From quantamagazine.org
How Public Key Cryptography Really Works | Quanta Magazine
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The security system that underlies the internet makes use of a curious fact: You can broadcast part of your encryption to make your information much more secure.
#it #key #math #reality #internet #security #publickey #encryption #itsecurity #mathematics
on Fri, 5PM
From quantamagazine.org
A Mathematician On Creativity, Art, Logic and Language | Quanta Magazine
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The recipient of the 2024 Crafoord Prize in Mathematics discusses math as art, math as language, and math as abstract thought.
on Sat, 4PM
From quantamagazine.org
The Cosmos Teems with Complex Organic Molecules | Quanta Magazine
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Wherever astronomers look, they see life’s raw materials.
on Wed, 4PM
From quantamagazine.org
New Elliptic Curve Breaks 18-Year-Old Record | Quanta Magazine
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Two mathematicians have renewed a debate about the fundamental nature of some of math’s most important equations.
on Mon, 4PM
From quantamagazine.org
He’s Gleaning the Design Rules of Life to Re-Create It | Quanta Magazine
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Yizhi “Patrick” Cai is coordinating a global effort to write a complete synthetic yeast genome. If he succeeds, the resulting cell will be the artificial life most closely related to humans to date.
on Nov 8
From quantamagazine.org
Debate May Help AI Models Converge on Truth | Quanta Magazine
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Letting AI systems argue with each other may help expose when a large language model has made mistakes.
on Nov 8
From quantamagazine.org
How Is AI Changing the Science of Prediction? | Quanta Magazine
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With lots of data, a strong model and statistical thinking, scientists can make predictions about all sorts of complex phenomena. Today, this practice is evolving to harness the power of machine learning and massive datasets. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with statistician...
on Nov 7
From quantamagazine.org
‘Nasty’ Geometry Breaks Decades-Old Tiling Conjecture | Quanta Magazine
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Mathematicians predicted that if they imposed enough restrictions on how a shape might tile space, they could force a periodic pattern to emerge. But they were wrong.
on Nov 7
From quantamagazine.org
Physicists Spot Quantum Tornadoes Twirling in a ‘Supersolid’ | Quanta Magazine
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New observations of microscopic vortices confirm the existence of a paradoxical phase of matter that may also arise inside neutron stars.
on Nov 6
From quantamagazine.org
Math’s ‘Bunkbed Conjecture’ Has Been Debunked | Quanta Magazine
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It was intuitive, even obvious. It was also wrong.
on Nov 1
From quantamagazine.org
It Might Be Possible to Detect Gravitons After All | Quanta Magazine
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A new experimental proposal suggests detecting a particle of gravity is far easier than anyone imagined. Now physicists are debating what it would really prove.
on Oct 30
From quantamagazine.org
Meet the Eukaryote, the First Cell to Get Organized | Quanta Magazine
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All modern multicellular life — all life that any of us regularly see — is made of cells with a knack for compartmentalization. Recent discoveries are revealing how the first eukaryote got its start.
on Oct 28
From quantamagazine.org
Peptides on Stardust May Have Provided a Shortcut to Life | Quanta Magazine
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The discovery that short peptides can form spontaneously on cosmic dust hints at more of a role for them in the earliest stages of life’s origin, on Earth or elsewhere.
on Oct 26
From quantamagazine.org
Srinivasa Ramanujan Was a Genius. Math Is Still Catching Up. | Quanta Magazine
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Born poor in colonial India and dead at 32, Ramanujan had fantastical, out-of-nowhere visions that continue to shape the field today.
on Oct 25
From quantamagazine.org
Computer Scientists Establish the Best Way to Traverse a Graph | Quanta Magazine
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Dijkstra’s algorithm was long thought to be the most efficient way to find a graph’s best routes. Researchers have now proved that it’s “universally optimal.”
on Oct 25
From quantamagazine.org
Why Is It So Hard to Define a Species? | Quanta Magazine
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The idea of a species is fundamental to the way that many people understand the structure of life on Earth. But ask 10 specialists how they define the concept and you might get 10 answers. In this episode, co-host Janna Levin speaks with evolutionary biologist Kevin de Queiroz about what makes...
