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Space Travel
Asteroid Rate Jumped in Solar System’s Past
Quanta Magazine - Joshua Sokol
An analysis of lunar craters has found that we’ve been living in a relatively violent period in cosmic history.
Unscrambling the Hidden Secrets of Superpermutations | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Patrick Honner
A science fiction novelist and an internet commenter made breakthroughs on a longstanding problem about the number of ways you can arrange a set of …
Molecular Biology
Did Supernovas Kill Off the Monster Shark Megalodon? | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Rebecca Boyle
A new study suggests that subatomic particles called muons streamed through the atmosphere and fatally irradiated megafauna like the monster shark …
Machine Learning
A New Approach to Understanding How Machines Think
Quanta Magazine - John Pavlus
Neural networks are famously incomprehensible — a computer can come up with a good answer, but not be able to explain what led to the conclusion. …
Dark Matter
Missing Galaxies? Now There’s Too Many
Quanta Magazine - Shannon Hall
Astronomers couldn’t find enough satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way. Now they have the opposite problem, suggesting that our understanding of …
Science
Jellyfish Genome Hints That Complexity Isn’t Genetically Complex | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Jonathan Lambert
Jellyfish didn’t need novel genes to take an evolutionary leap in complexity. An overarching theme in the story of evolution, at least over the past …
Dark Matter
Why the Best Place to Find Dark Matter May Be in a Rock | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Rebecca Boyle
Dark matter may occasionally interact with minerals in the earth, leaving telltale tracks that physicists hope to decipher. In nearly two dozen …
True Blood
How Space and Time Could Be a Quantum Error-Correcting Code | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Natalie Wolchover
The same codes needed to thwart errors in quantum computers may also give the fabric of space-time its intrinsic robustness.
Science
Ancient Turing Pattern Builds Feathers, Hair — and Now, Shark Skin | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Jonathan Lambert
A primordial developmental toolkit shared by all vertebrates, and described by a theory of the mathematician Alan Turing, sets the growth pattern for …
Crossword Puzzles
Quanta’s Science and Math Crossword Puzzle | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Pradeep Mutalik
Celebrate a year’s worth of scientific and mathematical insights by solving this brain-teasing cryptic crossword from our puzzle columnist. Last …
Computer Science
Quanta’s Year in Math and Computer Science (2018) | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Michael Moyer
Several mathematicians under the age of 30, and amateur problem-solvers of all ages, made significant contributions to some of the most difficult …
Quanta’s Year in Biology (2018) | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - John Rennie
Biologists gained new insights into life’s genomically tumultuous past, viruses as crucial components of life, the hidden talents of complex cells …
Quanta’s Year in Physics (2018) | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Natalie Wolchover
The field of fundamental physics is experiencing both a period of confusion and an openness to new ideas. Olena Shmahalo/Quanta Magazine
How Complex Wholes Emerge From Simple Parts
Quanta Magazine - John Rennie
Throughout nature, throngs of relatively simple elements can self-organize into behaviors that seem unexpectedly complex. Scientists are beginning to …
Computer Science
Milestone Experiment Proves Quantum Communication Really Is Faster | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Kevin Hartnett
In a Paris lab, researchers have shown for the first time that quantum methods of transmitting information are superior to classical ones. The new …
The Woman Who Gets Called When a Piece of Mars Falls From the Sky
Quanta Magazine - Rebecca Boyle
Planetary geologist Meenakshi Wadhwa uses Martian meteorites to trace the history of our solar system.
Computer Science
Mathematicians Seal Back Door to Breaking RSA Encryption | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Kevin Hartnett
Digital security depends on the difficulty of factoring large numbers. A new proof shows why one method for breaking digital encryption won’t work. My …
LIGO
New Studies Rescue Gravitational-Wave Signal From the Noise
Quanta Magazine - Natalie Wolchover
Two independent papers vanquish lingering doubts about LIGO’s historic discovery of gravitational waves. Frans Pretorius, a gravitational-wave expert …
A ‘Self-Aware’ Fish Raises Doubts About a Cognitive Test | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Elizabeth Preston
A report that a fish can pass the “mirror test” for self-awareness reignites debates about how to define and measure that elusive quality. Next, the …
Science
What a Newfound Kingdom Means for the Tree of Life
Quanta Magazine - Jonathan Lambert
Neither animal, plant, fungus nor familiar protozoan, a strange microbe that sits in its own “supra-kingdom” of life foretells incredible …
In the Universe of Equations, Virtually All Are Prime | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Kevin Hartnett
Equations, like numbers, cannot always be split into simpler elements. Researchers have now proved that such “prime” equations become ubiquitous as …
Science
Why Black Hole Interiors Grow (Almost) Forever
Quanta Magazine - Natalie Wolchover
The renowned physicist Leonard Susskind has identified a possible quantum origin for the ever-growing volume of black holes. Leonard Susskind, a …
What Defines a Stem Cell? Scientists Rethink the Answer | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Jordana Cepelewicz
As it becomes clear that the body’s cells have more diverse regenerative capabilities than expected, experts have had to reconsider their approach to …
Quantum Mechanics
Frauchiger-Renner Paradox Clarifies Where Our Views of Reality Go Wrong | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Anil Ananthaswamy
A thought experiment has shaken up the world of quantum foundations, forcing physicists to clarify how various quantum interpretations (such as …
Computer Science and Biology Explore Algorithmic Evolution | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Jordana Cepelewicz
Computer scientists are looking to evolutionary biology for inspiration in the search for optimal solutions among astronomically huge sets of …
A Universal Law for the ‘Blood of the Earth’ | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Joshua Sokol
Simple physical principles can be used to describe how rivers grow everywhere from Florida to Mars.
Tadashi Tokieda Collects Math and Physics Surprises | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Erica Klarreich
Tadashi Tokieda discovers new physical phenomena by looking at the everyday world with the eyes of a child.
Phase-Separating Proteins May Protect and Regulate Cells | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Katia Moskvitch
With proteins that reversibly self-assemble into droplets, cells may control their metabolism — and harden themselves against harsh conditions. “If …
Immune System
Should Evolution Treat Our Microbes as Part of Us?
Quanta Magazine - Jonathan Lambert
How does evolution select the fittest “individuals” when they are ecosystems made up of hosts and their microbiomes? Biologists debate the need to …
Universal Quantum Phenomenon Found in Superconductors | Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine - Natalie Wolchover
Experiments suggest that exotic superconducting materials share a “strange metal” state characterized by a quantum speed limit that somehow acts as a …

