Explainers
Space-Time: The Biggest Problem in Physics
What is the deepest level of reality? In this Quanta explainer, Vijay Balasubramanian, a physicist at the University of Pennsylvania, takes us on a journey through space-time to investigate what it’s made of, why it’s failing us, and where physics can go next.
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Space-Time: The Biggest Problem in Physics
Decoding Math’s Most Famous Fractal
P vs. NP – The Greatest Unsolved Problem in Computer Science
Math’s Famous Map Problem: The Four-Color Theorem
Could One Physics Theory Unlock the Mysteries of the Brain?
The Biggest Project in Modern Mathematics
How NASA’s Webb Telescope Will Transform Our Place in the Universe
The Standard Model: The Most Successful Scientific Theory Ever
Quantum Computers, Explained With Quantum Physics
Black Hole Jets: Unraveling One of the Biggest Mysteries in the Universe
Iceland Is a Portal to Mars
Why COVID-19 Models Don’t Predict the Future
The Riemann Hypothesis, Explained
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Journey to the Birth of the Solar System
Join David Kaplan on a virtual-reality tour showing how the sun, the Earth and the other planets came to be.
Tim Maudlin: A Defense of the Reality of Time
Tim Maudlin explains how math has led physicists to believe some very strange things about the nature of time.
John Novembre: A Map of Human History, Hidden in DNA
John Novembre explains how he uses genomic data to map human history.
Sharon Glotzer: ‘Digital Alchemist’ Seeks Rules of Emergence
Sharon Glotzer explains how emergence, entropy and order can all fit together.
Sylvia Serfaty: In Mathematics, ‘You Cannot Be Lied To’
Sylvia Serfaty explains why you don’t have to be a genius to become a mathematician.
Francis Su: Math and the Good Life
Francis Su explains how mathematics can help a person to live well.
Francis Su: Math Is for Everybody
Francis Su discusses how the community of mathematicians tends to exclude certain people.
Marcus Feldman: In Search of Actions That Alter Evolution
Marcus Feldman explains how he models the effects of a cultural preference — in this case, a preference for sons over daughters in China.
Elena Aprile: In the Deep, a Drive to Find Dark Matter
Elena Aprile explains how she hunts for dark matter in the world’s largest underground laboratory.