Corinne Reid for Quanta Magazine
The result highlights a fundamental tension: Either the rules of quantum mechanics don’t always apply, or at least one basic assumption about reality must be wrong.
A team in Paris has made the most precise measurement yet of the fine-structure constant, killing hopes for a new force of nature.
In three bursts of adaptive change, one species of cichlid fish in Lake Tanganyika gave rise to hundreds.
At 21, Ashwin Sah has produced a body of work that senior mathematicians say is nearly unprecedented for a college student.
An unorthodox symbiotic theory about the origin of eukaryotes’ defining characteristic may soon be put to the test.
Physicists plan to leave no stone unturned, checking whether dark matter tickles different types of detectors, nudges starlight, warms planetary cores or even lodges in rocks.
An exercise in pure mathematics has led to a wide-ranging theory of how the world comes together.
Struggling with math problems that can’t be solved helps us better understand the ones we can.
A numerical puzzle, a geometric puzzle and a game of random patterns — all with connections to the legendary mathematician — elicited an enthusiastic response from readers.
We’ve created a new way to explore the fundamental constituents of the universe.
Quanta Magazine is committed to in-depth, accurate journalism that serves the public interest. Each article braids the complexities of science with the malleable art of storytelling and is meticulously reported, edited and fact-checked. Launched and funded by the Simons Foundation, Quanta is editorially independent — our articles do not reflect or represent the views of the foundation.
