Richard Feynman’s path integral is both a powerful prediction machine and a philosophy about how the world is. But physicists are still struggling to figure out how to use it, and what it means. The post How Our Reality May Be a Sum of Al

A new proof shows that a knot some thought would contradict the famed slice-ribbon conjecture doesn’t. The post Mathematicians Eliminate Long-Standing Threat to Knot Conjecture first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Two teams have made photons act as if time were simultaneously flowing in two directions. The experiments demonstrate a way to potentially boost the performance of quantum devices. The post How Quantum Physicists ‘Flipped Time’ (and How Th

Mathematicians have uncovered a surprising wealth of rock-paper-scissors-like patterns in randomly chosen dice. The post Mathematicians Roll Dice and Get Rock-Paper-Scissors first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Tiny genetic sequences in a mother’s bacteria seem to hop into the infant's bacteria, perhaps ensuring a healthy microbiome later in life. The post Mobile Genes From the Mother Shape the Baby’s Microbiome first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Random circuit sampling, a popular technique for showing the power of quantum computers, doesn’t scale up if errors go unchecked. The post New Algorithm Closes Quantum Supremacy Window first appeared on Quanta Magazine

A quantum approach to data analysis that relies on the study of shapes will likely remain an example of a quantum advantage — albeit for increasingly unlikely scenarios. The post After a Quantum Clobbering, One Approach Survives Unscathed

Maintenance of the software that’s used for the hardest physics calculations rests almost entirely with a retiree. The situation reveals the problematic incentive structure of academia. The post Crucial Computer Program for Particle Physic

Researchers discover that to sharpen its control over precision maneuvers, the brain uses comparisons between control signals — not the signals themselves. The post The Brain Uses Calculus to Control Fast Movements first appeared on Quanta

New research in fish suggests that gut microbes can have a crucial early influence on the brain’s social development. The post The Gut Microbiome Helps Social Skills Develop in the Brain first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Lattice cryptography promises to protect secrets from the attacks of far-future quantum computers. The post Cryptography’s Future Will Be Quantum-Safe. Here’s How It Will Work. first appeared on Quanta Magazine

A growing catalog of huge but dim galaxies such as Dragonfly 44 is forcing astronomers to invent new theories of galactic evolution. The post The Enduring Mystery of the Dragonfly 44 Galaxy first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Marine bacteria normally seen as single cells join together as a “microscopic snow globe” to consume bulky floating carbohydrates. The post Ocean Bacteria Reveal an Unexpected Multicellular Form first appeared on Quanta Magazine

A recent gamma-ray burst known as the BOAT — “brightest of all time” — appears to have produced a high-energy particle that shouldn’t exist. For some, dark matter provides the explanation. The post Brightest-Ever Space Explosion Reveals Po

A team of physicists has entangled three photons over a considerable distance, which could lead to more powerful quantum cryptography. The post New Entanglement Results Hint at Better Quantum Codes first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Recent explorations of unique geometric worlds reveal perplexing patterns, including the Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio. The post Mathematicians Discover the Fibonacci Numbers Hiding in Strange Spaces first appeared on Quanta Maga

Letting human brain organoids grow in animal brains could be an ethical new option for experimental studies of neurological disorders. The post Lab-Grown Human Cells Form Working Circuits in Rat Brains first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Zero-knowledge proofs allow researchers to prove their knowledge without divulging the knowledge itself. The post How Do You Prove a Secret? first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Efforts to build a better digital “nose” suggest that our perception of scents reflects both the structure of aromatic molecules and the metabolic processes that make them. The post Machine Learning Highlights a Hidden Order in Scents firs

The chemists Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless were recognized for their development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry. The post Molecule-Building Innovators Win Nobel Prize in Chemistry first appeared on

Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger have won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics for groundbreaking experiments with entangled particles. The post Pioneering Quantum Physicists Win Nobel Prize in Physics first appeared on Quanta Mag

Svante Pääbo has been awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for studying our extinct ancestors’ DNA. The post Geneticist Awarded Nobel Prize for Studies of Extinct Human Ancestors first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Using inserted genetic circuitry, synthetic biologists controlled the growth of plant roots for the first time. The post Biologists Use Genetic Circuits to Program Plant Roots first appeared on Quanta Magazine

A simple geometric idea has been used to power advances in information theory, cryptography and even blockchain technology. The post How Mathematical Curves Enable Advanced Communication first appeared on Quanta Magazine

A custom-built machine learning algorithm can predict when a complex system is about to switch to a wildly different mode of behavior. The post Chaos Researchers Can Now Predict Perilous Points of No Return first appeared on Quanta Magazin

Neural networks originally designed for language processing turn out to be great models of how our brains understand places. The post How Transformers Seem to Mimic Parts of the Brain first appeared on Quanta Magazine

What’s a message, really? Claude Shannon recognized that the elemental ingredient is surprise. The post How Shannon Entropy Imposes Fundamental Limits on Communication first appeared on Quanta Magazine

The grainy image of a “super-Jupiter” is a sign of what’s to come as the telescope’s exoplanet observations ramp up. The post Webb Space Telescope Snaps Its First Photo of an Exoplanet first appeared on Quanta Magazine

A new study reveals that bacteria can fight viruses in a surprisingly elegant way that has no known counterpart in more complex life. The post Bacteria’s Immune Sensors Reveal a Novel Way to Detect Viruses first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Two researchers have broken an encryption protocol that many saw as a promising defense against the power of quantum computing. The post ‘Post-Quantum’ Cryptography Scheme Is Cracked on a Laptop first appeared on Quanta Magazine