A Life in Games

FromQuanta Science Podcast

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A Life in Games

FromQuanta Science Podcast

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Length:

34 minutes

Released:

Aug 28, 2015

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

The mathematician John Horton Conway’s myriad accomplishments — including the Game of Life, sprouts and the surreal numbers — are the product of a mind at play.

Released:

Aug 28, 2015

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

In-depth news about mathematics, physics, biology and computer science.

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At Tiny Scales, a Giant Burst on Tree of Life: At tiny scales, a giant burst on tree of life. by Quanta Science Podcast
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How Mutant Viral Swarms Spread Disease: A new understanding of viral swarms is helping researchers predict how viruses will evolve and where disease is likely to spread. by Quanta Science Podcast
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New Letters Added to the Genetic Alphabet: Scientists hope that new genetic letters, created in the lab, will endow DNA with new powers. by Quanta Science Podcast
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How Life and Luck Changed Earth’s Minerals: How life and luck changed Earth's minerals. by Quanta Science Podcast
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How Humans Evolved Supersize Brains: Scientists have begun to identify the symphony of biological triggers that powered the extraordinary expansion of the human brain. by Quanta Science Podcast
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A New Map Traces the Limits of Computation: A major advance in computational complexity reveals deep connections between the classes of problems that computers can — and can’t — possibly do. by Quanta Science Podcast
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The Beasts That Keep the Beat: New insights from neuroscience — aided by a small zoo’s worth of dancing animals — are revealing the biological origins of rhythm. by Quanta Science Podcast
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Math Quartet Joins Forces on Unified Theory: A new breakthrough that bridges number theory and geometry is just the latest triumph for a close-knit group of mathematicians. by Quanta Science Podcast
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A Twisted Path to Equation-Free Prediction: Complex natural systems defy standard mathematical analysis, so one ecologist is throwing out the equations. by Quanta Science Podcast
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A New Design for Cryptography’s Black Box: A two-year-old cryptographic breakthrough has proven difficult to put into practice. But new advances show how near-perfect computer security might be surprisingly close at hand. by Quanta Science Podcast
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Scientists Debate Signatures of Alien Life: Searching for signs of life on faraway planets, astrobiologists must decide which telltale biosignature gases to target. by Quanta Science Podcast
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Visions of Future Physics: Nima Arkani-Hamed is championing a campaign to build the world’s largest particle collider, even as he pursues a new vision of the laws of nature. by Quanta Science Podcast
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Theorists Draw Closer to Perfect Coloring: A theorem for coloring a large class of “perfect” mathematical networks could ease the way for a long-sought general coloring proof. by Quanta Science Podcast
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The Mutant Genes Behind the Black Death: Only a few genetic changes were enough to turn an ordinary stomach bug into the bacteria responsible for the plague. by Quanta Science Podcast
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A Life in Games: The mathematician John Horton Conway’s myriad accomplishments — including the Game of Life, sprouts and the surreal numbers — are the product of a mind at play. by Quanta Science Podcast
34 min listen
The New Laws of Explosive Networks: How explosive networks form. by Quanta Science Podcast
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How to Build Life in a Pre-Darwinian World: Perhaps chemistry played a more instrumental role in the origin of life than scientists thought. by Quanta Science Podcast
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How the Body’s Trillions of Clocks Keep Time: Cellular clocks are almost everywhere. Clues to how they work are coming from the places that they’re not. by Quanta Science Podcast
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Quantum Weirdness Now a Matter of Time: Bizarre quantum bonds connect distinct moments in time, suggesting that quantum links — not space-time — constitute the fundamental structure of the universe. by Quanta Science Podcast
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A Surprise Source of Life’s Code: A surprise source of life’s code. by Quanta Science Podcast
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Nature’s Critical Warning System: Scientists are homing in on a warning signal that arises in complex systems like ecological food webs, the brain and the Earth’s climate. Could it help prevent future catastrophes? by Quanta Science Podcast
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The Incredible Shrinking Sex Chromosome: Nature offers species a panoply of ways to determine an organism’s sex. That flexibility suggests we need not be concerned about losing sex chromosomes, but it raises the question of why such a fundamental property is so variable. by Quanta Science Podcast
30 min listen
Mathematicians Discover Prime Conspiracy: A previously unnoticed property of prime numbers seems to violate a long-standing assumption about how they behave. by Quanta Science Podcast
26 min listen
Mongrel Microbe Tests Story of Complex Life: A newly discovered class of microbe could help to resolve one of the biggest and most controversial mysteries in evolution — how simple microbes transformed into the complex cells that produced animals, plants and fungi. by Quanta Science Podcast
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Landmark Algorithm Breaks 30-Year Impasse: Computer scientists are abuzz over a fast new algorithm for solving one of the central problems in the field. by Quanta Science Podcast
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Einstein’s Parable of Quantum Insanity: Einstein refused to believe in the inherent unpredictability of the world. Is the subatomic world insane, or just subtle? by Quanta Science Podcast
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The Quantum Secret to Superconductivity: In a virtuoso experiment, physicists have revealed details of a “quantum critical point” that underlies high-temperature superconductivity. by Quanta Science Podcast
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After Black Holes Collide, a Puzzling Flash: A satellite spotted a burst of light just as gravitational waves rolled in from the collision of two black holes. Was the flash a cosmic coincidence, or do astrophysicists need to rethink what black holes can do? by Quanta Science Podcast
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New Clues to How the Brain Maps Time: The same brain cells that track location in space appear to also count beats in time. The research suggests that our thoughts may take place on a mental space-time canvas. by Quanta Science Podcast
26 min listen
Gravitational Waves Discovered at Long Last: This week: Long sought-after gravitational waves are found and a proposed fuzzball fix for a black hole paradox. by Quanta Science Podcast
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New Cell Atlases Reveal Untold Variety in the Brain and Beyond: Scientists can fingerprint the function of tens of thousands or even millions of cells in a single experiment. This expansive data may fundamentally reshape our understanding of human anatomy and biology. by Quanta Science Podcast
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A Life in Games

A Life in Games

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from Quanta Science Podcast