How voting is like a Klein bottle

How spiders spin 'silk dope'; 3D maps reveal the interstellar medium’s dynamic nature; more in AI math news; new podcast episodes

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine View this email in your browser TOPOLOGY | ALL TOPICS   How Voting Is Like a Klein Bottle By ALEX STONE A new topological model connects a centuries-old voting paradox to a surface with no distinct inside or outside. Read the article MATERIALS SCIENCE   How Spiders Spin ‘Silk Dope’ Into Nature’s Toughest Material By YASEMIN SAPLAKOGLU By probing its molecular structure, biologists are uncovering how a tangle of unstructured proteins turns into a strong, flexible fiber. Read the article ASTRONOMY   A New Map of 'Empty' Space Challenges a Tranquil Picture of the Galaxy By PERRI THALER A wave of 3D mapping is bringing the interstellar medium’s dynamic nature into focus. Read the article TRANSFORMATION   OpenAI releases three landmark results in math, physics, and computer science By KONSTANTIN KAKAES OpenAI announced that an advanced AI model had solved three major problems. Their claims: a proof of the local smoothing conjecture, a disproof of the exponential time hypothesis, and a proof that quantum field theories are consistent. On the advice of experts, these results were released in very different ways. Read the article THE JOY OF WHY   How Do You Take a Picture of a Black Hole? Podcast hosted by JANNA LEVIN with SHEP DOELEMAN Hear the inside story behind the first-ever image of a black hole — and why it was one around 55 million light years away rather than the one at the center of our own galaxy. Listen (Apple) | Listen (Spotify) Read the article THE QUANTA PODCAST   Malaria Parasite Caught in the Act of Breaking and Entering Podcast hosted by SAMIR PATEL with JOANNA THOMPSON To invade red blood cells, the deadly protists create temporary molecular portals that disappear behind them — doors we can now see in fine detail. Listen (Apple) | Listen (Spotify) Read the article Follow Quanta Unsubscribe | About Quanta | My Bookmarks Privacy Policy | Terms | Contact Us   Copyright © 2026 Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of the Simons Foundation Simons Foundation 160 5th Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10010