Quanta Magazine 3 weeks ago

More Conversations, Complex Questions, and Bold Ideas in Season Five of ‘The Joy of Why’

Quanta Magazine

More Conversations, Complex Questions, and Bold Ideas in Season Five of ‘The Joy of Why’ | Quanta Magazine

The podcast returns with 12 all-new episodes that explore the biggest questions in basic science and mathematics.

Quanta Magazine 3 weeks ago

Entanglement Builds Space-Time. Now “Magic” Gives It Gravity.

Quanta Magazine

Entanglement Builds Space-Time. Now “Magic” Gives It Gravity. | Quanta Magazine

In holographic theories, physicists may have traced the pliability of space-time to its quantum roots: a measure of quantumness known as “ma...

Quanta Magazine 0 months ago

The Dirt That Refused To Die

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The Dirt That Refused To Die | Quanta Magazine

Lifelike biochemistry continued to unfold in sterilized soil for six years, pointing to a metabolic theory for how biology began.

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

Key Chemistry Question Answered, No Quantum Computer Required

Quanta Magazine

Key Chemistry Question Answered, No Quantum Computer Required | Quanta Magazine

Do we need quantum computers to fully understand complex chemical reactions? A new result, decades in the making, shows the surprising power of ord...

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

How We See the Beautiful, Violent Sun

Quanta Magazine

How We See the Beautiful, Violent Sun | Quanta Magazine

Over hundreds of years, increasingly sophisticated instruments have revealed — and continue to reveal — the secrets of our star.

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

When Quiet Undersea Volcanoes Turn Disruptive

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When Quiet Undersea Volcanoes Turn Disruptive | Quanta Magazine

Earth’s largest volcanic system, hidden in mountain chains under the sea, has long been assumed to erupt only quietly. The shallow seafloor off I...

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

How Ecotypes Harbor the Genetic Memory of a Species’ Past

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How Ecotypes Harbor the Genetic Memory of a Species’ Past | Quanta Magazine

Evolutionary biologists are uncovering genomic mechanisms that allow populations to adapt quickly to different, hyperlocal habitats without splitti...

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

Two Researchers Are Rebuilding Mathematics From the Ground Up

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Two Researchers Are Rebuilding Mathematics From the Ground Up | Quanta Magazine

By replacing the most fundamental concept in topology, Peter Scholze and Dustin Clausen are taking the first step in a far bigger program to unders...

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

How Alexander Grothendieck Revolutionized 20th-Century Mathematics

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How Alexander Grothendieck Revolutionized 20th-Century Mathematics | Quanta Magazine

Grothendieck is revered in the world of math; outside of it, he’s known for his unusual life, if he’s known at all. But what were his actual ma...

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

What Do Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems Truly Mean?

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What Do Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems Truly Mean? | Quanta Magazine

At 25, Kurt Gödel proved there can never be a mathematical “theory of everything.” Columnist Natalie Wolchover explores the implications.

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

Rubin Tracks Skyscraper-Size Asteroids, Failed Supernovas, and Interstellar Visitors

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Rubin Tracks Skyscraper-Size Asteroids, Failed Supernovas, and Interstellar Visitors | Quanta Magazine

Astronomers are preparing for a new era of big-data astronomy, and results are already starting to arrive.

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

How the Bird Eye Was Pushed to an Evolutionary Extreme

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How the Bird Eye Was Pushed to an Evolutionary Extreme | Quanta Magazine

The bird retina is one of the most energetically expensive tissues in the animal kingdom, yet it doesn’t use the energy advantage of oxygen. New ...

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

How Unknowable Math Can Help Hide Secrets

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How Unknowable Math Can Help Hide Secrets | Quanta Magazine

A graduate student recently harnessed the complexity of mathematical proofs to create a powerful new tool in cryptography.

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

Will We Ever Be Able To Forecast Volcanic Eruptions Like Weather?

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Will We Ever Be Able To Forecast Volcanic Eruptions Like Weather? | Quanta Magazine

It should be possible, but getting there will require a greater understanding of subsurface physics.

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

What Causes Lightning? The Answer Keeps Getting More Interesting.

Quanta Magazine

What Causes Lightning? The Answer Keeps Getting More Interesting. | Quanta Magazine

Armed with a slew of new instruments, physicists are closing in on one of nature’s oldest mysteries — and finding that storm clouds are seethin...

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

The Hidden Mathematical Dance Inside Plant Cells

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The Hidden Mathematical Dance Inside Plant Cells | Quanta Magazine

The sunlight-collecting organelles known as chloroplasts solve a packing problem: how to optimize photosynthesis without sustaining damage fro...

Quanta Magazine 1 month ago

A Treasure Trove of Cambrian Fossils Rewrites the Story of Early Life

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A Treasure Trove of Cambrian Fossils Rewrites the Story of Early Life | Quanta Magazine

Remarkably preserved fossils found in southern China offer a fascinating window into what life looked like at the end of the Cambrian explosion, wi...

Quanta Magazine 2 months ago

Why Math’s Final Axiom Proved So Controversial

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Why Math’s Final Axiom Proved So Controversial | Quanta Magazine

Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory is so widely accepted that modern mathematicians hardly think about it. But believing in its core principles didn�...

Quanta Magazine 2 months ago

What Can We Gain by Losing Infinity?

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What Can We Gain by Losing Infinity? | Quanta Magazine

Ultrafinitism, a philosophy that rejects the infinite, has long been dismissed as mathematical heresy. But it is also producing new insights in mat...

Quanta Magazine 2 months ago

Physicists Discover the Most Complex Forms of Ice Yet

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Physicists Discover the Most Complex Forms of Ice Yet | Quanta Magazine

Scientists keep detecting new forms of ice. According to simulations, there could be many more left to find.