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.)
Episodes
(This episode was first published in June 2025.)
Changes in the number, shape, efficiency and interconnectedness of organelles in the cells of flight muscles provide extra energy for birds’ continent-spanning feats.
This is the fifth 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 import...
(This episode was first published in July 2025.)
Where does gravity come from? In both general relativity and quantum mechanics, this question is a big problem. One controversial theory proposes that the force arises from the universe's tendency toward disorder, or entropy. In this episode, host Samir Patel speaks with contributing writer George Musser about the long-shot idea called "entropic gravity," which Musser covere...
By extending the scope of the key insight behind Fermat’s Last Theorem, four mathematicians have made great strides toward building a “grand unified theory” of math.
The story The Core of Fermat’s Last Theorem Just Got Superpowered first appeared on Quanta Magazine.
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. Now physicists think this might have an ingenious use. On this week’s episode, host Samir Patel speaks with writer Philip Ball about how a new "quantum demon” may allow information to be processed in ways that classical physics does not permit. This topic was covered in a...
In math and science, knots do far more than keep shoes on feet. For more than a century, mathematicians have studied the properties of different knots and been rewarded by a wide range of useful applications across science. Classifying how some knots are different from others is an important part of this work.
Earlier this year, two mathematicians found that a theory for how to differentiate between knots is false. In fact...
When pigeons outnumber pigeonholes, some birds must double up. This obvious statement — and its inverse — have deep connections to many areas of math and computer science.
The story How a Problem About Pigeons Powers Complexity Theory first appeared on Quanta Magazine.
Every summer since 1983, scientists at Crater Lake National Park have gathered data about the lake’s famous clarity. This past summer, Quanta contributing writer Rachel Nuwer journeyed with them as they conducted their annual tests. On this week’s episode, Nuwer and host Samir Patel discuss what gives the lake its vivid blue color, and what its data can tell us about the way water moves through a deep temperate lake.
Each w...
How do sellers decide how to price their goods? Competition should keep prices down, while collusion can rig higher prices (and break the law). On this week’s episode, host Samir Patel speaks with staff writer Ben Brubaker about how computer scientists are using game theory to see how algorithms might result in high prices without shady backroom deals. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine.
Each wee...
At first glance, studying the math of waves seems like it should be smooth sailing. But the equations that describe even the gentlest rolling waves are a mathematical nightmare to solve. On this week’s episode, host Samir Patel speaks with math staff writer Joseph Howlett why waves are so elusive, even in a simplified world of equations. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine.
Each week on Th...
Salvador Dalí, Thomas Edison and Edgar Allan Poe all took inspiration from the state between sleep and waking life. On this week’s episode, host Samir Patel speaks with biology staff writer Yasemin Saplakoglu about how brain systems dictate the strange transitions into and out of sleep. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine.
Each week on The Quanta Podcast, Quanta Magazine editor in chief Samir Pate...
A powerful mathematical technique is used to model melting ice and other phenomena. But it has long been imperiled by certain “nightmare scenarios.” A new proof has removed that obstacle.
The story A New Proof Smooths Out the Math of Melting first appeared on Quanta Magazine.
Recently, astrophysicists identified something peculiar: An enormous “naked” black hole with no galaxy in sight. On this week’s episode, host Samir Patel speaks with physics staff writer Charlie Wood about how the strange little red dot is upending our assumptions of the first billion years of cosmic history. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine.
Each week on The Quanta Podcast, Quanta Magazine edi...
Thanks to a delicate interplay between plate tectonics and life, Earth’s thermostat has kept animal life thriving on our planet for half a billion years. On this week’s episode, host Samir Patel speaks with contributing writer Peter Brannen about our planetary highs and lows, and the precarious goldilocks zone our animal-filled finds itself in now. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine.
Each week on...
A new proposal makes the case that paraparticles — a new category of quantum particle — could be created in exotic materials.
The story ‘Paraparticles’ Would Be a Third Kingdom of Quantum Particle first appeared on Quanta Magazine.
Imagine a set of simple building blocks that can self-assemble into any shape you want. The possibilities for such a technology could be boundless. Inspired by nature, “complexity engineering” seeks to design such blocks, building on a classic computer simulation. On this week’s episode, host Samir Patel speaks with contributing writer George Musser about recent developments in so-called cellular automata. This topic was c...
Around 6,000 years ago, the Sahara was a lush grassland. Then, as if a switch flipped, it began to dry out, becoming the desert that we know today. Tipping points are moments in Earth’s history where gradual change suddenly becomes rapid and forms a new equilibrium.
They’re one of the most alarming threats of our planet’s near future — and one of the most uncertain.
When will a tipping point occur? Mathematicians are attempt...
It’s been difficult to find important questions that quantum computers can answer faster than classical machines, but a new algorithm appears to do it for some critical optimization tasks.
The story Quantum Speedup Found for Huge Class of Hard Problems first appeared on Quanta Magazine.
“Memory” means many things to many people, and in many fields. We tend to understand memory to be a phenomenon that happens primarily in the brain, but in recent years, researchers have understood memory as a physical phenomenon that can occur in plenty of systems. On this episode, contributing writer Claire L. Evans tells host Samir Patel about how neuroscientists are probing the memory of individual cells.
Audio coda cour...
The climate is changing. So is the way we understand the climate. On this week's episode, contributing writer Zack Savitsky joins host Samir Patel to discuss his recent reporting on the rich history and uncertain future of climate modeling, the field of science that blends math, physics, and earth science to predict the behavior of our planet's complex climate system.
Audio coda courtesy of Princeton University
Rare and powerful compounds, known as keystone molecules, can build a web of invisible interactions among species.
The story A New, Chemical View of Ecosystems first appeared on Quanta Magazine.
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