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Flips

Asteroid Rate Jumped in Solar System’s Past

Unscrambling the Hidden Secrets of Superpermutations | Quanta Magazine

Did Supernovas Kill Off the Monster Shark Megalodon? | Quanta Magazine

A New Approach to Understanding How Machines Think

Missing Galaxies? Now There’s Too Many

Jellyfish Genome Hints That Complexity Isn’t Genetically Complex | Quanta Magazine

Why the Best Place to Find Dark Matter May Be in a Rock | Quanta Magazine

How Space and Time Could Be a Quantum Error-Correcting Code | Quanta Magazine

Ancient Turing Pattern Builds Feathers, Hair — and Now, Shark Skin | Quanta Magazine

Quanta’s Science and Math Crossword Puzzle | Quanta Magazine

Quanta’s Year in Math and Computer Science (2018) | Quanta Magazine

Quanta’s Year in Biology (2018) | Quanta Magazine

Quanta’s Year in Physics (2018) | Quanta Magazine

How Complex Wholes Emerge From Simple Parts

Milestone Experiment Proves Quantum Communication Really Is Faster | Quanta Magazine

The Woman Who Gets Called When a Piece of Mars Falls From the Sky

Mathematicians Seal Back Door to Breaking RSA Encryption | Quanta Magazine

New Studies Rescue Gravitational-Wave Signal From the Noise

A ‘Self-Aware’ Fish Raises Doubts About a Cognitive Test | Quanta Magazine

What a Newfound Kingdom Means for the Tree of Life

In the Universe of Equations, Virtually All Are Prime | Quanta Magazine

Why Black Hole Interiors Grow (Almost) Forever

What Defines a Stem Cell? Scientists Rethink the Answer | Quanta Magazine

Frauchiger-Renner Paradox Clarifies Where Our Views of Reality Go Wrong | Quanta Magazine

Computer Science and Biology Explore Algorithmic Evolution | Quanta Magazine

A Universal Law for the ‘Blood of the Earth’ | Quanta Magazine

Tadashi Tokieda Collects Math and Physics Surprises | Quanta Magazine

Phase-Separating Proteins May Protect and Regulate Cells | Quanta Magazine

Should Evolution Treat Our Microbes as Part of Us?

Universal Quantum Phenomenon Found in Superconductors | Quanta Magazine