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Latest Articles
In an Age of AI, a Physicist Seeks What Endures
Sarah Demers, chair of the physics department at Yale University, sees the potential for large language models to both help and harm her field.
Genome Duplication Is a Radical Evolutionary Gamble
By doubling their entire genome, organisms can evolve extremely rapidly — or they can lose it all. New studies reveal how to survive the high-risk, high-reward evolutionary event.
‘Stunning’ Percolation Proof Solves Decades-Old Puzzle About Phase Transitions
Mathematicians found that a broad class of networks will abruptly shift behavior past a critical point.
Does Computer Science Need Computers?
The theoretical side of the field doesn’t require computing machines. But many questions would never have been posed without them.
In Hilbert Space, All Things Are Quantumly Possible
To explore quantum phenomena, we must leave the familiar world and enter the abstract realm of Hilbert space.
‘Huge Breakthrough’ in the Math of Imbalance
For the first time in 30 years, computer scientists have found a better way to allocate objects evenly between two groups.
Building a Quantum Computer, One Fragile Qubit at a Time
No one yet knows which technology will power the quantum computers of the future, but the race to create them has already produced some of science’s most intricate machinery.
Theory of Fluids Enters the 21st Century
From the 1800s to the early 2000s, physicists used the same theory to understand the behavior of fluids. Now, using a modern insight, they have redefined fluids from the bottom up.
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A New Framework for How the Brain Compresses Our Noisy World
An updated view of categorization reflects the modern understanding that the nervous system is more of a prediction engine than a filing cabinet.
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How Can Infinity Come in Many Sizes?
Intuition breaks down once we’re dealing with the endless. To begin with: Some infinities are bigger than others.
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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.