The Quanta Podcast

How Math Brings Together Classical Chaos, Quantum Mechanics, and Fractals

Audio Edition: Sometimes Being First Means Seeing the End Before Anyone Else

Sea Monkeys, Jupiter, and the Mystery of Turbulence

'Jumping Genes' Are More Than Parasitic DNA

Audio Edition: For Hong Wang, Living Fully in the Math World Means Threading the Needle

Are the Little Red Dots Actually Black Hole Suns?

Four-Color Theorem Is Still a Math Favorite

Audio Edition: 'Reverse Mathematics' Illuminates Why Hard Problems Are Hard

Does Computer Science Need Computers?

How the Brain Compresses Our Noisy World

Categorization functions not as a static cognitive filing cabinet, but as a dynamic prediction engine that shapes perception based on bodily needs and environmental context. Rather than passively labeling sensory input, the brain proactively regulates energy and prepares physiological systems for anticipated events. Th...

Audio Edition: A Cell So Minimal That It Challenges Definitions of Life

Picking Teams With the Math of Imbalance

What Makes a Fluid a Fluid?

Audio Edition: New Proofs Probe Soap-Film Singularities

Is AI Reasoning Right for the Wrong Reasons?

Why Am I Left-Handed?

Audio Edition: Old 'Ghost' Theory of Quantum Gravity Makes a Comeback

A Dark Dimension Could Link Two of the Universe's Great Unknowns

Is Life Just Different?

'World Models,' an Old Idea in AI, Mount a Comeback