Quanta Magazine

In 2001, detectors in the Super-Kamiokande neutrino observatory experienced a catastrophic chain-reaction implosion. It was later repaired and in 2006, refilled with ultra-pure water, seen here. quantamagazine.org/how-physicists…

Thamires Lima, a research professor at Drexel University, was using an extensional rheometer when she heard a snap. She thought the machine had broken, but what really happened was stranger: It wasn’t the machine that cracked, but the fluid it was pulling. quantamagazine.org/we-know-simple…

The first solar neutrino was detected here at the Homestake detector in South Dakota. The experiment required a tank one-fifth the volume of an Olympic-size swimming pool filled with chlorine-rich dry-cleaning fluid. quantamagazine.org/how-physicists…

We all know that hot coffee cools down. But quantum mechanics can enable heat to flow the “wrong” way, making hot objects hotter and cold objects colder. quantamagazine.org/a-thermometer-…

Could hand-to-hand combat explain handedness? In 1996, psychologists proposed the “fighting” hypothesis, which suggests that lefties have a key advantage over their rightie counterparts: the element of surprise. quantamagazine.org/why-am-i-left-…

Mathematicians have recently determined how many shuffles it takes to mix up a sloppily cut deck of cards, extending the “mathematical miracle” of a proof from decades before. Turns out it goes from unmixed to pretty random rather suddenly. Tune into the The Quanta Podcast to learn how: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sev…

The proof that Paul Erdős used for his probabilistic method was just a few lines long. But it was completely unexpected – and transformed mathematics and computer science. It’s now used to figure out if a number is prime or to design better circuits. quantamagazine.org/after-80-years…

Researchers thought that what enabled complex fluids to break apart was their elasticity. But a crack in a nonelastic simple fluid has them questioning that idea. quantamagazine.org/we-know-simple…

Introduced by Bernhard Riemann in the mid-19th century, manifolds are crucial to our understanding of the universe. quantamagazine.org/what-is-a-mani…

This is currently the world’s largest neutrino detector. Deep underground in Jiangmen, China, one of JUNO’s main goals is to determine the outstanding mystery of how heavy each flavor of neutrino is. quantamagazine.org/how-physicists…

Qualia goes where curiosity leads. This week, columnist Natalie Wolchover tracks the secret of left-handedness through developmental biology, genetics, evolution, and culture. quantamagazine.org/why-am-i-left-…

We haven’t yet built life from scratch. But, recently, biologists made major headway in designing artificial cells, which could some day allow for the creation of materials like plastics without fossil fuels. quantamagazine.org/for-the-first-…

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. quantamagazine.org/physicists-tak…

The idea of ‘biological agency’ — that life devises its own goals and behaves accordingly — complicates our understanding of what it means to be alive. But does it serve a scientific purpose? quantamagazine.org/is-life-just-d…

It turns out that under just the right conditions some liquids don’t flow — they fracture. quantamagazine.org/we-know-simple…

In his book “Helgoland,” the theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli cites the Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna as an influence on his work. “By renouncing ‘primary’ entities or any ‘ultimate absolute reality,’ we can better make sense of the world.” quantamagazine.org/carlo-rovellis…

Long before the binary 0s and 1s of digital computing, analog computers measured the tides, calculated the position of the planets, and predicted eclipses. quantamagazine.org/what-is-analog…

Mathematical tools such as the Navier-Stokes equation allow experts to predict how some volcanic events will emerge and how quickly they may happen — but not whether or when an eruption will take place. Find out more in The Quanta Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wil…

Agency is a hotly contested term with biologists, with some rejecting it outright and others considering it a key part of life. In this week’s Qualia column, writer Philip Ball goes deep on what it means to be alive. quantamagazine.org/is-life-just-d…

Does intelligent life exist elsewhere in the universe? Tune into this week’s episode The Joy of Why, as @JannaLevin and @david_kipping discuss why we need a more statistically grounded approach to searching for life beyond Earth, and why it’s rational to believe that we may be alone. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wil…

Be resilient like the humble spindle apparatus, a core component of cell division: Get stronger under pressure. quantamagazine.org/what-breaks-a-…