Exploring the distant universe, the insides of cells, the abstractions of math, the complexity of information itself, and much more, The Quanta Podcast is a tour of the frontier between the known and the unknown. In each episode, Quanta Magazine Editor-in-Chief Samir Patel speaks with the minds behind the award-winning publication to navigate through some of the most important and mind-expanding questions in science and math. Quanta specifically covers fundamental research — driven by curiosity, discovery and the overwhelming desire to know why and how. Join us every Tuesday for a stimulating conversation about the biggest ideas and the tiniest details.
(If you've been a fan of the Quanta Science Podcast, it will continue here. You'll see those episodes marked as audio edition episodes every two weeks.)
The dendritic arms of some human neurons can perform logic operations that once seemed to require whole neural networks. The post Hidden Computational Power Found in the Arms of Neurons first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Three physicists stumbled across an unexpected relationship between some of the most ubiquitous objects in math. The post Neutrinos Lead to Unexpected Discovery in Basic Math first appeared on Quanta Magazine
A tool known as BERT can now beat humans on advanced reading-comprehension tests. But it's also revealed how far AI has to go. The post Machines Beat Humans on a Reading Test. But Do They Understand? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Only 170 million years ago, new plankton evolved. Their demand for carbon and calcium permanently transformed the seas as homes for life. The post How Jurassic Plankton Stole Control of the Ocean’s Chemistry first appeared on Quanta Magazine
A brain circuit that suppresses distracting sensory information holds important clues about attention and other cognitive processes. The post To Pay Attention, the Brain Uses Filters, Not a Spotlight first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Modern humans and more ancient hominins interbred many times throughout Eurasia and Africa, and the genetic flow went both ways. The post Fossil DNA Reveals New Twists in Modern Human Origins first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Modeling suggests that many embryonic cells commit to a developmental fate when they become too small to divide unevenly anymore. The post For Embryo’s Cells, Size Can Determine Fate first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Theories about how animals became multicellular are shifting as researchers find greater complexity in our single-celled ancestors. The post Scientists Debate the Origin of Cell Types in the First Animals first appeared on Quanta Magazine
After an interstellar asteroid shot past the sun, scientists realized that there’s probably a lot of itinerant rocks out there. The post Wandering Space Rocks Help Solve Mysteries of Planet Formation first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Mathematicians have proved that a random process applied to a random surface will yield consistent patterns. The post Random Surfaces Hide an Intricate Order first appeared on Quanta Magazine
To researchers’ surprise, deep learning vision algorithms often fail at classifying images because they mostly take cues from textures, not shapes. The post Where We See Shapes, AI Sees Textures first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Researchers struggle to incorporate ongoing evolutionary discoveries into an animal classification scheme older than Darwin. The post What’s in a Name? Taxonomy Problems Vex Biologists first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Contrary to popular belief, bacteria have organelles too. Scientists are now studying them for insights into how complex cells evolved. The post Bacterial Complexity Revises Ideas About ‘Which Came First?’ first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Surviving fragments of genetic material preserved in sediments allow scientists to see the full diversity of past life — even microbes. The post Ancient DNA Yields Snapshots of Vanished Ecosystems first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The universe of problems that a computer can check has grown. The researchers’ secret ingredient? Quantum entanglement. The post Computer Scientists Expand the Frontier of Verifiable Knowledge first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Two women programmers played a pivotal role in the birth of chaos theory. Their previously untold story illustrates the changing status of computation in science. Read more at quantamagazine.org. Music is “Clover 3” by Vibe Mountain.
In harsh ecosystems around the world, microbiologists are finding evidence that “microbial seed banks” protect biodiversity from changing conditions. The post Heat-Loving Microbes, Once Dormant, Thrive Over Decades-Old Fire first appeared on Quanta Magazine
In a world seemingly filled with chaos, physicists have discovered new forms of synchronization and are learning how to predict and control them. The post Scientists Discover Exotic New Patterns of Synchronization first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Researchers have just released hacker-proof cryptographic code — programs with the same level of invincibility as a mathematical proof. The post Cryptography That Is Provably Secure first appeared on Quanta Magazine
During development, cells seem to decode their fate through optimal information processing, which could hint at a more general principle of life. The post The Math That Tells Cells What They Are first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The latest AI algorithms are probing the evolution of galaxies, calculating quantum wave functions, discovering new chemical compounds and more. Is there anything that scientists do that can’t be automated? The post How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Science first appeared on Quanta Magazine
A state-of-the-art supercomputer simulation indicates that a feedback loop between global warming and cloud loss can push Earth’s climate past a disastrous tipping point in as little as a century. The post A World Without Clouds first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The brain can’t directly encode the passage of time, but recent work hints at a workaround for putting timestamps on memories of events. The post How the Brain Creates a Timeline of the Past first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Neural networks can be as unpredictable as they are powerful. Now mathematicians are beginning to reveal how a neural network’s form will influence its function. The post Foundations Built for a General Theory of Neural Networks first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Emerging evidence suggests that the brain encodes abstract knowledge in the same way that it represents positions in space, which hints at a more universal theory of cognition. The post The Brain Maps Out Ideas and Memories Like Spaces first appeared on Quanta Magazine
In a Paris lab, researchers have shown for the first time that quantum methods of transmitting information are superior to classical ones. The post Milestone Experiment Proves Quantum Communication Really Is Faster first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Some researchers are using a complexity framework thought to be purely theoretical to understand evolutionary dynamics in biological and computational systems. The post Mathematical Simplicity May Drive Evolution’s Speed first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Simple physical principles can be used to describe how rivers grow everywhere from Florida to Mars. The post A Universal Law for the ‘Blood of the Earth’ first appeared on Quanta Magazine
How does evolution select the fittest “individuals” when they are ecosystems made up of hosts and their microbiomes? Biologist debate the need to revise theories. The post Should Evolution Treat Our Microbes as Part of Us? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Through exacting geometric calculations, Philip Gibbs has found the smallest known cover for any possible shape. The post Amateur Mathematician Finds Smallest Universal Cover first appeared on Quanta Magazine
