Quanta Magazine
@quantamagazine.bsky.social
Illuminating math and science. Supported by the Simons Foundation. 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting. www.quantamagazine.org
This biofilm shows the diverse and abundant microbes living on a single epithelial cell from the surface of the human tongue. www.quantamagazine.org/global-micro...
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Global Microbiome Study Gives New View of Shared Health Risks | Quanta Magazine
The most comprehensive survey of how we share our microbiomes suggests a new way of thinking about the risks of developing some diseases that aren’t usually considered contagious.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM
This biofilm shows the diverse and abundant microbes living on a single epithelial cell from the surface of the human tongue. www.quantamagazine.org/global-micro...
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Socializing might lead not only to synchronized brain waves, but also to shared microbiomes. We acquire some of the microbes that exist in and around our bodies — in total, around 39 trillion of them — from those around us, especially close family and friends.
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November 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Socializing might lead not only to synchronized brain waves, but also to shared microbiomes. We acquire some of the microbes that exist in and around our bodies — in total, around 39 trillion of them — from those around us, especially close family and friends.
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While you’re socializing, your brain might be syncing up with those around you. Studies, including the Mutual Wave Machine experiment seen here, have shown that as people interact with each other, their brains can coordinate their activities. www.quantamagazine.org/the-social-b...
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November 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM
While you’re socializing, your brain might be syncing up with those around you. Studies, including the Mutual Wave Machine experiment seen here, have shown that as people interact with each other, their brains can coordinate their activities. www.quantamagazine.org/the-social-b...
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Sleep is critical for solidifying memories. Brain waves known as “sharp wave ripples,” caused by the firing of many thousands of neurons during rest and sleep, seem to be involved in consolidating and storing memories. www.quantamagazine.org/electric-rip...
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Electric ‘Ripples’ in the Resting Brain Tag Memories for Storage | Quanta Magazine
New experiments reveal how the brain chooses which memories to save and add credence to advice about the importance of rest.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Sleep is critical for solidifying memories. Brain waves known as “sharp wave ripples,” caused by the firing of many thousands of neurons during rest and sleep, seem to be involved in consolidating and storing memories. www.quantamagazine.org/electric-rip...
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We all get tired after such a big meal. As digestion claims your body’s attention, your brain slowly starts to move into a hypnagogic state, that window of time when you’re lying in bed seeing mental images, but you’re not quite asleep. www.quantamagazine.org/how-the-brai...
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How the Brain Moves From Waking Life to Sleep (and Back Again) | Quanta Magazine
Neuroscientists probing the boundary between sleep and awareness are finding many types of liminal states, which help explain the sleep disorders that can result when sleep transitions go wrong.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM
We all get tired after such a big meal. As digestion claims your body’s attention, your brain slowly starts to move into a hypnagogic state, that window of time when you’re lying in bed seeing mental images, but you’re not quite asleep. www.quantamagazine.org/how-the-brai...
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Overlooked until recently, enteric glia aid in digestion, nutrient absorption, blood flow and immune response, and they even sense food as it moves through the body.
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November 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Overlooked until recently, enteric glia aid in digestion, nutrient absorption, blood flow and immune response, and they even sense food as it moves through the body.
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Just like the first brain, the enteric nervous system is made up of a diverse array of neurons and glia, like those seen in this cross section of a mouse esophagus. www.quantamagazine.org/in-the-guts-...
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In the Gut’s ‘Second Brain,’ Key Agents of Health Emerge | Quanta Magazine
Sitting alongside the neurons in your enteric nervous system are underappreciated glial cells, which play key roles in digestion and disease that scientists are only just starting to understand.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Just like the first brain, the enteric nervous system is made up of a diverse array of neurons and glia, like those seen in this cross section of a mouse esophagus. www.quantamagazine.org/in-the-guts-...
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The moment you swallow food, it starts a long journey, through the esophagus, stomach, intestines and beyond. Coordinating this complex process is the gut’s very own control network, known as the enteric nervous system — or, colloquially, “the second brain.”
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November 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM
The moment you swallow food, it starts a long journey, through the esophagus, stomach, intestines and beyond. Coordinating this complex process is the gut’s very own control network, known as the enteric nervous system — or, colloquially, “the second brain.”
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