The Quanta Podcast
Quanta Magazine
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.)
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 21, 2018 • 17min
Mathematicians Find Wrinkle in Famed Fluid Equations
Two mathematicians prove that under certain extreme conditions, the Navier-Stokes equations output nonsense. The post Mathematicians Find Wrinkle in Famed Fluid Equations first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Jun 7, 2018 • 16min
Light-Triggered Genes Reveal the Hidden Workings of Memory
Nobel laureate Susumu Tonegawa’s lab is overturning old assumptions about how memories form, how recall works and whether lost memories might be restored from "silent engrams." The post Light-Triggered Genes Reveal the Hidden Workings of Memory first appeared on Quanta Magazine
May 31, 2018 • 20min
Secret Link Uncovered Between Pure Math and Physics
An eminent mathematician reveals that his advances in the study of millennia-old mathematical questions owe to concepts derived from physics. The post Secret Link Uncovered Between Pure Math and Physics first appeared on Quanta Magazine
May 10, 2018 • 9min
How Bacteria Help Regulate Blood Pressure
Kidneys sniff out signals from gut bacteria for cues to lower blood pressure after meals. Our understanding of how the symbiotic microbes affect health is becoming much more molecular. The post How Bacteria Help Regulate Blood Pressure first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Apr 26, 2018 • 15min
Choosy Eggs May Pick Sperm for Their Genes, Defying Mendel’s Law
The oldest law of genetics says that gametes combine randomly, but experiments hint that sometimes eggs select sperm actively for their genetic assets. The post Choosy Eggs May Pick Sperm for Their Genes, Defying Mendel’s Law first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Apr 12, 2018 • 10min
A Zombie Gene Protects Elephants From Cancer
Elephants did not evolve to become huge animals until after they turned a bit of genetic junk into a unique defense against inevitable tumors. The post A Zombie Gene Protects Elephants From Cancer first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Mar 29, 2018 • 16min
Best-Ever Algorithm Found for Huge Streams of Data
To efficiently analyze a firehose of data, scientists first have to break big numbers into bits.
The post Best-Ever Algorithm Found for Huge Streams of Data first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Mar 15, 2018 • 16min
Newfound Wormhole Allows Information to Escape Black Holes
Physicists theorize that a new “traversable” kind of wormhole could resolve a baffling paradox and rescue information that falls into black holes. The post Newfound Wormhole Allows Information to Escape Black Holes first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Mar 13, 2018 • 21min
Brainless Embryos Suggest Bioelectricity Guides Growth
Researchers are building a case that long before the nervous system works, the brain sends crucial bioelectric signals to guide the growth of embryonic tissues. The post Brainless Embryos Suggest Bioelectricity Guides Growth first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Mar 1, 2018 • 16min
New Theory Cracks Open the Black Box of Deep Learning
A new idea is helping to explain the puzzling success of today’s artificial-intelligence algorithms — and might also explain how human brains learn. The post New Theory Cracks Open the Black Box of Deep Learning first appeared on Quanta Magazine
