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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.

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.

Can Thermodynamics Go Quantum?

September 12, 2024

The Industrial Revolution brought us the laws of thermodynamics, and new ideas about work, energy and efficiency. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with theoretical physicist Nicole Yunger Halpern about what these concepts might mean in the age of quantum mechanics.

The First Nuclear Clock Will Test if Fundamental Constants Change

September 4, 2024

An ultra-precise measurement of a transition in the hearts of thorium atoms gives physicists a tool to probe the forces that bind the universe.

How the Higgs Field (Actually) Gives Mass to Elementary Particles

September 3, 2024

In this article adapted from his new book, "Waves in an Impossible Sea," physicist Matt Strassler explains that the origin of mass in the universe has a lot to do with music.

Do We Need a New Theory of Gravity?

August 29, 2024

Since Newton had his initial revelation about gravity, our understanding of this fundamental concept has evolved in unexpected ways. In this week’s episode, theoretical physicist Claudia de Rham and co-host Janna Levin discuss the ways our current understanding of gravity needs to continue to evolve.

Computer Scientists Prove That Heat Destroys Quantum Entanglement

August 28, 2024

While devising a new quantum algorithm, four researchers accidentally established a hard limit on entanglement.

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