Audio Edition: How Can AI Researchers Sa...

Particle physics hasn't yet found the new physics needed to resolve its deepest mysteries. It’s hard to know what to think about or look for. But the most devoted particle physicists are thinking and looking all the same. On this episode, host Samir Patel and columnist Natalie Wo ... Show More

We already know that what we eat, drink, and inhale can affect which parts of our DNA are expressed, and which aren’t. But recent research poses a shocking idea: A dad’s habits may be encoded in molecules and transmitted to his future kids. On this episode, host Samir Patel and b ... Show More

Imagine you’re holding two equal-size dice. Is it possible to bore a tunnel through one die that’s big enough for the other to slide through? It is — but what about other shapes? In a paper posted online in August, two researchers describe a shape with 90 vertices and 152 faces t ... Show More

The abstract numeral that changed everything, according to mathematician Talithia Williams. Before the introduction of zero, mathematics was a tangible subject, where numbers held weight and substance. With zero came the concept of a mathematical “nothing;” it turned our solid un ... Show More

Humans are awesome. Our brains are gigantic, seven times larger than they should be for the size of our bodies. The human brain uses 25% of all the energy the body requires each day. And it became enormous in a very short amount of time in evolution, allowing us to leave our cous ... Show More

<p>When math is based on abstract concepts, how do we know it’s correct? Dr. Eugenia Cheng takes on that question in a new book.</p><p> </p><p>The concept of math has been around for a long time, developing independently in many different cultures. In 1650 BC, the Egyptians were ... Show More

Human brains don’t just perceive reality—they invent it. In this episode of Science Quickly, cognitive neuroscientist Daniel Yon speaks with host Rachel Feltman about how perception is an active process of prediction in which the brain constructs theories about the world that can ... Show More

<p>Quantum computing promises unprecedented speed, but in practice, it’s proven remarkably difficult to find important questions that quantum machines can solve faster than classical ones. One of the most notable demonstrations of this came from <a href="https://ewintang.com/">Ew ... Show More

Russia has fined Google more than two undecillion rubles, which is more than 20 decillion dollars. How much you ask? 20 decillions is a 20 with 33 zeros behind it, more money than there is in the entire world!This unpayable fine inspired us to look at extremely large numbers, fro ... Show More

Today, we all generally understand that the brain is responsible for what we call personality and thought -- yet this wasn't always the case. Once humans figured out the brain was more than a weird lump in the skull, it took centuries of trial and error, along with quack science, ... Show More

What is a memory made of? Which parts of the brain help us remember? And what can taxi drivers’ brains tell us about how memories are made? In this episode of How We’re Wired, join evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin as she dives into the science of memory, and how we reme ... Show More

It’s commonly believed that the arts and the sciences have little in common with each other. The distinction that’s most frequently made is that the arts are creative in nature whereas the sciences are logical. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. In this episode, we catc ... Show More