Quantitative models built by the mathematical biologist Trachette Jackson can make cancer therapies safer and more effective.
Maggie Chiang for Quanta Magazine
Quantized Columns
How Long COVID Keeps Us Sick
Other diseases with long-term symptoms can help us understand how COVID can affect us long after the virus itself is gone.
astrophysics
Brighter Than a Billion Billion Suns: Gamma-Ray Bursts Continue to Surprise
These ultrabright flashes have recently been tracked for days, upending ideas about the cataclysms that create them.
COVID-19
A Lack of COVID-19 Genomes Could Prolong the Pandemic
Genomic surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can help control the current pandemic and prevent future ones. But the process is marred by insufficient data and geographic inequities.
artificial intelligence
Same or Different? The Question Flummoxes Neural Networks.
For all their triumphs, AI systems can’t seem to generalize the concepts of “same” and “different.” Without that, researchers worry, the quest to create truly intelligent machines may be hopeless.
planetary science
Gas Giants’ Energy Crisis Solved After 50 Years
Jupiter and Saturn should be freezing cold. Instead, they’re hot. Researchers now know why.
Puzzle
More puzzles
Insights puzzle
Can Math Help You Escape a Hungry Bear?
In this month’s puzzle, math is a question of life or death.
neuroscience
Secret Workings of Smell Receptors Revealed for First Time
Researchers have finally seen how some smell receptors bind to odor molecules. The work yields new insights into one of the most mysterious and versatile senses.
Math Meets QFT
Mathematicians Prove 2D Version of Quantum Gravity Really Works
In three towering papers, a team of mathematicians has worked out the details of Liouville quantum field theory, a two-dimensional model of quantum gravity.
explainers
How Animals Color Themselves With Nanoscale Structures
Animals sculpt the optical properties of their tissues at the nanoscale to give themselves “structural colors.” New work is piecing together how they do it.
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geometry
Statistics Postdoc Tames Decades-Old Geometry Problem
To the surprise of experts in the field, a postdoctoral statistician has solved one of the most important problems in high-dimensional convex geometry.
About Quanta Magazine
Illuminating basic science and math research through public service journalism.
More about usQuanta 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.
