Rachel Bujalski for Quanta Magazine
Manu Prakash works on the world’s most urgent problems and seemingly frivolous questions at the same time. They add up to a philosophy he calls “recreational biology.”
Black hole and Big Bang singularities break our best theory of gravity. A trilogy of theorems hints that physicists must go to the ends of space and time to find a fix.
A new proof illuminates the hidden patterns that emerge when addition becomes impossible.
One computer scientist’s “stunning” proof is the first progress in 50 years on one of the most famous questions in computer science.
Slight changes in the number, shape, efficiency and interconnectedness of organelles in the cells of flight muscles provide extra energy for birds’ continent-spanning feats.
From living matter to molecules to elementary particles, the world is made of “chiral” objects that differ from their reflected forms.
Exploring the distant universe, the insides of cells, the abstractions of math, the complexity of information itself and much more, The Quanta Podcast will be a tour of the frontier between the known and the unknown.
Researchers have devised a scheme for painting the edges of a graph that’s almost as speedy as possible.
Christopher W. Young/Quanta Magazine
Geometry may have its origins thousands of years ago in ancient land surveying, but it has also had a surprising impact on modern physics. In the latest episode of The Joy of Why, Yang-Hui He explores geometry’s evolution and its future potential through AI.
These three imagined scenarios lead many physicists to doubt that space-time is fundamental.
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.
