The Quanta Podcast

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**The Quanta Podcast**

Exploring the distant universe, the insides of cells, the abstractions of math, the complexity of information itself, and much more, The Quanta Podcast is a tour of the frontier between the known and the unknown. 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. Quanta specifically covers fundamental research — driven by curiosity, discovery and the overwhelming desire to know why and how. Join us every Tuesday for a stimulating conversation about the biggest ideas and the tiniest details.

(If you’ve been a fan of the Quanta Science Podcast, it will continue here. You’ll see those episodes marked as audio edition episodes every two weeks.)

Latest Episodes:

Clever Machines Learn How to Be Curious Feb 16, 2018

Show notes

Computer scientists are finding ways to code curiosity into intelligent machines.

The post Clever Machines Learn How to Be Curious first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Mathematicians Tame Rogue Waves, Lighting Up Future of LEDs Feb 01, 2018

Show notes

The mathematician Svitlana Mayboroda and collaborators have figured out how to predict the behavior of electrons — a mathematical discovery that could have immediate practical effects.

The post Mathematicians Tame Rogue Waves, Lighting Up Future of LEDs first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Interspecies Hybrids Play a Vital Role in Evolution Jan 18, 2018

Show notes

Hybrids, once treated as biological misfits, play a vital role in the evolution of many animal species. Now conservationists are trying to reconcile that truth with policies.

The post Interspecies Hybrids Play a Vital Role in Evolution first appeared on Quanta Magazine

What Made the Moon? New Ideas Try to Rescue a Troubled Theory Nov 17, 2017

Show notes

Textbooks say that the moon was formed after a Mars-size mass smashed the young Earth. But new evidence has cast doubt on that story, leaving researchers to dream up new ways to get a giant rock into orbit.

The post What Made the Moon? New Ideas Try to Rescue a Troubled Theory first appeared on Quanta Magazine

In Game Theory, No Clear Path to Equilibrium Oct 12, 2017

Show notes

John Nash’s notion of equilibrium is ubiquitous in economic theory, but a new study shows that it is often impossible to reach efficiently.

The post In Game Theory, No Clear Path to Equilibrium first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Pentagon Tiling Proof Solves Century-Old Math Problem Sep 21, 2017

Show notes

A French mathematician has completed the classification of all convex pentagons, and therefore all convex polygons, that tile the plane.

The post Pentagon Tiling Proof Solves Century-Old Math Problem first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Can Microbes Encourage Altruism? Aug 31, 2017

Show notes

If gut bacteria can sway their hosts to be selfless, it could answer a riddle that goes back to Darwin.

The post Can Microbes Encourage Altruism? first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Dark Matter Recipe Calls for One Part Superfluid Aug 25, 2017

Show notes

A different kind of dark matter could help to resolve an old celestial conundrum.

The post Dark Matter Recipe Calls for One Part Superfluid first appeared on Quanta Magazine

A Puzzle of Clever Connections Nears a Happy End Jul 20, 2017

Show notes

The three young friends who devised the “happy ending” problem would become some of the most influential mathematicians of the 20th century, but were never able to solve their own puzzle. Now it receives its first big breakthrough.

The post A Puzzle of Clever Connections Nears a Happy End first appeared on Quanta Magazine

The Thoughts of a Spiderweb Jul 13, 2017

Show notes

Spiders appear to offload cognitive tasks to their webs, making them one of a number of species with a mind that isn’t fully confined within the head.

The post The Thoughts of a Spiderweb first appeared on Quanta Magazine