21 The typical American diet, heavy on processed food and excess sugar, is associated with high levels of diabetes 2, heart disease and other conditions. What is a genuinely good diet and how does it promote health? Walter Willett
02/03/20 Despite great medical accomplishments in ancient civilizations, then medical advances from the 17th century on, the connection between germs and disease was unknown.
11/25/19 How the world-class Sustainable Design Lab at MIT combines architecture, engineering, physics --and creative genius-- to design the optimal urban environment. Christoph Reinhart
05/29/13 The award-winning D-Lab's unique approach to improving lives in the poorest nations. Amy Smith
Professor Primack's innovative textbooks incorporate information relevant to specific regions where the texts are used
The most advanced research methods for investigating and predicting seismic activity