A simple question about a spinning needle has haunted mathematicians for more than a century. It led to the Kakeya conjecture, a cornerstone of modern analysis connecting geometry, fractals, and the behavior of waves. Now, mathematicians Hong Wang and Joshua Zahl have cracked the 3D case — a once-in-a-generation breakthroughContinue Reading
For thousands of years, mathematicians avoided the concept of infinity. Then, in 1874, Georg Cantor published a four-page paper that changed mathematics forever. Hidden inside was a shocking claim: some infinities are larger than others. Today, Cantor is celebrated as the father of set theory and one of the greatContinue Reading
Quantum gravity could help physicists unite the currently incompatible worlds of quantum mechanics and gravity. In this episode, Stanford University physicist Monika Schleier-Smith discusses her pioneering experimental approach, using laser-cooled atoms to explore whether gravity could emerge from quantum entanglement. “The Joy of Why” is a Quanta Magazine podcast aboutContinue Reading
David Baker’s lab, the UW Institute for Protein Design, is pioneering the use of a wide-range of AI tools to design new and novel proteins in order to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Watch the related video “How AI Cracked the Protein Folding Code and Won a NobelContinue Reading
Mathematician Maggie Miller explains the concept of manifolds — spaces that resemble flat Euclidean space when viewed up close, but that can have very a different global structure. To hear more about this topic, and about the particular weirdness of 4D space, check out out the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MURzTFRRuJQ #mathContinue Reading
Hash tables are fundamental ways to store data and are used in every computer. Since the 1970s, researchers have assumed that no improvements could be made to hash table design. Enter Andrew Krapivin who, while an undergraduate, invented a new kind of hash table, overturning a major conjecture and aContinue Reading
What if intelligence doesn’t require a brain? Biologist Michael Levin argues that intelligence is not confined to neurons, but exists on a continuum of goal-directed behavior and problem-solving across a wide range of species and systems. Using a framework he calls the “cognitive light cone,” Levin explores diverse forms ofContinue Reading
The James Webb Space Telescope has found a lonely black hole in the early universe that’s as heavy as 50 million suns. A major discovery, the object confounds theories of the young cosmos. Read more at Quanta Magazine: https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-single-naked-black-hole-rewrites-the-history-of-the-universe-20250912/ Associated paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.21748 #physics #science #blackhole ——— Quanta Magazine is anContinue Reading
Lauren Williams tells The Joy of Why how studying a fundamental object in algebraic combinatorics led to a career full of surprises. “The Joy of Why” is a Quanta Magazine podcast about curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge. The mathematician and author Steven Strogatz and the cosmologist and author JannaContinue Reading
David Baker’s lab, the UW Institute for Protein Design, is pioneering the use of a wide-range of AI tools to design new and novel proteins in order to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Watch the related video “How AI Cracked the Protein Folding Code and Won a NobelContinue Reading
What if intelligence doesn’t require a brain? Biologist Michael Levin argues that intelligence is not confined to neurons, but exists on a continuum of goal-directed behavior and problem-solving across a wide range of species and systems. Using a framework he calls the “cognitive light cone,” Levin explores diverse forms ofContinue Reading
Mathematician Maggie Miller explains the concept of manifolds — spaces that resemble flat Euclidean space when viewed up close, but that can have very a different global structure. To hear more about this topic, and about the particular weirdness of 4D space, check out out the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MURzTFRRuJQ ———Continue Reading
What if time isn’t fundamental at all? Physicist Carlo Rovelli reveals how modern physics, from relativity to quantum gravity, has gradually erased time from its equations. In its place, we find change, entropy, and the deep connection between the universe’s evolution and our own perception of its flow. Featuring Rovelli’sContinue Reading