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Illuminating math and science. Supported by the Simons Foundation. 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting. www.quantamagazine.org
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Old ‘Ghost’ Theory of Quantum Gravity Makes a Comeback | Quanta Magazine
Has the secret to understanding gravity been hiding in plain sight for nearly 50 years?
www.quantamagazine.org
In a theory called quadratic gravity, “ghost” particles violate physicists’ intuition of quantum fields. This made the theory unpopular for decades. Now, it’s experiencing a resurgence.
@walkingthedot.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
@walkingthedot.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
In a theory called quadratic gravity, “ghost” particles violate physicists’ intuition of quantum fields. This made the theory unpopular for decades. Now, it’s experiencing a resurgence.
@walkingthedot.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
@walkingthedot.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
Old ‘Ghost’ Theory of Quantum Gravity Makes a Comeback | Quanta Magazine
Has the secret to understanding gravity been hiding in plain sight for nearly 50 years?
www.quantamagazine.org
November 17, 2025 at 3:23 PM
In a theory called quadratic gravity, “ghost” particles violate physicists’ intuition of quantum fields. This made the theory unpopular for decades. Now, it’s experiencing a resurgence.
@walkingthedot.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
@walkingthedot.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
In winter, cold air can help stir the water in a deep lake. www.quantamagazine.org/mixing-is-th...
November 17, 2025 at 12:00 AM
In winter, cold air can help stir the water in a deep lake. www.quantamagazine.org/mixing-is-th...
These soap films are area-minimizing surfaces: They take up the smallest area possible. Area-minimizing surfaces show up in the study of cells and black holes, and even in the design of biomolecules.
www.quantamagazine.org/new-proofs-p...
www.quantamagazine.org/new-proofs-p...
November 16, 2025 at 4:46 PM
These soap films are area-minimizing surfaces: They take up the smallest area possible. Area-minimizing surfaces show up in the study of cells and black holes, and even in the design of biomolecules.
www.quantamagazine.org/new-proofs-p...
www.quantamagazine.org/new-proofs-p...
A Fields Medal–winning mathematician once called one of Marijn Heule’s proofs “the most disgusting proof ever.” But his methods go beyond what any human can do.
To Have Machines Make Math Proofs, Turn Them Into a Puzzle | Quanta Magazine
Marijn Heule turns mathematical statements into something like Sudoku puzzles, then has computers go to work on them. His proofs have been called “disgusting,” but they go beyond what any human can…
www.quantamagazine.org
November 15, 2025 at 9:04 PM
A Fields Medal–winning mathematician once called one of Marijn Heule’s proofs “the most disgusting proof ever.” But his methods go beyond what any human can do.
Every summer since 1983, workers at Crater Lake National Park have gathered data about the lake’s famous clarity. The biologist Scott Girdner has led much of this work. When he retires, a hiring freeze will leave his position unfilled indefinitely. www.quantamagazine.org/mixing-is-th...
November 15, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Every summer since 1983, workers at Crater Lake National Park have gathered data about the lake’s famous clarity. The biologist Scott Girdner has led much of this work. When he retires, a hiring freeze will leave his position unfilled indefinitely. www.quantamagazine.org/mixing-is-th...
Infinity comes in many shapes and sizes. Mathematicians study these different notions of infinity to understand the limits of mathematical logic.
Is Mathematics Mostly Chaos or Mostly Order? | Quanta Magazine
Two new notions of infinity challenge a long-standing plan to define the mathematical universe.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 15, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Infinity comes in many shapes and sizes. Mathematicians study these different notions of infinity to understand the limits of mathematical logic.
If you shift any input 𝑥 to -𝑥 in a function, then 𝑥² outputs the same value. Infinitely many functions satisfy this symmetry. Here are just a few: www.quantamagazine.org/behold-modul...
November 14, 2025 at 9:04 PM
If you shift any input 𝑥 to -𝑥 in a function, then 𝑥² outputs the same value. Infinitely many functions satisfy this symmetry. Here are just a few: www.quantamagazine.org/behold-modul...
For an “imaginary” number, 𝑖 is surprisingly handy across many scientific disciplines: It shows up in geometry, optics, signal analysis, and, controversially, in quantum mechanics.
Physicists Take the Imaginary Numbers Out of Quantum Mechanics | Quanta Magazine
Quantum mechanics has at last been formulated exclusively with real numbers, bringing a mathematical puzzle at the heart of the theory into a new era of inquiry.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 14, 2025 at 4:46 PM
For an “imaginary” number, 𝑖 is surprisingly handy across many scientific disciplines: It shows up in geometry, optics, signal analysis, and, controversially, in quantum mechanics.
