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Ewine van Dishoeck, the Netherlander Who Traced Water’s Origin

November 1, 2018

The astrochemist and winner of the 2018 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics has wondered about the cosmic origin of water while enjoying Noordwijk beach near her hometown of Leiden.

The Universal Pattern Popping Up in Math, Physics and Biology

August 23, 2018

Quanta’s In Theory video series returns with an exploration of a mysterious mathematical pattern found throughout nature.

Victoria Meadows’ Earthly Visions of Alien Life

June 5, 2018

A living, breathing garden in Seattle serves as the perfect backdrop to an astrobiologist’s search for life on faraway planets.

Plunge Into a (Virtual Reality) Black Hole

December 4, 2017

Join a fleet of robotic probes on a one-way virtual-reality trip into the abyss of a massive black hole.

Seeing the Beautiful Intelligence of Microbes

November 13, 2017

Bacterial biofilms and slime molds are more than crude patches of goo. Detailed time-lapse microscopy reveals how they sense and explore their surroundings, communicate with their neighbors and adaptively reshape themselves.

Jason Morgan Recalls Discovering Earth’s Tectonic Plates

August 28, 2017

Jason Morgan developed the theory of plate tectonics in 1967 while working among a critical mass of talented geophysicists at Princeton University.

Janet Conrad, Seeker of Neutrinos and Other Curiosities

August 21, 2017

The physicist and curios collector hopes to reveal the hidden structure lurking in the subatomic world.

Joe Polchinski’s Restless Pursuit of Quantum Gravity

August 7, 2017

The pot-stirring string theorist and quantum gravity theorist never sits still for long.

Eva Silverstein’s Spirals and Strings

July 17, 2017

Daily bike rides, serendipitous interactions and long periods of solo thinking inspire this string cosmologist.

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