Quanta Magazine | Science and Math News

Kristina Armitage/Quanta Magazine

Latest Articles

What Can a Cell Remember?

A small but enthusiastic group of neuroscientists is exhuming overlooked experiments and performing new ones to explore whether cells record past experiences — fundamentally challenging what memory is.

Read article
Q&A

Why the Key to a Mathematical Life is Collaboration

Fan Chung, who has an Erdős number of 1, discusses the importance of connection — both human and mathematical.

Quantum Scientists Have Built a New Math of Cryptography

In theory, quantum physics can bypass the hard mathematical problems at the root of modern encryption. A new proof shows how.

The Cells That Breathe Two Ways

In a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park, a microbe does something that life shouldn’t be able to do: It breathes oxygen and sulfur at the same time.

AI Comes Up with Bizarre Physics Experiments. But They Work.

Artificial intelligence software is designing novel experimental protocols that improve upon the work of human physicists, although the humans are still “doing a lot of baby-sitting.”

Stylized digital artwork illustrating the concept of knowledge distillation in artificial intelligence. A big futuristic machine representing a large teacher model beams streams of binary code downward into an open laptop below, symbolizing a smaller student model receiving knowledge.

Featured Videos

See all videos
Two hands holding molecules
By clicking to watch this video, you agree to our privacy policy.

Mirror Molecules: The Symmetry Rule Life Never Breaks

Emily Buder/Quanta Magazine

Special Features

The Joy of Why


00:00 / 52:09

In this episode of The Joy of Why, Thomas Hertog discusses his collaboration with Stephen Hawking on a provocative theory arguing that the laws of physics evolved with the universe, and how this could have shaped a cosmos fit for life.

Multimedia


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.

About Quanta Magazine

Illuminating basic science and math research through public service journalism.

More about us

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.

More about us

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