2025-10-29 22:16:07
What if time isn't fundamental at all? Physicist Carlo Rovelli reveals how modern physics, from relativity to quantum gravity, has gradually erased time from its equations. In its place, we find change, entropy, and the deep connection between the universe's evolution and our own perception of its flow. Featuring Rovelli's thermal time hypothesis, this video explores how our sense of past and future arises from the physics of heat.
Read the corresponding interview with Rovelli at Quanta Magazine: https://www.quantamagazine.org/carlo-rovellis-radical-perspective-on-reality-20251029/
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Quanta Magazine is an editorially independent publication supported by the Simons Foundation. We focus on developments in mathematics, theoretical physics, theoretical computer science and the basic life sciences.
READ free math and science articles on the Quanta website: www.quantamagazine.org
LEARN about the Simons Foundation: www.simonsfoundation.org
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2025-10-18 01:30:04
Quantum gravity could help physicists unite the currently incompatible worlds of quantum mechanics and gravity. In this episode, Stanford University physicist Monika Schleier-Smith discusses her pioneering experimental approach, using laser-cooled atoms to explore whether gravity could emerge from quantum entanglement.
“The Joy of Why” is a Quanta Magazine podcast about curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge. The mathematician and author Steven Strogatz and the astrophysicist and author Janna Levin take turns interviewing leading researchers about the great scientific and mathematical questions of our time.
- Listen to more episodes of Joy of Why: https://www.quantamagazine.org/tag/the-joy-of-why/
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 Steve and Janna discuss quantum gravity
03:10 Monika Schleier-Smith’s early career
04:50 What’s missing from the Standard Model of physics
07:18 The problem of quantum gravity
11:20 Does ‘entanglement’ explain emergent quantum gravity?
13:08 Holographic duality
15:06 Experimental techniques for measuring entanglement
17:09 Schleier-Smith’s toy model of gravity in the lab
25:28 Steve and Janna discuss Schleier-Smith’s experiment
26:44 The controversy around the theory
28:30 Testing holographic duality
38:40 Janna and Steve on high-risk research
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The Joy of Why is an editorially independent publication supported by the Simons Foundation. Funding decisions by the Simons Foundation have no influence on the selection of topics, guests, or other editorial decisions in this podcast, or in Quanta Magazine. The Joy of Why is produced by PRX productions. The production team is Caitlin Faulds, Livia Brock, Genevieve Sponsler, and Merritt Jacob. The executive producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzalez. Edwin Ochoa is our project manager.
From Quanta Magazine, Simon Frantz and Samir Patel provided editorial guidance, with support from Matt Carlstrom, Samuel Velasco, Simone Barr, and Michael Kanyongolo. Samir Patel is Quanta's Editor in Chief. Our theme music is from APM Music. The episode art is by Peter Greenwood, and our logo is by Jaki King and Kristina Armitage. Special thanks to the Columbia Journalism School and the Cornell Broadcast Studios.
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Quanta Magazine is an editorially independent publication supported by the Simons Foundation. We focus on developments in mathematics, theoretical physics, theoretical computer science and the basic life sciences.
READ free math and science articles on the Quanta website: www.quantamagazine.org
LEARN about the Simons Foundation: www.simonsfoundation.org
FOLLOW our social channels:
- Instagram: quantamag
- Bluesky: @quantamagazine.bsky.social
- Facebook: quantanews
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2025-10-07 00:27:51
A simple question about a spinning needle has haunted mathematicians for more than a century. It led to the Kakeya conjecture, a cornerstone of modern analysis connecting geometry, fractals, and the behavior of waves. Now, mathematicians Hong Wang and Joshua Zahl have cracked the 3D case — a once-in-a-generation breakthrough that could reshape how we understand the Fourier transform. (Also featuring Terence Tao and Jonathan Hickman.) Read more at Quanta Magazine: https://www.quantamagazine.org/once-in-a-century-proof-settles-maths-kakeya-conjecture-20250314/
Please note two corrections to this video:
- At 4:00 and 4:12, some of the Hausdorff dimension boxes appear rectangular. They should all be squares.
