Latest Articles

Mobile Genes From the Mother Shape the Baby’s Microbiome

January 17, 2023

Tiny genetic sequences in a mother’s bacteria seem to hop into the infant's bacteria, perhaps ensuring a healthy microbiome later in life.

Probability and Number Theory Collide — in a Moment

January 12, 2023

Mathematicians are taking ideas developed to study random numbers and applying them to a broad range of categories.

Q&A

Starfish Whisperer Develops a Physical Language of Life

January 11, 2023

Nikta Fakhri is adapting and extending concepts from physics to describe how tiny biological components give rise to living organisms.

Ants Live 10 Times Longer by Altering Their Insulin Responses

January 10, 2023

Queen ants live far longer than genetically identical workers. Researchers are learning what their longevity secrets could mean for aging in other species.

New Algorithm Closes Quantum Supremacy Window

January 9, 2023

Random circuit sampling, a popular technique for showing the power of quantum computers, doesn’t scale up if errors go unchecked.

The Physics Principle That Inspired Modern AI Art

January 5, 2023

Diffusion models generate incredible images by learning to reverse the process that, among other things, causes ink to spread through water.

Inside Ancient Asteroids, Gamma Rays Made Building Blocks of Life

January 4, 2023

A new radiation-based mechanism adds to the ways that amino acids could have been made in space and brought to the young Earth.

Google Researcher, Long Out of Math, Cracks Devilish Problem About Sets

January 3, 2023

On nights and weekends, Justin Gilmer attacked an old question in pure math using the tools of information theory.

The Year in Comments

December 22, 2022

While the internet is awash in the noise of unmoderated comments, Quanta has attempted to provide a quiet, information-rich spot where readers, listeners and viewers can contemplate the complexity of nature.

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