on Oct 24
From quantamagazine.org
How Do Merging Supermassive Black Holes Pass the Final Parsec? | Quanta Magazine
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The giant holes in galaxies’ centers shouldn’t be able to merge, yet merge they do. Scientists suggest that an unusual form of dark matter may be the solution.
on Oct 23
From quantamagazine.org
The Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build Bridges | Quanta Magazine
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Even with no one in charge, army ants work collectively to build bridges out of their bodies. New research reveals the simple rules that lead to such complex group behavior.
on Oct 22
From quantamagazine.org
The ‘Beautiful Confusion’ of the First Billion Years Comes Into View | Quanta Magazine
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Astronomers are reveling in the James Webb Space Telescope’s discoveries about the formative epoch of cosmic history.
on Oct 21
From quantamagazine.org
How the Human Brain Contends With the Strangeness of Zero | Quanta Magazine
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Zero, which was invented late in history, is special among numbers. New studies are uncovering how the brain creates something out of nothing.
on Oct 18
From quantamagazine.org
Where Do Space, Time and Gravity Come From? | Quanta Magazine
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Einstein’s description of curved space-time doesn’t easily mesh with a universe made up of quantum wavefunctions. Theoretical physicist Sean Carroll discusses the quest for quantum gravity with host Steven Strogatz.
on Oct 18
From quantamagazine.org
‘Quantum Memory’ Proves Exponentially Powerful | Quanta Magazine
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Researchers are exploring new ways that quantum computers will be able to reveal the secrets of complex quantum systems.
on Oct 18
From quantamagazine.org
Scientists Conjure Curves From Flatness | Quanta Magazine
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Researchers have found a set of rules for imbuing flat surfaces with curvature, enabling them to form a virtually unlimited range of three-dimensional structures.
on Oct 17
From quantamagazine.org
How Can Math Help Beat Cancer? | Quanta Magazine
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Cancer treatment has come a long way in recent decades. But finding the best course of treatment for each case of this diverse, dynamic disease remains a challenge. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with computational biologist Franziska Michor about how math, statistical models...
on Oct 17
From quantamagazine.org
Big Advance on Simple-Sounding Math Problem Was a Century in the Making | Quanta Magazine
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A new proof about prime numbers illuminates the subtle relationship between addition and multiplication — and raises hopes for progress on the famous abc conjecture.
on Oct 17
From quantamagazine.org
Even a Single Bacterial Cell Can Sense the Seasons Changing | Quanta Magazine
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Though they live only a few hours before dividing, bacteria can anticipate the approach of cold weather and prepare for it. The discovery suggests that seasonal tracking is fundamental to life.
on Oct 17
From quantamagazine.org
The Hidden World of Electrostatic Ecology | Quanta Magazine
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Invisibly to us, insects and other tiny creatures use static electricity to travel, avoid predators, collect pollen and more. New experiments explore how evolution may have influenced this phenomenon.
on Oct 17
From quantamagazine.org
The Computer Scientist Who Builds Big Pictures From Small Details | Quanta Magazine
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To better understand how machines learn, Lenka Zdeborová treats them like physical materials.
on Oct 8
From quantamagazine.org
Robert Langlands, Mathematical Visionary, Wins the Abel Prize | Quanta Magazine
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Generations of researchers have pursued his “Langlands program,” which seeks to create a grand unified theory of mathematics.
on Oct 6
From quantamagazine.org
Computer Scientists Combine Two ‘Beautiful’ Proof Methods | Quanta Magazine
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Three researchers have figured out how to craft a proof that spreads out information while keeping it perfectly secret.
on Oct 4
From quantamagazine.org
When Data Is Missing, Scientists Guess. Then Guess Again. | Quanta Magazine
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Across the social and biological sciences, statisticians use a technique that leverages randomness to deal with the unknown.
on Oct 2
From quantamagazine.org
The Unraveling of Space-Time | Quanta Magazine
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This special issue of Quanta Magazine explores the ultimate scientific quest: the search for the fundamental nature of reality.
on Oct 1
From quantamagazine.org
John Wheeler Saw the Tear in Reality | Quanta Magazine
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Until his dying days, the giant of 20th-century physics obsessed over the underpinnings of space and time, and how we can all share the same version of them.