- At 4:43, the proof described should be attributed to Antonio Cordoba rather than Roy Davies, who used a slightly different argument.
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Quanta Magazine is an editorially independent publication supported by the Simons Foundation. We focus on developments in mathematics, theoretical physics, theoretical computer science and the basic life sciences.
READ free math and science articles on the Quanta website: www.quantamagazine.org
LEARN about the Simons Foundation: www.simonsfoundation.org
FOLLOW our social channels:
- Instagram: quantamag
- Bluesky: @quantamagazine.bsky.social
- Facebook: quantanews
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2025-08-15 04:45:19
Despite the hype, it’s been surprisingly challenging to find quantum algorithms that outperform classical ones. In this episode, UC Berkeley computer scientist, Ewin Tang, discusses her pioneering work in “dequantizing” quantum algorithms and what it means for the future of quantum computing.
“The Joy of Why” is a Quanta Magazine podcast about curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge. The mathematician and author Steven Strogatz and the astrophysicist and author Janna Levin take turns interviewing leading researchers about the great scientific and mathematical questions of our time.
- Listen to more episodes of Joy of Why: https://www.quantamagazine.org/tag/the-joy-of-why/
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 Janna and Steve on quantum algorithms
02:39 Ewin Tang introduction
02:59 Recommendation engines and matrices
06:25 What is an algorithm?
07:45 The ‘Recommendation Problem’ and quantum computing
09:59 The difference between quantum and classical algorithms
18:40 Tang proves classical algorithm beats quantum alternative
20:11 Janna and Steve discuss Tang’s breakthrough
21:39 "Dequantizing" algorithms
23:54 Will quantum computing fulfill its promise?
24:30 Modeling quantum physical systems
29:19 Modeling chemical reactions of nitrogenases
30:58 Finding practical applications for your research
32:15 AI and quantum computing
34:12 Janna and Steve on the importance of blue sky research
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The Joy of Why is an editorially independent publication supported by the Simons Foundation. Funding decisions by the Simons Foundation have no influence on the selection of topics, guests, or other editorial decisions in this podcast, or in Quanta Magazine. The Joy of Why is produced by PRX productions. The production team is Caitlin Faulds, Livia Brock, Genevieve Sponsler, and Merritt Jacob. The executive producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzalez. Edwin Ochoa is our project manager.
From Quanta Magazine, Simon Frantz and Samir Patel provided editorial guidance, with support from Matt Carlstrom, Samuel Velasco, Simone Barr, and Michael Kanyongolo. Samir Patel is Quanta's Editor in Chief. Our theme music is from APM Music. The episode art is by Peter Greenwood, and our logo is by Jaki King and Kristina Armitage. Special thanks to the Columbia Journalism School and the Cornell Broadcast Studios.
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Quanta Magazine is an editorially independent publication supported by the Simons Foundation. We focus on developments in mathematics, theoretical physics, theoretical computer science and the basic life sciences.
READ free math and science articles on the Quanta website: www.quantamagazine.org
LEARN about the Simons Foundation: www.simonsfoundation.org
FOLLOW our social channels:
- Instagram: quantamag
- Bluesky: @quantamagazine.bsky.social
- Facebook: quantanews
- X: quantamagazine
2025-08-02 00:58:04
Researchers Robert Hazen and Michael Wong have put forward a bold new law of nature — one that could explain how everything in the universe evolves, from atoms, minerals and stars to living cells, ecosystems and even human civilization. At the heart of their theory is the idea that information is as fundamental to the cosmos as mass, energy or charge. Their law revolves around a concept called functional information — a measure of the ratcheting-up of complexity and function in evolving systems over time.
