2021 in Review
Latest Articles
Can Network Science Transform Health and Nutrition?
Albert-László Barabási explains how the same organizing principles shape everything from the internet to the cell, and how mapping the networks inside our bodies could change how we treat disease and think about food.
A New Era for the Dawn of Life
Creative, interdisciplinary, and bold, the study of the origins of life has entered a new age. Welcome to Quanta Magazine’s special series on the origins of life.
The Evolving Story of How Chemistry Became Biology
After decades of bickering about which molecules came first, a new generation of scientists is rethinking what life was, is, and could be.
How a Metabolic Spark Could Have Jump-Started Life
Energetic pathways that make and break complex molecules are critical to all life. It’s even possible that these self-sustaining cycles could have been key at life’s beginning.
The Case for a Bubble at Life’s Start
Is self-enclosure life’s greatest trick? According to the lipid-first theory, a cell membrane enabled life by giving chemistry a place to gather.
Did Life Begin in an RNA World?
Some believe the earliest life emerged from self-copying molecules that could mutate and even evolve. But that may not have been enough.
A Strange Quantum Theorem Has Killed Einstein’s Reality
Albert Einstein fought to save our everyday notion of reality from the strangeness of quantum mechanics. But those who set out to aid him keep poking holes in his argument.
New Research Tests Whether AI Models Know Their Own Thoughts
By injecting “thoughts” directly into large language models, researchers are trying to map out AI’s capacity for introspection.
Is There Anything Left in the Dream of Cold Fusion?
Dig a little deeper and you’ll find a thriving research program with exotic atoms that won’t solve the energy crisis but stretches the boundaries of physics.