podcasts

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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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.

PODCAST

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

PODCAST

When ChatGPT Broke an Entire Field: An Oral History

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

PODCAST

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.

PODCAST

When Did Nature Burst Into Vivid Color?

PODCAST

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

PODCAST

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.

PODCAST

‘Turbocharged’ Mitochondria Power Birds’ Epic Migratory Journeys

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Singularities in Space-Time Prove Hard to Kill

a snowflake surrounded by fire

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

PODCAST

For Algorithms, a Little Memory Outweighs a Lot of Time

PODCAST

Mathematical Beauty, Truth and Proof in the Age of AI