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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 three dimensional shape with a line through the middle

‘Once in a Century’ Proof Settles Math’s Kakeya Conjecture

A woman in a striped shirt in front of a park background

At 17, Hannah Cairo Solved a Major Math Mystery

A video of lava flowing slowly.

Earth’s Core Appears To Be Leaking Up and Out of Earth’s Surface

An illustration of planets as balls at the beach.

The Road Map to Alien Life Passes Through the ‘Cosmic Shoreline’

An illustration of two towers.

Quantum Scientists Have Built a New Math of Cryptography

An array of ellipsoids transforming into spheres.

New Sphere-Packing Record Stems From an Unexpected Source

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