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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 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.

For Algorithms, a Little Memory Outweighs a Lot of Time

Mathematical Beauty, Truth and Proof in the Age of AI

Can AI Models Show Us How People Learn? Impossible Languages Point a Way.

An illustration shows a human brain. Colorful flowers and plants burst from the left side, while wires and computing notes innervate the right side.

AI Is Nothing Like a Brain, and That’s OK