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Latest Articles

Triplet of ‘Ghostly’ Galaxies Hints at What Dark Matter Is — and Isn’t

A collision may have left these galaxies without dark matter. That spells trouble for alternative gravity theories.

Is ‘Attention’ the Essence of Intelligence?

A mathematical mechanism enables AI models to process language at scale, undergirding the current AI revolution. Our columnist asks: Why is attention the key?

How Does Life Unfold? A Landscape Metaphor Comes Into Its Own.

C.H. Waddington’s powerful image of embryonic stem cells specializing on a rolling landscape has captivated biologists since the 1950s. Experimental data is finally confirming, and complicating, his visionary ideas.

As AI Closed In on ‘Unique Games’ Proof, Researchers Raced to Beat the Machines

In the shadow of a rumored AI proof of one of the biggest problems in their field, three computer scientists rushed to publish their own milestone result.

Is AI the End of Math As We Know It?

Mathematicians are facing the sudden shift with grief, anger, and a desperate search for fresh ideas: “If we don’t adapt, there’s just no more math in 50 years.”

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The Navier-Stokes Equations, Explained

Emily Buder/Quanta Magazine and Emily Zhang

Special Features

The Joy of Why


00:00 / 53:20

Maggie Miller explains why our intuition about three dimensions breaks down in four, and how she visualizes 4D spaces as a reel of three-dimensional snapshots.

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How Can Infinity Come in Many Sizes?

Intuition breaks down once we’re dealing with the endless. To begin with: Some infinities are bigger than others.

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Illuminating basic science and math research through public service journalism.

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