All articles from Quanta Magazine

Why There’s No Single Best Way To Store Information

The math of data structures helps us understand how different storage systems come with different trade-offs between resources such as time and memory. The post Why There’s No Single Best

String Theory Can Now Describe a Universe That Has Dark Energy

In an unprecedented step, researchers crafted a detailed model compatible with the universe’s accelerated expansion. The post String Theory Can Now Describe a Universe That Has Dark Energy

Cells Use ‘Bioelectricity’ To Coordinate and Make Group Decisions

The discovery that tissues use electricity to expel unhealthy cells is part of a surge of renewed interest in the currents flowing through our bodies. The post Cells Use ‘Bioelectricity’ T

Using AI, Mathematicians Find Hidden Glitches in Fluid Equations

A $1 million prize awaits anyone who can show where the math of fluid flow breaks down. With specially trained AI systems, researchers have found a slew of new candidates in simpler versions of the pr

Distinct AI Models Seem To Converge On How They Encode Reality

Is the inside of a vision model at all like a language model? Researchers argue that as the models grow more powerful, they may be converging toward a singular “Platonic” way to represent the world.

In Quantum Mechanics, Nothingness Is the Potential To Be Anything

Try as they might, scientists can’t truly rid a space or an object of its energy. But what “zero-point energy” really means is up for interpretation. The post In Quantum Mechanics, Nothing