The Extraordinary Math Hidden in Everyday Life
The Extraordinary Math Hidden in Everyday Life
L. Mahadevan describes how he approaches science and where he finds his ideas.
Read related article
Interviews
Select Playlist
Searching for Dark Matter with a Tabletop ‘Quantum Compass’
06:43
Can Large Language Models Understand ‘Meaning’?
04:19
Understanding Cryptography With These Five Worlds
05:28
How a New X-Ray Technique Sees Black Holes
06:16
The Math Hiding in Plain Sight
05:08
How AI Learns to ‘See’
08:38
How to Build a Telescope to See the Early Universe
06:43
When Computers Write Proofs, What’s the Point of Mathematicians?
06:33
The Cryptographer Working to Protect Computations
06:53
A Bet Against Quantum Gravity
06:43
The Digital Quest for Quantum Gravity
05:19
She Tracks Wildlife eDNA on Everest and in the Andes
06:39
The Computer Scientist Taking on Big Tech: Privacy, Lies and AI
05:13
One Man’s Mission to Unveil Math’s Beauty
07:10
The Deep Mystery at the Heart of Life on Earth
07:03
The Man Who Revolutionized Computer Science With Math
07:50
A Polymath on Physics, Computer Science, Neuroscience and Literature
08:14
How Geometry Shapes Our Lives
03:38
The Cosmologist Challenging Einstein
05:11
Biology Meets Computer Science
03:46
This Astronomer Is Determined to Find Another Earth
05:31
The Scientific Problem of Consciousness
05:35
How Scientists Finally Finished the Human Genome
03:08
The Missing Link in Artificial Intelligence
04:06
The Bridge Between Math and Quantum Field Theory
02:45
What’s Inside an Exoplanet?
03:44
The Theory That Could Rewrite the Laws of Physics
05:42
Plate Tectonics: The Mystery of Earth’s Many Faces
03:53
Fighting for Equality in Computer Science and Beyond
10:11
Why Extraterrestrial Life Might Not Be So Alien
04:25
This U.S. Olympiad Coach Has a Unique Approach to Math
03:19
How Cosmic Dust Reveals the Secrets of the Universe
05:49
Meet One of NASA’s Pioneering Women
06:29
What Makes Physics Beautiful, According to a Nobel Prize Winner
05:32
New Clues in the Age-Old Question of the ‘Male’ and ‘Female’ Brain
03:14
This Computer Scientist’s Streaming Algorithms Shrink Big Data
02:44
Inside Dynamical Systems and the Mathematics of Change
02:09
The Cosmologist Who Dreams in the Universe’s Dark Threads
02:05
The Extraordinary Math Hidden in Everyday Life
02:02
The Bold Quest to Launch the Internet in Space
03:25
Physicist Jeff Gore’s Statistical Approach to Ecology
00000
Urban Traffic and Complex Systems — Carlos Gershenson
03:40
Emily Riehl Is Rewriting Higher Category Theory
03:58
Emily Riehl: Mathematician, Musician, Educator
02:28
Claudia de Rham: “Gravity Is the Law That Makes Everything Happen”
04:04
John Priscu and the Search for Life Under Ice
05:13
Liz MacDonald on the strangest auroras in the world.