At the deepest lake in America, scientists are racing to understand how climate change breaks the fundamental physics of deep freshwater systems. @rachelnuwer.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/mixing-is-th...
Mixing Is the Heartbeat of Deep Lakes. At Crater Lake, It’s Slowing Down. | Quanta Magazine
The physics of mixing water layers — an interplay of wind, climate and more — makes lakes work. When it stops, impacts can ripple across an ecosystem.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:42 PM
At the deepest lake in America, scientists are racing to understand how climate change breaks the fundamental physics of deep freshwater systems. @rachelnuwer.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/mixing-is-th...
In 1854, Bernhard Riemann introduced a theory about how to study geometric spaces in any dimension. Most mathematicians at the time found his ideas to be too vague to be of much use. They are now a mathematical staple. www.quantamagazine.org/what-is-a-ma...
November 13, 2025 at 9:04 PM
In 1854, Bernhard Riemann introduced a theory about how to study geometric spaces in any dimension. Most mathematicians at the time found his ideas to be too vague to be of much use. They are now a mathematical staple. www.quantamagazine.org/what-is-a-ma...
Mathematicians recently built a “unified theory” of stalagmites, those dramatic spires that dot every subterranean landscape. 🧵
November 13, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Mathematicians recently built a “unified theory” of stalagmites, those dramatic spires that dot every subterranean landscape. 🧵
Particles can have “spin,” “color” and “flavor.” To some, they might be formed from vibrating strings. Other researchers see them as holograms, just like space time.
What Is a Particle?
It has been thought of as many things: a pointlike object, an excitation of a field, a speck of pure math that has cut into reality. But never has physicists’ conception of a particle changed more…
www.quantamagazine.org
November 13, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Particles can have “spin,” “color” and “flavor.” To some, they might be formed from vibrating strings. Other researchers see them as holograms, just like space time.
Quanta contributing writer @maxlevy.bsky.social has received a Kavli Gold Award from @aaas.org and @kavlifoundation.org for “The Hidden World of Electrostatic Ecology,” a detailed account of how small organisms use static electricity to their advantage.
www.quantamagazine.org/quantanews/q...
www.quantamagazine.org/quantanews/q...
Quanta Contributor Max G. Levy Wins AAAS Kavli Gold Award for Science Journalism | Quanta Magazine
Judges from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and The Kavli Foundation recognized Quanta Magazine contributing writer Max G. Levy with a Gold Award in the Magazine category for “...
www.quantamagazine.org
November 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Quanta contributing writer @maxlevy.bsky.social has received a Kavli Gold Award from @aaas.org and @kavlifoundation.org for “The Hidden World of Electrostatic Ecology,” a detailed account of how small organisms use static electricity to their advantage.
www.quantamagazine.org/quantanews/q...
www.quantamagazine.org/quantanews/q...
The central equation of quantum mechanics features the imaginary number i. Erwin Schrödinger considered it a major eyesore. Now, physicists have figured out how to do away with it. www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-t...
November 12, 2025 at 9:04 PM
The central equation of quantum mechanics features the imaginary number i. Erwin Schrödinger considered it a major eyesore. Now, physicists have figured out how to do away with it. www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-t...
The brain is a dense, thorny network of neurons, which come in many flavors and whose behaviors are controlled by a menagerie of molecules released on precise timescales. It is staggeringly more complex than an AI algorithm. www.quantamagazine.org/ai-is-nothin...
November 12, 2025 at 4:46 PM
The brain is a dense, thorny network of neurons, which come in many flavors and whose behaviors are controlled by a menagerie of molecules released on precise timescales. It is staggeringly more complex than an AI algorithm. www.quantamagazine.org/ai-is-nothin...
Area-minimizing surfaces are an important mathematical tool, so long as mathematicians can guarantee that singularities are rare, and can be wiggled away when they do appear. For decades, no one could prove this beyond dimension 8. Now that’s finally changed.
www.quantamagazine.org/new-proofs-p...
www.quantamagazine.org/new-proofs-p...
New Proofs Probe Soap-Film Singularities | Quanta Magazine
Mathematicians have broken through a long-standing barrier in the study of “minimizing surfaces,” which play an important role in both math and physics.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 12, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Area-minimizing surfaces are an important mathematical tool, so long as mathematicians can guarantee that singularities are rare, and can be wiggled away when they do appear. For decades, no one could prove this beyond dimension 8. Now that’s finally changed.
www.quantamagazine.org/new-proofs-p...
www.quantamagazine.org/new-proofs-p...
