Pencils Down

Vijay Balasubramanian discusses the connections he sees between physics, computer science, neuroscience and literature and the humanities.

Steven Strogatz — the acclaimed mathematician and author — hosts the new Quanta Magazine podcast “The Joy of Why.” On March 18, 2022, he joined Quanta editor Thomas Lin for a Simons Foundation Presents conversation about teaching, writing and podcasting.

For years, a pair of scientists have studied how a simple multicellular animal called Trichoplax coordinates its complex behavior without neurons or muscles. Their work shows that mechanical interactions alone can explain how the organism moves, seeks food and reproduces.

Jordan Ellenberg, a mathematician at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, enjoys studying the math underlying everyday phenomena. “Mathematics is part of the creative world,” Ellenberg says. “We create things all the time.”

Celia Escamilla-Rivera discusses how she is using the tools of precision cosmology to hunt for a theory of gravity that incorporates dark energy more naturally than general relativity does.

It was a big year. Researchers found a way to idealize deep neural networks using kernel machines—an important step toward opening these black boxes. There were major developments toward an answer about the nature of infinity. And a mathematician finally managed to model quantum gravity.

It was a big year. Fermilab discovered possible evidence of new physics with the muon G-2 experiment. Physicists created a time crystal, a new phase of matter that appears to violate one of nature’s most cherished laws. And we got a glimpse of an enormous pair of bubbles towering over the Milky Way.

A paradigm shift in how we think about the functions of the human brain. A long-awaited genetic sequence of Rafflesia arnoldii, the strangest flower in the world. A revelation in sleep science. These are some of the year’s biggest discoveries in neuroscience and other areas of biology.

The James Webb Space Telescope is like nothing ever launched into space. It could explore the universe’s very first stars, uncover evidence of extraterrestrial life — or literally hit a snag and become worthless.