We care about your data, and we'd like to use cookies to give you a smooth browsing experience. Please agree and read more about our privacy policy.
Quanta Homepage
  • Physics
  • Mathematics
  • Biology
  • Computer Science
  • Topics
  • Archive

What's up in

Abstractions blog

Latest Articles

Photo of a complicated knot.
Abstractions blog

Color-Changing Material Unites the Math and Physics of Knots

By Devin Powell
February 10, 2020
Comment
Read Later

Mathematicians have studied knots for centuries, but a new material is showing why some knots are better than others.

Gif of a spinning sphere that has a dappled blue, green and red pattern.
Abstractions blog

How Ancient Light Reveals the Universe’s Contents

By Charlie Wood
January 28, 2020
Comment
Read Later

A photograph of the infant cosmos reveals the precise amounts of dark matter and dark energy in the universe, leaving precious little room for argument.

Spindly green star-shaped cells against a black background.
Abstractions blog

Glial Brain Cells, Long in Neurons’ Shadow, Reveal Hidden Powers

By Elena Renken
January 27, 2020
Comment
Read Later

The glial cells of the nervous system have been eclipsed in importance by neurons for decades. But glia are turning out to be central to many neurological functions, including pain perception.

Diagram showing blocks of different sizes colliding, along with different vectors
Abstractions blog

How Pi Connects Colliding Blocks to a Quantum Search Algorithm

By Grant Sanderson
January 21, 2020
Comment
Read Later

A curious physicist has discovered an unexpected link between theoretical block collisions and a famed quantum search algorithm.

Abstractions blog

For Fluid Equations, a Steady Flow of Progress

By Kevin Hartnett
January 13, 2020
Comment
Read Later

A startling experimental discovery about how fluids behave started a wave of important mathematical proofs.

Abstractions blog

Biodiversity Alters Strategies of Bacterial Evolution

By Jordana Cepelewicz
January 6, 2020
Comment
Read Later

In evolution, context is everything: Bacteria with neighbors evolve to rebuff viruses in a different way.

A nearly homogeneous field of yellow cytoplasm spontaneously compartmentalizes itself into clumps around the dots of nuclei.
Abstractions blog

Unscrambled Eggs: Self-Organization Restores Cells’ Order

By Wynne Parry
January 2, 2020
Comment
Read Later

To scientists’ surprise, blended mixtures of cytoplasm can reorganize themselves into cell-like compartments with working structural components.

Supernova in galaxy NGC 5584.
Abstractions blog

No Dark Energy? No Chance, Cosmologists Contend

By Natalie Wolchover
December 17, 2019
Comment
Read Later

A study challenged the evidence for the mysterious antigravitational force known as dark energy. Then cosmologists shot back.

Illustration of brain formed by bubbles.
Abstractions blog

Sleeping Brain Waves Draw a Healthy Bath for Neurons

By Elena Renken
December 16, 2019
Comment
Read Later

An organized tide of brain waves, blood and spinal fluid pulsing through a sleeping brain may flush away neural toxins that cause Alzheimer’s and other diseases.


Previous
  • 1
  • ...
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • ...
  • 50
Next
The Quanta Newsletter

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox

Recent newsletters
Quanta Homepage
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube
Instagram

  • About Quanta
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Simons Foundation
All Rights Reserved © 2023