Richard Prum explains why he thinks feathers and vibrant traits in birds evolved not solely for survival, but also through aesthetic choice.
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The Jellies That Evolved a Different Way To Keep Time
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Off the coast of Japan, biologists netted a pea-size jellyfish with an unusual circadian clock — a chance finding that suggests there are likely more overlooked biological timekeeping mechanisms to be discovered.
Quantum Cryptography Pioneers Win Turing Award
Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard were recognized for their foundational work in quantum information science.
The Math That Explains Why Bell Curves Are Everywhere
The central limit theorem started as a bar trick for 18th-century gamblers. Now scientists rely on it every day.
Why Do Humanoid Robots Still Struggle With the Small Stuff?
The last decade has seen vast improvements in humanoid robots, but graduating to widespread use might require going back to the fundamentals.
Where Some See Strings, She Sees a Space-Time Made of Fractals
Pushed down to a certain scale, the laws of physics seem to fall apart. Astrid Eichhorn, a leader in an area of study called asymptotic safety, thinks we just need to push a little further.
Disorder Drives One of Nature’s Most Complex Machines
Every second, hundreds to thousands of molecules move through thousands of nuclear pores in each of your cells. A new high-definition view reveals the machine in action.
New Strides Made on Deceptively Simple ‘Lonely Runner’ Problem
A straightforward conjecture about runners moving around a track turns out to be equivalent to many complex mathematical questions. Three new proofs mark the first significant progress on the problem in decades.
Can the Most Abstract Math Make the World a Better Place?
Columnist Natalie Wolchover explores whether applied category theory can be “green” math.
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The Quantum Mechanics of Greenhouse Gases
Earth’s radiation can send some molecules spinning or vibrating, which is what makes them greenhouse gases. This infographic explains how relatively few heat-trapping molecules can have a planetary effect.
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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.
