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The Physics of Going Viral
06/27/2012

The Physics of Going Viral

Kimm Fesenmaier

Caltech researchers have been able, for the first time, to watch viruses infecting individual bacteria by transferring their DNA, and to measure the rate at which that transfer occurs.

NuSTAR Space Telescope Blasts Off
06/13/2012

NuSTAR Space Telescope Blasts Off

Marcus Woo

This morning, NASA's NuSTAR telescope was launched into the low-Earth orbit from which it will begin exploring the high-energy X-ray universe to uncover the secrets of black holes, the dense remnants of dead stars, energetic cosmic explosions, and even our very own sun.  

Artist's concept of NuSTAR space telescope
Physicists Close in on a Rare Particle-Decay Process
06/04/2012

Physicists Close in on a Rare Particle-Decay Process

Marcus Woo

Physicists have made the most sensitive measurements yet in a decades-long hunt for a hypothetical and rare process involving the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei.

Caltech Astronomer Mike Brown Awarded Kavli Prize in Astrophysics
05/31/2012

Caltech Astronomer Mike Brown Awarded Kavli Prize in Astrophysics

Marcus Woo

Mike Brown, the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professor and professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), has been named a co-winner of the 2012 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics for his efforts to understand the outer solar system—work that led to the demotion of Pluto.

Solar Eclipse Dazzles at Caltech
05/22/2012

Solar Eclipse Dazzles at Caltech

Marcus Woo

Sunday evening's solar eclipse dazzled hundreds of sun gazers who gathered on Caltech's campus to watch the rare alignment, a partial annular "ring of fire" solar eclipse that wowed spectators around the world.

NASA Lends Ultraviolet Space Telescope to Caltech
05/16/2012

NASA Lends Ultraviolet Space Telescope to Caltech

Marcus Woo

Caltech has taken over operation from NASA of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), a space telescope that for the last nine years has been surveying the cosmos in ultraviolet light.

Overactive Black Holes Shut Down Star Formation
05/11/2012

Overactive Black Holes Shut Down Star Formation

Marcus Woo

A team of astronomers has found that the most active galactic nuclei—enormous black holes that are violently devouring gas and dust at the centers of galaxies—may prevent new stars from forming.

Two Galaxies in One
04/27/2012

Two Galaxies in One

Marcus Woo

Observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope show that the Sombrero galaxy is actually two galaxies in one. With a halo of stars surrounded by the thin edge of a stellar disk, the galaxy resembles a big hat.

Fermi Space Telescope Helps Scientists Narrow Search for Dark Matter
04/04/2012

Fermi Space Telescope Helps Scientists Narrow Search for Dark Matter

Marcus Woo

Scientists have further narrowed the search for a hypothetical particle that could be dark matter, the mysterious stuff that makes up 80 percent of all the mass in the universe.

Astronomers Find Light-Bending Quasars
03/16/2012

Astronomers Find Light-Bending Quasars

Marcus Woo

Astronomers have found celestial objects called quasars that bend and distort the light coming from galaxies behind them. The discovery may finally allow astronomers to determine the masses of galaxies that host quasars.

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