Cells in the placenta have an unusual trick for activating gentle immune defenses and keeping them turned on when no infection is present. It involves crafting and deploying a fake virus. The post During Pregnancy, a Fake ‘Infection’ Protects the Fetus first appeared on Quanta MagazineDi Quanta Magazine

Human nutrition begins with milk, but the wondrous biofluid does much more than feed babies. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with molecular nutritionist Elizabeth Johnson about her research into the impact of human milk on a healthy microbiome. The post What Does Milk Do for Babies? first appeared on Quanta Magazine…

The discovery that the brain has different systems for representing small and large numbers provokes new questions about memory, attention and mathematics. The post Why the Human Brain Perceives Small Numbers Better first appeared on Quanta MagazineDi Quanta Magazine

Black holes are inescapable traps for most of what falls into them — but there can be exceptions. The theoretical physicist Leonard Susskind speaks with co-host Janna Levin about the black hole information paradox and how it has propelled modern physics. The post Can Information Escape a Black Hole? first appeared on Quanta Magazine…

The Reykjanes Peninsula has entered a new volcanic era. Innovative efforts to map and monitor the subterranean magma are saving lives. The post Inside Scientists’ Life-Saving Prediction of the Iceland Eruption first appeared on Quanta MagazineDi Quanta Magazine

Birds flock. Locusts swarm. Fish school. From chaotic assemblies of life, order somehow emerges. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz interviews the evolutionary ecologist Iain Couzin about how and why collective behaviors arise. The post How Is Flocking Like Computing? first appeared on Quanta Magazine…

A new magnum opus posits the existence of a hidden mathematical link akin to the connection between electricity and magnetism. The post Echoes of Electromagnetism Found in Number Theory first appeared on Quanta MagazineDi Quanta Magazine

Teleporting people through space is still science fiction. But quantum teleportation is dramatically different and entirely real. In this episode, Janna Levin interviews the theoretical physicist John Preskill about teleporting bits and the promise of quantum technology. The post What Is Quantum Teleportation? first appeared on Quanta Magazine…

To better understand how neural networks learn to simulate writing, researchers trained simpler versions on synthetic children’s stories. The post Tiny Language Models Come of Age first appeared on Quanta MagazineDi Quanta Magazine

Time is all around us: in the language we use, in the memories we revisit and in our predictions of the future. But what exactly is it? The physicist and Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek joins Steve Strogatz to discuss the fundamental hallmarks of time. The post What Is the Nature of Time? first appeared on Quanta Magazine…

Scientists have recently discovered scores of free-floating worlds that defy classification. The new observations have forced them to rethink their theories of star and planet formation. The post Rogue Worlds Throw Planetary Ideas Out of Orbit first appeared on Quanta MagazineDi Quanta Magazine

If evolution favors the survival of the fittest, where did the impulse to help others come from? Host Janna Levin speaks with Stephanie Preston, a neuropsychologist who studies the biology of altruism. The post How Did Altruism Evolve? first appeared on Quanta MagazineDi Quanta Magazine

Every species develops at its own unique tempo, leaving scientists to wonder what governs their timing. A suite of new findings suggests that cells use basic metabolic processes as clocks. The post What Makes Life Tick? Mitochondria May Keep Time for Cells first appeared on Quanta MagazineDi Quanta Magazine

Terence Tao, who has been called the “Mozart of Mathematics,” wrote an essay in 2007 about the common ingredients in “good” mathematical research. In this episode, the Fields Medalist joins Steven Strogatz to revisit the topic. The post What Makes for ‘Good’ Mathematics? first appeared on Quanta Magazine…

The Joy of Why podcast returns for a third season, with two co-hosts, 24 brilliant guests and 24 all-new episodes. The post Why Locusts Swarm, Humans Do Good and Time Marches On first appeared on Quanta MagazineDi Quanta Magazine

The telescope conjecture gave mathematicians a handle on ways to map one sphere to another. Now that it has been disproved, the universe of shapes has exploded. The post An Old Conjecture Falls, Making Spheres a Lot More Complicated first appeared on Quanta MagazineDi Quanta Magazine

By watching “minimal” cells regain the fitness they lost, researchers are testing whether a genome can be too simple to evolve. The post Even Synthetic Life Forms With a Tiny Genome Can Evolve first appeared on Quanta MagazineDi Quanta Magazine

Genetic elements called Mavericks that have some viral features could be responsible for the large-scale smuggling of DNA between species. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Clover” by Vibe Mountain.Di Quanta Magazine

New observations of a faraway rocky world that might have its own magnetic field could help astronomers understand the seemingly haphazard magnetic fields in our own solar system. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Light Gazing” by Andrew Langdon.Di Quanta Magazine

Quantum algorithms can find their way out of mazes exponentially faster than classical ones, at the cost of forgetting the paths they took. A new result suggests that the trade-off may be inevitable. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Confusing Disco” by Birocratic.Di Quanta Magazine

In some deep subterranean aquifers, cells have a chemical trick for making oxygen that could sustain whole underground ecosystems. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Pulse” by Geographer.Di Quanta Magazine

To buffer the brain against menaces in the blood, a dynamic, multi-tiered system of protection is built into the brain’s blood vessels. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Good Times” by Patrick Patrikios.Di Quanta Magazine

Giant black holes were supposed to be bit players in the early cosmic story. But recent James Webb Space Telescope observations are finding an unexpected abundance of the beasts. The post JWST Spots Giant Black Holes All Over the Early Universe first appeared on Quanta MagazineDi Quanta Magazine

New experiments show that the brain distinguishes between perceived and imagined mental images by checking whether they cross a “reality threshold.” Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Who’s Using Who” by The Mini Vandals.Di Quanta Magazine

Today’s language models are more sophisticated than ever, but they still struggle with the concept of negation. That’s unlikely to change anytime soon. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Hidden Agenda” by Kevin MacLeod.Di Quanta Magazine

The most comprehensive survey of how we share our microbiomes suggests a new way of thinking about the risks of developing some diseases that aren’t usually considered contagious. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Transmission” by John Deley and the 41 Players.Di Quanta Magazine

The quantum energy teleportation protocol was proposed in 2008 and largely ignored. Now two independent experiments have shown that it works. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Pulse” by Geographer.Di Quanta Magazine

Feelings of loneliness prompt changes in the brain that further isolate people from social contact. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Slow Burn” by Kevin MacLeod.Di Quanta Magazine

Even empty space bubbles with energy, according to quantum mechanics — and that fact affects almost every facet of physical reality. The theoretical physicist Isabel Garcia Garcia explains to Steven Strogatz why it’s so important in modern physics to understand what a true vacuum is. The post Does Nothingness Exist? first appeared on Quanta Magazin…

The neocortex of our brain is the seat of our intellect. New data suggests that mammals created it with new types of cells that they developed only after their evolutionary split from reptiles. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Pulse” by Geographer.Di Quanta Magazine