Robert Neubecker for Quanta Magazine
The clearest picture yet of our “last universal common ancestor” suggests it was a relatively complex organism living 4.2 billion years ago, a time long considered too harsh for life to flourish.
The mathematician David Bessis claims that everyone is capable of, and can benefit greatly from, mathematical thinking.
The security system that underlies the internet makes use of a curious fact: You can broadcast part of your encryption to make your information much more secure.
Wherever astronomers look, they see life’s raw materials.
Two mathematicians have renewed a debate about the fundamental nature of some of math’s most important equations.
New observations of microscopic vortices confirm the existence of a paradoxical phase of matter that may also arise inside neutron stars.
Yizhi “Patrick” Cai is coordinating a global effort to write a complete synthetic yeast genome. If he succeeds, the resulting cell will be the artificial life most closely related to humans to date.
It was intuitive, even obvious. It was also wrong.
Emily Buder/Quanta Magazine
These three imagined scenarios lead many physicists to doubt that space-time is fundamental.
With lots of data, a strong model and statistical thinking, scientists can make predictions about all sorts of complex phenomena. Today, this practice is evolving to harness the power of machine learning and massive datasets. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with statistician Emmanuel Candès about black boxes, uncertainty and the power of inductive reasoning.
Illuminating basic science and math research through public service journalism.
More about usQuanta Magazine is committed to in-depth, accurate journalism that serves the public interest. Each article braids the complexities of science with the malleable art of storytelling and is meticulously reported, edited and fact-checked. Launched and funded by the Simons Foundation, Quanta is editorially independent — our articles do not reflect or represent the views of the foundation.
