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The Quanta Podcast

Every Tuesday, editor in chief Samir Patel sits down with writers and editors to discuss our most thought-provoking stories in science and math. Audio editions of Quanta’s stories with Susan Valot will appear biweekly on Thursdays.

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A tool chest with a tray full of different sized arrows against a red-orange backdrop.

Undergraduate Upends a 40-Year-Old Data Science Conjecture

‘It’s a Mess’: A Brain-Bending Trip to Quantum Theory’s 100th Birthday Party

An illustration shows a human smelling a bouquet of flowers with many different molecules. There are smelly objects around it, like a perfume bottle, an orange and cheese.

How Smell Guides Our Inner World

An illustration shows a man sitting on a chair next to a film projector inside a large head. In front of him a sequence of images from the airport is projected — the man at the gate, going through security, and sitting on the plane.

How ‘Event Scripts’ Structure Our Personal Memories

A hand with letters on it reaching out to symbols

When ChatGPT Broke an Entire Field: An Oral History

Illustration of a person pruning hedges in the shapes of infinity signs.

Is Mathematics Mostly Chaos or Mostly Order?

A group of people inspecting a small lego piece, and a large lego piece made of smaller ones

After 20 Years, Math Couple Solves Major Group Theory Problem

A close-up image of a mantis shrimp, which has rainbow spots and stripes and beady, complex eyes on stalks.

When Did Nature Burst Into Vivid Color?

Is Gravity Just Entropy Rising? Long-Shot Idea Gets Another Look.

How Noether’s Theorem Revolutionized Physics

With Fifth Busy Beaver, Researchers Approach Computation’s Limits

New ‘Superdiffusion’ Proof Probes the Mysterious Math of Turbulence

Concept Cells Help Your Brain Abstract Information and Build Memories

An illustration of a key, decorated with a mitochondrion, stuck into the back of a wind-up bird.

‘Turbocharged’ Mitochondria Power Birds’ Epic Migratory Journeys

Singularities in Space-Time Prove Hard to Kill

a snowflake surrounded by fire

Heat Destroys All Order. Except for in This One Special Case.