The Quanta Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Singularities Are Hard to Kill Jun 10, 2025

Show notes

Black hole and Big Bang singularities break our best theory of gravity. A trilogy of theorems hints that physicists must go to the ends of space and time to find a fix.

This is the fourth episode of The Quanta Podcast. In each episode, Quanta Magazine editor in chief Samir Patel speaks with the minds behind the award-winning publication to navigate through some of the most important and mind-expanding questions in science and math.

Audio Edition: Heat Destroys All Order. Except for in This One Special Case. Jun 05, 2025

Show notes

Heat is supposed to ruin anything it touches. But physicists have shown that an idealized form of magnetism is heatproof.

The story Heat Destroys All Order. Except for in This One Special Case first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

In Computers, Memory Is More Useful Than Time Jun 03, 2025

Show notes

One computer scientist’s “stunning” proof is the first progress in 50 years on one of the most famous questions in computer science.

This is the third episode of our new weekly series The Quanta Podcast, hosted by Quanta Magazine editor in chief Samir Patel. This week's guest is Ben Brubaker; he recently published "For Algorithms, a Little Memory Outweighs a Lot of Time.”

(If you've been a fan of Quanta Science Podcast, it will continue as 'audio edition episodes' in this same feed every other week.)

Historical Recording © Jack Copeland and Jason Long

Math and Beauty in the Age of AI May 27, 2025

Show notes

Mathematicians have started to prepare for a profound shift in what it means to do math.

This is the second episode of our new weekly series The Quanta Podcast, hosted by Quanta magazine Editor-in-Chief Samir Patel. This week's guest is Jordana Cepelewicz; she recently published "Mathematical Beauty, Truth and Proof in the Age of AI" for Quanta's AI special package.
(If you've been a fan of Quanta Science Podcast, it will continue as 'audio edition episodes' in this same feed every other week.)

Audio Edition: Can AI Models Show Us How People Learn? Impossible Languages Point a Way. May 22, 2025

Show notes

Certain grammatical rules never appear in any known language. By constructing artificial languages that have these rules, linguists can use neural networks to explore how people learn.

The story Can AI Models Show Us How People Learn? Impossible Languages Point a Way first appeared on Quanta Magazine

AI Is Nothing Like a Brain, and That’s OK May 20, 2025

Show notes

The brain’s astounding cellular diversity and networked complexity could show how to make AI better.

This is the first episode of our new weekly series The Quanta Podcast, hosted by Quanta magazine Editor-in-Chief Samir Patel. This week's guest is Yasemin Saplakoglu; she recently published "AI Is Nothing Like a Brain, and That’s OK" for Quanta's AI special package.

(If you've been a fan of Quanta Science Podcast, it will continue as 'audio edition episodes' in this same feed every other week.)

Introducing The Quanta Podcast May 13, 2025

Show notes

The Quanta Podcast is your weekly dispatch from the frontiers of science and mathematics. In each episode, editor in chief Samir Patel will talk to the writers and editors behind our most popular, interesting and thought-provoking stories.

The first episode of The Quanta Podcast will be live on May 20. In this trailer episode, Patel talks to executive editor Michael Moyer about what Quanta covers, how it has changed over time and our recent special series on “Science, Promise and Peril in the Age of AI.”

Join us every Tuesday for stimulating conversations and insights about the biggest ideas in basic science and mathematics.

Quantum Computers Cross Critical Error Threshold May 08, 2025

Show notes

In a first, researchers have shown that adding more “qubits” to a quantum computer can make it more resilient. It’s an essential step on the long road to practical applications.

The post Quantum Computers Cross Critical Error Threshold first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Fish Have a Brain Microbiome. Could Humans Have One Too? Apr 24, 2025

Show notes

The discovery that other vertebrates have healthy, microbial brains is fueling the still controversial possibility that we might have them as well.

The post Fish Have a Brain Microbiome. Could Humans Have One Too? first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Exotic New Superconductors Delight and Confound Apr 10, 2025

Show notes

Three new species of superconductivity were spotted this year, illustrating the myriad ways electrons can join together to form a frictionless quantum soup.

The post Exotic New Superconductors Delight and Confound first appeared on Quanta Magazine