Read the Quanta Magazine article "Why Everything in the Universe Turns More Complex" - https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-everything-in-the-universe-turns-more-complex-20250402/
PAPERS:
- "On the roles of function and selection in evolving systems" (2023); M. Wong, C. Cleland, D. Arend Jr, S. Bartlett, H. J. Cleaves II, H. Demarest, A. Prabhu, J. I. Lunine, R. Hazen - https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2310223120
- "Functional information: Molecular messages" (2003); J. Szostak - https://www.nature.com/articles/423689a
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CHAPTERS
00:00 The 'Law of Functional Information', a theory
01:19 The ten laws of classical physics
01:37 Entropy, the arrow of time and complexification
02:35 Three shared traits of all evolving systems
04:02 Three types of of selective persistence
05:36 Functional information explained in depth
07:41 Calculating functional information in Earth's minerals
09:46 Looking for functional information in our solar system
10:46 Criticisms of the theory
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Quanta Magazine is an editorially independent publication supported by the Simons Foundation. We focus on developments in mathematics, theoretical physics, theoretical computer science and the basic life sciences.
READ free math and science articles on the Quanta website: www.quantamagazine.org
LEARN about the Simons Foundation: www.simonsfoundation.org
FOLLOW our social channels:
- Instagram: quantamag
- Bluesky: @quantamagazine.bsky.social
- Facebook: quantanews
- X: quantamagazine
2025-06-28 03:49:52
One of the most important events in the history of life on Earth was the emergence of multicellularity. In this episode, Will Ratcliff discusses how his snowflake yeast models provide insight into what drove the transition from single-celled to multicellular organisms. S04E01
Will Ratcliff at Georgia Tech has been conducting long-term evolution experiments on yeast in which multicellularity develops and emerges spontaneously. Ratcliff's lab: https://biosciences.gatech.edu/people/will-ratcliff
“The Joy of Why” is a Quanta Magazine podcast about curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge. The mathematician and author Steven Strogatz and the astrophysicist and author Janna Levin take turns interviewing leading researchers about the great scientific and mathematical questions of our time.
- Listen to more episodes of Joy of Why: https://www.quantamagazine.org/tag/the-joy-of-why/
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Chapters:
00:00 - Steve and Janna: Welcome to Season Four
04:15 - Many Ways to Go Multicellular
11:00 - Why Go Multicellular?
14:13 - Directed Evolution
19:53 - Mutation Innovation
25:22 - Steve and Janna: What Doesn't Kill You
26:43 - Cellular Altruism
33:48 - Playing Out in Nature
36:33 - The MuLTEE-verse
42:24 - Steve and Janna: Driven by Curiosity
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The Joy of Why is an editorially independent publication supported by the Simons Foundation. Funding decisions by the Simons Foundation have no influence on the selection of topics, guests, or other editorial decisions in this podcast, or in Quanta Magazine. The Joy of Why is produced by PRX productions. The production team is Caitlin Faulds, Livia Brock, Genevieve Sponsler, and Merritt Jacob. The executive producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzalez. Edwin Ochoa is our project manager.
From Quanta Magazine, Simon Frantz and Samir Patel provided editorial guidance, with support from Matt Carlstrom, Samuel Velasco, Simone Barr, and Michael Kanyongolo. Samir Patel is Quanta's Editor in Chief. Our theme music is from APM Music. The episode art is by Peter Greenwood, and our logo is by Jaki King and Kristina Armitage. Special thanks to the Columbia Journalism School and the Cornell Broadcast Studios.
---------
Quanta Magazine is an editorially independent publication supported by the Simons Foundation. We focus on developments in mathematics, theoretical physics, theoretical computer science and the basic life sciences.
READ free math and science articles on the Quanta website: www.quantamagazine.org
LEARN about the Simons Foundation: www.simonsfoundation.org
FOLLOW our social channels:
- Instagram: quantamag
- Bluesky: @quantamagazine.bsky.social
- Facebook: quantanews
- X: quantamagazine
