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Latest Articles
Dimension 126 Contains Strangely Twisted Shapes, Mathematicians Prove
A new proof represents the culmination of a 65-year-old story about anomalous shapes in special dimensions.
Science, Promise and Peril in the Age of AI
An exploration of how artificial intelligence is changing what it means to do science and math, and what it means to be a scientist.
Mathematical Beauty, Truth and Proof in the Age of AI
Mathematicians have started to prepare for a profound shift in what it means to do math.
How Can AI ID a Cat? An Illustrated Guide.
Neural networks power today’s AI boom. To understand them, all we need is a map, a cat and a few thousand dimensions.
When ChatGPT Broke an Entire Field: An Oral History
Researchers in “natural language processing” tried to tame human language. Then came the transformer.

AI Is Nothing Like a Brain, and That’s OK
The brain’s astounding cellular diversity and networked complexity could show how to make AI better.
Improving Deep Learning With a Little Help From Physics
Rose Yu has a plan for how to make AI better, faster and smarter — and it’s already yielding results.
How a Biofilm’s Strange Shape Emerges From Cellular Geometry
Micro decisions can have macro consequences. A soft matter physicist reveals how interactions within simple cellular collectives can lead to emergent physical traits.
Featured Videos
See all videosWhy Some People Don’t ‘See’ Mental Imagery: Aphantasia
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Special Features
Multimedia
The Thought Experiments That Fray the Fabric of Space-Time
These three imagined scenarios lead many physicists to doubt that space-time is fundamental.
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Fish Have a Brain Microbiome. Could Humans Have One Too?
The discovery that other vertebrates have healthy, microbial brains is fueling the still controversial possibility that we might have them as well.
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.
