The Quanta Podcast
Exploring the distant universe, the insides of cells, the abstractions of math, the complexity of information itself, and much more, The Quanta Podcast is a tour of the frontier between the known and the unknown. In each episode, Quanta Magazine Editor-in-Chief Samir Patel speaks with the minds behind the award-winning publication to navigate through some of the most important and mind-expanding questions in science and math. Quanta specifically covers fundamental research — driven by curiosity, discovery and the overwhelming desire to know why and how. Join us every Tuesday for a stimulating conversation about the biggest ideas and the tiniest details.
(If you've been a fan of the Quanta Science Podcast, it will continue here. You'll see those episodes marked as audio edition episodes every two weeks.)
- Update frequency
- every 11 days
- Average duration
- 19 minutes
- Episodes
- 286
- Years Active
- 2015 - 2025
The Math That Tells Cells What They Are
During development, cells seem to decode their fate through optimal information processing, which could hint at a more general principle of life.
The post The Math That Tells Cells What They Are firs…
00:17:22 |
Thu 30 Jan 2020
How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Science
The latest AI algorithms are probing the evolution of galaxies, calculating quantum wave functions, discovering new chemical compounds and more. Is there anything that scientists do that can’t be aut…
00:22:24 |
Thu 16 Jan 2020
A World Without Clouds
A state-of-the-art supercomputer simulation indicates that a feedback loop between global warming and cloud loss can push Earth’s climate past a disastrous tipping point in as little as a century.
Th…
00:26:19 |
Thu 02 Jan 2020
How the Brain Creates a Timeline of the Past
The brain can’t directly encode the passage of time, but recent work hints at a workaround for putting timestamps on memories of events.
The post How the Brain Creates a Timeline of the Past first ap…
00:15:57 |
Thu 19 Dec 2019
Foundations Built for a General Theory of Neural Networks
Neural networks can be as unpredictable as they are powerful. Now mathematicians are beginning to reveal how a neural network’s form will influence its function.
The post Foundations Built for a Gene…
00:16:44 |
Thu 05 Dec 2019
The Brain Maps Out Ideas and Memories Like Spaces
Emerging evidence suggests that the brain encodes abstract knowledge in the same way that it represents positions in space, which hints at a more universal theory of cognition.
The post The Brain Map…
00:25:08 |
Thu 21 Nov 2019
Milestone Experiment Proves Quantum Communication Really Is Faster
In a Paris lab, researchers have shown for the first time that quantum methods of transmitting information are superior to classical ones.
The post Milestone Experiment Proves Quantum Communication R…
00:10:59 |
Thu 07 Nov 2019
Mathematical Simplicity May Drive Evolution’s Speed
Some researchers are using a complexity framework thought to be purely theoretical to understand evolutionary dynamics in biological and computational systems.
The post Mathematical Simplicity May Dr…
00:18:52 |
Thu 31 Oct 2019
Should Evolution Treat Our Microbes as Part of Us?
How does evolution select the fittest “individuals” when they are ecosystems made up of hosts and their microbiomes? Biologist debate the need to revise theories.
The post Should Evolution Treat Our …
00:25:20 |
Thu 26 Sep 2019
A Universal Law for the ‘Blood of the Earth’
Simple physical principles can be used to describe how rivers grow everywhere from Florida to Mars.
The post A Universal Law for the ‘Blood of the Earth’ first appeared on Quanta Magazine
00:14:50 |
Thu 26 Sep 2019
Amateur Mathematician Finds Smallest Universal Cover
Through exacting geometric calculations, Philip Gibbs has found the smallest known cover for any possible shape.
The post Amateur Mathematician Finds Smallest Universal Cover first appeared on Quanta…
00:11:46 |
Fri 06 Sep 2019
In the Nucleus, Genes’ Activity Might Depend on Their Location
Using a new CRISPR-based technique, researchers are examining how the position of DNA within the nucleus affects gene expression and cell function.
The post In the Nucleus, Genes’ Activity Might Depe…
00:15:13 |
Thu 29 Aug 2019
Machine Learning Confronts the Elephant in the Room
A visual prank exposes an Achilles’ heel of computer vision systems: Unlike humans, they can’t do a double take.
The post Machine Learning Confronts the Elephant in the Room first appeared on Quanta …
00:12:20 |
Thu 15 Aug 2019
The New Science of Seeing Around Corners
Computer vision researchers have uncovered a world of visual signals hiding in our midst, including subtle motions that betray what’s being said and faint images of what’s around a corner.
The post T…
00:19:49 |
Thu 01 Aug 2019
Major Quantum Computing Advance Made Obsolete by Teenager
18-year-old Ewin Tang has proven that classical computers can solve the “recommendation problem” nearly as fast as quantum computers. The result eliminates one of the best examples of quantum speedup…
00:14:25 |
Thu 18 Jul 2019
A Math Theory for Why People Hallucinate
Psychedelic drugs can trigger characteristic hallucinations, which have long been thought to hold clues about the brain’s circuitry. After nearly a century of study, a possible explanation is crystal…
00:23:46 |
Fri 05 Jul 2019
Closed Loophole Confirms the Unreality of the Quantum World
A quickly closed loophole has proved that the “great smoky dragon” of quantum mechanics may forever elude capture.
The post Closed Loophole Confirms the Unreality of the Quantum World first appeared …
00:18:21 |
Thu 20 Jun 2019
To Remember, the Brain Must Actively Forget
Researchers find evidence that neural systems actively remove memories, suggesting that forgetting may be the default mode of the brain.
The post To Remember, the Brain Must Actively Forget first app…
00:19:40 |
Thu 06 Jun 2019
The Peculiar Math That Could Underlie the Laws of Nature
New findings are fueling an old suspicion that fundamental particles and forces spring from strange eight-part numbers called “octonions.”
The post The Peculiar Math That Could Underlie the Laws of N…
00:26:29 |
Thu 23 May 2019
To Make Sense of the Present, Brains May Predict the Future
A controversial theory suggests that perception, motor control, memory and other brain functions all depend on comparisons between ongoing actual experiences and the brain’s modeled expectations.
The…
00:29:54 |
Thu 09 May 2019
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