02:38
James Maynard Solves the Hardest Easy Math Problems
02:06
Katie Mack Knows How It’s All Going to End
04:02
Pincelli Hull Explains What Killed Off the Dinosaurs
02:00
Ronald Rivest on Building Better Elections
02:16
![Omololu Akin-Ojo in a blue checked suit sitting at his desk, framed by two laptops in the foreground.]](https://www.quantamagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Akin-Ojo_1920x1080_VidCover_03-1720x968.jpg)
Omololu Akin-Ojo: Doing Cutting-Edge Physics in Africa
02:11
Nobel Laureate James P. Allison on the Origins of His Cancer Immunotherapy Research
05:08
Scarlett Howard on the Lessons of Teaching Bees Math
02:39
Barbara Liskov on the Future of Computer Science
02:48
Virginia Trimble on How Astronomy Has Changed
02:52
Stephanie Wehner Aims to Build a Quantum Internet
02:00
Craig Callender on the Trouble With Black Hole Thermodynamics
02:55
Iyad Rahwan: Why We Need a Science of Machine Behavior
03:30
Carlo Rubbia on the Future of Particle Physics
02:33
Greg Johnson on A.I. That Sees Inside Cells
02:18
Hod Lipson Builds Consciousness Into a Robot
01:53
Lee Smolin on the Impossibility of Studying the Universe
04:27
Amie Wilkinson on the Mathematics of Change
01:46
Edward O. Wilson on the Evolution of Social Behaviors
04:58
Jim Gunn on Building Astronomical Instruments
02:06
Ecologist Jennifer Dunne on Humans’ Place in Food Webs
02:56
CRISPR Pioneer Jennifer Doudna on Its Research Promise
03:01
Priyamvada Natarajan: How Black Holes Shape Galaxies
01:29
Carolina Araujo on Supporting Women in Mathematics
02:08
Been Kim: A New Approach to Understanding How Machines Think
00046
Meenakshi Wadhwa on Meteorites and the Solar System
00050
Martin Rees on the Future of Science and Humanity
03:38
Why Different Parts of a Coffee Mug Produce Different Pitches
04:19
Valeria Pettorino on Learning About Dark Energy With the Euclid Satellite
02:19
Mario Jurić on How Astronomy Is Changing
01:00
Renee Reijo Pera on the Importance of Timing in Embryo Development
01:48
Tomas Bohr on Performing the Double-Slit Experiment with Bouncing Droplets
02:09
Rosaly Lopes on Volcanoes Throughout the Solar System
01:45
Cohl Furey on the Octonions and Particle Physics
01:51
Jessica Whited on Limb Regeneration and the Axolotl Genome
02:19
Carina Curto on How Physicists Can Think About Neuroscience
02:07
Lisa Manning on the Dynamics of Glasses and Embryos
01:59
Michela Massimi: Defending the Philosophy of Science
01:52
Donald Richards: A Revealer of Secrets in the Data of Life and the Universe
01:22
Günter Ziegler Seeks God’s Perfect Math Proofs
02:18
Barbara Engelhardt on How to Improve Statistical Analyses of Genomes
02:50
Daniel Goldman and His Smart Robots
01:24
Gil Kalai: Why Quantum Computers Won’t Work
02:05
Erich Jarvis on Theories About the Origin of Vocal Learning
04:26
Ed Boyden on the Promise of Expansion Microscopy
01:00
Richard Schwartz: In Praise of Simple Problems
02:04
Corina Tarnita: First Understand Nature’s Rules
00055
Minhyong Kim: Connecting Number Theory to Physics
02:53
Federico Ardila: A Mathematician Who Dances to the Joys and Sorrows of Discovery
01:53
Michael Assis: The Atomic Theory of Origami
02:00
Rebecca Goldin: Why Math Is the Best Way to Make Sense of the World
01:54
Nigel Goldenfeld: Seeing Emergent Physics Behind Evolution
04:01
Neil Johnson: A Physicist Who Models ISIS and the Alt-Right
02:56
Svitlana Mayboroda: Taming Rogue Waves
01:38
Jay Pasachoff: Eclipse Hunter Reveals the Science That Can Only Be Done in the Dark
00054
Andrea Ghez: Black-Hole Hunter Takes Aim at Einstein
01:17
Jessica Flack: How Nature Solves Problems Through Computation
01:57
Purvesh Khatri: More Data — the Dirtier the Better
02:04
Tim Maudlin: A Defense of the Reality of Time
02:37
John Novembre: A Map of Human History, Hidden in DNA
01:06
