Physics

From living matter to molecules to elementary particles, the world is made of “chiral” objects that differ from their reflected forms.

The physicist Sidney Nagel delights in solving mysteries of the universe that are hiding in plain sight.

Modern thinking machines owe their existence to insights from the physics of complex materials.

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.

Recent flybys of the fiery world refute a leading theory of its inner structure — and reveal how little is understood about geologically active moons.

Quantum gravity could help physicists unite the currently incompatible worlds of quantum mechanics and gravity. In this episode, Monika Schleier-Smith discusses her pioneering experimental approach, using laser-cooled atoms to explore whether gravity could emerge from quantum entanglement.

A new proposal makes the case that paraparticles — a new category of quantum particle — could be created in exotic materials.

A new suggestion that complexity increases over time, not just in living organisms but in the nonliving world, promises to rewrite notions of time and evolution.

Last year, an enormous map of the cosmos hinted that the engine driving cosmic expansion might be sputtering. Now physicists are back with an even bigger map, and a stronger conclusion.