on Sep 29
From quantamagazine.org
What Can Cave Life Tell Us About Alien Ecosystems? | Quanta Magazine
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Extremophiles, or microbes that live in the most seemingly hostile environments, are the darlings of astrobiologists, who study the potential for life beyond Earth. In this episode, co-host Janna Levin speaks with astrobiologist and cave explorer Penelope Boston about how life finds a way — and...
on Sep 26
From quantamagazine.org
Computer Scientists Prove That Heat Destroys Entanglement | Quanta Magazine
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While devising a new quantum algorithm, four researchers accidentally established a hard limit on the “spooky” phenomenon.
on Sep 26
From quantamagazine.org
The Logic That Must Lie Behind a New Physics | Quanta Magazine
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The philosopher Karen Crowther digs into how the space-time fabric could possibly emerge from something non-spatiotemporal.
on Sep 26
From quantamagazine.org
The Thought Experiments That Fray the Fabric of Space-Time | Quanta Magazine
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These three imagined scenarios lead many physicists to doubt that space-time is fundamental.
on Sep 26
From quantamagazine.org
The #1 Clue to Quantum Gravity Sits on the Surfaces of Black Holes | Quanta Magazine
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A black hole formula worked out in the 1970s remains the most concrete clue physicists have about the threads of the space-time fabric.
on Sep 25
From quantamagazine.org
The Two Faces of Space-Time | Quanta Magazine
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A mysterious phenomenon known as duality often leads to new discoveries in physics. This time, space-time itself can sometimes be two things at once.
on Sep 25
From quantamagazine.org
Can Space-Time Be Saved? | Quanta Magazine
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Curious connections between physics and math suggest to Latham Boyle that space-time may survive the jump to the next theory of reality.
on Sep 25
From quantamagazine.org
If the Universe Is a Hologram, This Long-Forgotten Math Could Decode It | Quanta Magazine
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A 1930s-era breakthrough is helping physicists understand how quantum threads could weave together into a holographic space-time fabric.
on Sep 25
From quantamagazine.org
Physicists Reveal a Quantum Geometry That Exists Outside of Space and Time | Quanta Magazine
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A decade after the discovery of the “amplituhedron,” physicists have excavated more of the timeless geometry underlying the standard picture of how particles move.
on Sep 25
From quantamagazine.org
A Newfound Source of Cellular Order in the Chemistry of Life
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Inside cells, droplets of biomolecules called condensates merge, divide and dissolve. Their dance may regulate vital processes.
on Sep 25
From quantamagazine.org
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It has been thought of as many things: a pointlike object, an excitation of a field, a speck of pure math that has cut into reality. But never has physicists’ conception of a particle changed more…
on Sep 21
From quantamagazine.org
Mathematicians Discover New Shapes to Solve Decades-Old Geometry Problem | Quanta Magazine
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Mathematicians have long wondered how “shapes of constant width” behave in higher dimensions. A surprisingly simple construction has given them an answer.
on Sep 20
From quantamagazine.org
How ‘Embeddings’ Encode What Words Mean — Sort Of | Quanta Magazine
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Machines work with words by embedding their relationships with other words in a string of numbers.
on Sep 18
From quantamagazine.org
How Animals Map 3D Spaces Surprises Brain Researchers | Quanta Magazine
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When animals move through 3D spaces, the neat system of grid cell activity they use for navigating on flat surfaces gets more disorderly. That has implications for some ideas about memory and other…
on Sep 16
From quantamagazine.org
Cells Across the Tree of Life Exchange ‘Text Messages’ Using RNA | Quanta Magazine
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Long known as a messenger within cells, RNA is increasingly seen as life’s molecular communication system — even between organisms widely separated by evolution.
on Sep 16
From quantamagazine.org
Can Thermodynamics Go Quantum? | Quanta Magazine
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The Industrial Revolution brought us the laws of thermodynamics, and new ideas about work, energy and efficiency. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with theoretical physicist Nicole Yunger Halpern about what these concepts might mean in the age of quantum mechanics.
on Sep 13
From quantamagazine.org
How Did a Landslide Shake the Earth for Nine Days? | Quanta Magazine
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Last year, an immense but brief outburst of seismic energy was soon followed by a long hum that made the world ring. Finding its cause took 68 scientists and an assist by the Danish military.
on Sep 13