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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.

L.A. Times Shines Spotlight on HSS
06/19/2012

L.A. Times Shines Spotlight on HSS

Kimm Fesenmaier

Caltech's core curriculum is designed to prepare students for the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary research in science and technology and requires that they complete what amounts to a class each quarter in the Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS). The Los Angeles Times recently focused the spotlight on this aspect of the Caltech experience, featuring several of the division's students. 

Put a Seismometer in Your Living Room
06/18/2012

Put a Seismometer in Your Living Room

Douglas Smith

Back in the 1960s, Charlie Richter (PhD '28) installed a seismometer in his living room. Now, if you live in the Pasadena area, you can have one, too.

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
Caltech Graduate Student Wins DOE Fellowship for Computational Science
06/11/2012

Caltech Graduate Student Wins DOE Fellowship for Computational Science

Kimm Fesenmaier

Caltech graduate student Melissa Yeung has been selected as one of 21 students nationally to receive a Department of Energy (DOE) Computational Science Graduate Fellowship. The honor covers up to four years of support for graduate studies in fields that focus on the use of high-performance computing technology to solve complex problems in science and engineering.

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.

Notes from the Back Row: "An Explosion of Explosions"
05/18/2012

Notes from the Back Row: "An Explosion of Explosions"

Douglas Smith

In his Watson Lecture given on April 25, Shri Kulkarni, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Science and the director of the Caltech Optical Observatories, described how Caltech's fully automated Palomar Transient Factory—Kulkarni calls it "Transients 'R' Us"—is revolutionizing how we explore the changing sky.

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.