Archive

Rosaly Lopes has visited dozens of active volcanoes on Earth and discovered even more elsewhere in the solar system. Her work is helping to establish whether volcanoes on distant moons could create conditions friendly to life.

Computer simulations and custom-built quantum analogues are changing what it means to search for the laws of nature.

Quanta’s In Theory video series returns with an exploration of a mysterious mathematical pattern found throughout nature.

String theorists elide a paradox about black holes by extinguishing the walls of fire feared to surround them.

The identification of SNIPPs, a set of proteins found primarily at the brain’s synapses, brings science closer to understanding why we need to sleep.

Studying the structure of existing friendships in your community can help you forge the best connections when forming a new circle of friends.

A unique neurological “functional fingerprint” allows scientists to explore the influence of genetics, environment and aging on brain connectivity.

Evolutionary stories like the grandmother hypothesis are easy to construct from mathematical models, but how well do they reflect reality?

Evolution may have coopted an ancient metabolic mechanism to set social insects on the path toward one of the most puzzling behaviors found in nature.