Latest Articles

The Two Faces of Space-Time

September 25, 2024

A mysterious phenomenon known as duality often leads to new discoveries in physics. This time, space-time itself can sometimes be two things at once.

Q&A

The Logic That Must Lie Behind a New Physics

September 25, 2024

The philosopher Karen Crowther digs into how the space-time fabric could possibly emerge from something non-spatiotemporal.

The Thought Experiments That Fray the Fabric of Space-Time

September 25, 2024

These three imagined scenarios lead many physicists to doubt that space-time is fundamental.

John Wheeler Saw the Tear in Reality

September 25, 2024

Until his dying days, the giant of 20th-century physics obsessed over the underpinnings of space and time, and how we can all share the same version of them.

The Unraveling of Space-Time

This special issue of Quanta Magazine explores the ultimate scientific quest: the search for the fundamental nature of reality.

Mathematicians Discover New Shapes to Solve Decades-Old Geometry Problem

September 20, 2024

Mathematicians have long wondered how “shapes of constant width” behave in higher dimensions. A surprisingly simple construction has given them an answer.

How ‘Embeddings’ Encode What Words Mean — Sort Of

September 18, 2024

Machines work with words by embedding their relationships with other words in a string of numbers.

Cells Across the Tree of Life Exchange ‘Text Messages’ Using RNA

September 16, 2024

Cells across the tree of life can swap short-lived messages encoded by RNA — missives that resemble a quick text rather than a formal memo on letterhead.

The Search for What Shook the Earth for Nine Days Straight

September 12, 2024

Last year, an immense but brief outburst of seismic energy was soon followed by a long hum that made the world ring. Finding its cause took 68 scientists and an assist by the Danish military.