Sharon Glotzer: ‘Digital Alchemist’ Seeks Rules of Emergence
02:25
Sylvia Serfaty: In Mathematics, ‘You Cannot Be Lied To’
01:51
Francis Su: Math and the Good Life
01:43
Francis Su: Math Is for Everybody
01:23
Marcus Feldman: In Search of Actions That Alter Evolution
01:15
Elena Aprile: In the Deep, a Drive to Find Dark Matter
01:30
Janet Conrad: On a Hunt for a Ghost of a Particle
02:33
Erik Verlinde: The Case Against Dark Matter
01:09
Cynthia Dwork: How to Force Our Machines to Play Fair
03:13
Richard Lenski: A Conductor of Evolution’s Subtle Symphony
01:10
Michael Costanzo: Giant Genetic Map Reveals Life’s Hidden Links
01:52
Peter and Rosemary Grant: Watching Evolution Happen in Two Lifetimes
01:36
Tracy Slatyer: A Seeker of Dark Matter’s Hidden Light
01:12
Miranda Cheng: A Moonshine Master Toys With String Theory
01:43
Suchitra Sebastian: An Explorer of Quantum Borderlands
01:19
Ken Ono: A Life Inspired by an Unexpected Genius
02:06
Janna Levin on Science and Culture
01:32
Tiny Tests Seek the Universe’s Big Mysteries
01:28
David Moore: Tabletop Physics
01:59
The Evolutionary Argument Against Reality
02:13
David Deamer: How We’re Studying the Origins of Life
01:57
Michael Atiyah’s Imaginative State of Mind
00:58
Leslie Valiant: Searching for the Algorithms Underlying Life
00:37
Richard Dawid: Why Trust a Theory?
01:20
Christoph Adami: The Information Theory of Life
01:23
Joan Strassmann: The Woman Who Stared at Wasps
00:37
Gabriela González: Searching the Sky for the Wobbles of Gravity
01:24
Nima Arkani-Hamed’s Visions of Future Physics
02:02
Nancy Moran: An Explorer of Life’s Deepest Partnerships
00:53
James Bullock: The Case for Complex Dark Matter
01:45
Hiranya Peiris: How to Test If We Live in a Multiverse
02:15
Alan Guth: How Many Two-Headed Cows in a Multiverse?
01:28
A ‘Rebel’ Without a Ph.D.
05:19
Explore All Videos
2024 Biggest Breakthroughs in Biology
We look back at three of the biggest biology stories of 2024: a reconstruction of the ancient ancestor of all modern life, the discovery of a neural circuit that regulates the immune system, and artificial intelligence’s transformation of protein science.
2024 Biggest Breakthroughs in Physics
A look back at three of the biggest stories in physics this year, including evidence that dark energy may be weakening, the discovery of a supersolid, and new advances in quantum geometry.
2024 Biggest Breakthroughs in Math
We investigate three of 2024’s biggest breakthroughs in mathematics, including a better way to pack spheres in high dimensions, a new way to avoid forming patterns of numbers, and an 800-page proof of the so-called geometric Langlands conjecture.
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.
Searching for Dark Matter with a Tabletop ‘Quantum Compass’
The physicist Alex Sushkov has developed one of the most targeted magnetic resonance experiments to date with the aim of detecting a hypothetical dark matter particle called the axion.
Can Large Language Models Understand ‘Meaning’?
Brown University computer scientist Ellie Pavlick is translating philosophical concepts such as “understanding” and “meaning” into concrete ideas that are testable on LLMs.
Predicting Eclipses: The Three Body Problem
Solar eclipse prediction has driven innovation across the history of science and mathematics, from the Saros cycle to Greek geometry to Newton’s calculus to the three-body problem.
Understanding Cryptography With These Five Worlds
Russell Impagliazzo describes the five possible cryptographic worlds we might inhabit.
Why Is This Basic Computer Science Problem So Hard?
Computer scientists have long used vector addition systems to model how certain programs work, but they didn’t have a full understanding of how complicated they could be. Recent work has finally pinned it down, showing that these problems are far more complicated than they seem.