Tim Klein for Quanta Magazine
Amie Wilkinson searches for exotic examples of the mathematical structures that describe change.
Contrary to popular belief, bacteria have organelles too. Scientists are now studying them for insights into how complex cells evolved.
A recent challenge to Stephen Hawking’s biggest idea — about how the universe might have come from nothing — has cosmologists choosing sides.
An experiment caught a quantum system in the middle of a jump — something the originators of quantum mechanics assumed was impossible.
Decades after the landmark proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem, ideas abound for how to make it even more reliable. But such efforts reflect a deep misunderstanding of what makes the proof so important.
Viruses and other parasites may sync with their host’s biological clock — or reset it — to gain an advantage.
Surviving fragments of genetic material preserved in sediments allow scientists to see the full diversity of past life — even microbes.
The universe of problems that a computer can check has grown. The researchers’ secret ingredient? Quantum entanglement.
In the late 1940s, Richard Feynman invented a visual tool for simplifying particle calculations that forever changed theoretical physics.
Researchers find evidence that neural systems actively remove memories, suggesting that forgetting may be the default mode of the brain.
To minimize brain strain when thinking recursively, start simply, look for a pattern and let the pattern do the work.
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.