Jakob Steininger and Sergey Yurkevich have been friends since they participated together as teenagers in mathematics Olympiad competitions. Recently, the pair discovered the Noperthedron, the first known convex polyhedron that cannot pass through itself. www.quantamagazine.org/first-shape-...
November 11, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Jakob Steininger and Sergey Yurkevich have been friends since they participated together as teenagers in mathematics Olympiad competitions. Recently, the pair discovered the Noperthedron, the first known convex polyhedron that cannot pass through itself. www.quantamagazine.org/first-shape-...
“How can a single thought change how we see the world?” Maxi Becker, a cognitive neuroscientist at Duke University, recently led a study to uncover how the brain creates “aha” moments. www.quantamagazine.org/how-your-bra...
November 11, 2025 at 6:03 PM
“How can a single thought change how we see the world?” Maxi Becker, a cognitive neuroscientist at Duke University, recently led a study to uncover how the brain creates “aha” moments. www.quantamagazine.org/how-your-bra...
You are getting very sleepy… and your brain is entering a hypnagogic state. It’s that window of when you’re lying in bed seeing dream-like mental images — but you’re not quite asleep.
Tune in to the Quanta Podcast:
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7vdV...
Tune in to the Quanta Podcast:
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7vdV...
Sleep Is Not All or Nothing
open.spotify.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:12 PM
You are getting very sleepy… and your brain is entering a hypnagogic state. It’s that window of when you’re lying in bed seeing dream-like mental images — but you’re not quite asleep.
Tune in to the Quanta Podcast:
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7vdV...
Tune in to the Quanta Podcast:
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7vdV...
In a 2021 paper in Nature, Marc-Olivier Renou (left), Nicolas Gisin and six co-authors devised an experiment to falsify quantum theory based on real numbers. More recent work has shown that the experiment rested on an objectionable assumption. www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-t...
November 11, 2025 at 4:46 PM
In a 2021 paper in Nature, Marc-Olivier Renou (left), Nicolas Gisin and six co-authors devised an experiment to falsify quantum theory based on real numbers. More recent work has shown that the experiment rested on an objectionable assumption. www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-t...
Quantum theory is no longer imaginary.
Physicists Take the Imaginary Numbers Out of Quantum Mechanics | Quanta Magazine
Quantum mechanics has at last been formulated exclusively with real numbers, bringing a mathematical puzzle at the heart of the theory into a new era of inquiry.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 10, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Quantum theory is no longer imaginary.
Will it take decades or centuries for West Antarctica's glaciers to melt into the ocean? 230 million people live near enough to sea level to be impacted by the answer to this question. www.quantamagazine.org/how-soon-wil...
November 10, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Will it take decades or centuries for West Antarctica's glaciers to melt into the ocean? 230 million people live near enough to sea level to be impacted by the answer to this question. www.quantamagazine.org/how-soon-wil...
All manifolds are shapes, but not every shape is a manifold. www.quantamagazine.org/what-is-a-ma...
What Is a Manifold? | Quanta Magazine
In the mid-19th century, Bernhard Riemann conceived of a new way to think about mathematical spaces, providing the foundation for modern geometry and physics.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 10, 2025 at 4:31 PM
All manifolds are shapes, but not every shape is a manifold. www.quantamagazine.org/what-is-a-ma...
Reposted by Quanta Magazine
Check out the cover for our inaugural title, @kevinhartnett.bsky.social’s THE PROOF IN THE CODE, coming June 9, 2026! Shoutout @fsgbooks.bsky.social for the beautiful design. Want a copy of your own? You can now preorder here: us.macmillan.com/books/978037....
November 10, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Check out the cover for our inaugural title, @kevinhartnett.bsky.social’s THE PROOF IN THE CODE, coming June 9, 2026! Shoutout @fsgbooks.bsky.social for the beautiful design. Want a copy of your own? You can now preorder here: us.macmillan.com/books/978037....
In a conversation with John Pavlus, Marijn Heule shares how a form of AI called SAT can use hard-coded rules, and not the inscrutable interactions within a deep neural network, to solve problems beyond human reasoning. www.quantamagazine.org/to-have-mach...
To Have Machines Make Math Proofs, Turn Them Into a Puzzle | Quanta Magazine
Marijn Heule uses turns mathematical statements into something like Sudoku puzzles, then has computers go to work on them. His proofs have been called “disgusting,” but they go beyond what any human c...
www.quantamagazine.org
November 10, 2025 at 3:32 PM
In a conversation with John Pavlus, Marijn Heule shares how a form of AI called SAT can use hard-coded rules, and not the inscrutable interactions within a deep neural network, to solve problems beyond human reasoning. www.quantamagazine.org/to-have-mach...