Archive

Explore the deepest mysteries at the frontier of fundamental physics, and the most promising ideas put forth to solve them.

How do you solve probability problems that appear to have more than one correct answer?

A new technique for finding and characterizing microbes has boosted the number of known bacteria by almost 50 percent, revealing a hidden world all around us.

Computers can translate French and prove mathematical theorems. But can they make deep conceptual insights into the way the world works?

The counterintuitive solution to this month’s puzzle raises philosophical questions about randomness and information.

A 115-year effort to bridge the particle and fluid descriptions of nature has led mathematicians to an unexpected answer.

Researchers are uncovering the hidden laws that reveal how the Internet grows, how viruses spread, and how financial bubbles burst.

Scientists hope that new genetic letters, created in the lab, will endow DNA with new powers.

Quanta’s new puzzle column asks you to believe the seemingly impossible — that you can win at a number guessing game with absolutely no information.