Latest California Institute of Technology Stories

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Although he probably never expected a career in physics would warrant it, Stephen Hawking received a ‘rock star’ reception to his speaking engagement at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California on Tuesday. The 71-year-old scientist covered a wide range of topics during his speech, from the past and future of astrophysics to the existence of God. “It has been a glorious time to be alive and doing...

NASA has announced the selection of the 2013 Einstein Fellows who will conduct research related to NASA's Physics of the Cosmos program, which aims to expand our knowledge of the origin, evolution, and fate of the Universe. The Einstein Fellowship provides support to the awardees for three years, and the Fellows may pursue their research at a host university or research center of their choosing in the United States. The new Fellows will begin their programs in the fall of 2013. The new...

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA has selected five planet hunters to receive the 2013 Carl Sagan Exoplanet Postdoctoral Fellowships. The fellowship, named for the late astronomer, was created to inspire the next generation of explorers seeking to learn more about planets, and possibly life, around other stars. The primary goal of the fellowship program is to support outstanding recent postdoctoral scientists in conducting independent research related to the science goals of NASA's...

California Institute of Technology Chemists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory believe they can now explain one of the remaining mysteries of photosynthesis, the chemical process by which plants convert sunlight into usable energy and generate the oxygen that we breathe. The finding suggests a new way of approaching the design of catalysts that drive the water-splitting reactions of artificial photosynthesis. "If we want to...

California Institute of Technology White blood cells, or leukocytes, are the immune system's warriors. So when an infection or disease attacks the body, the system typically responds by sending more white blood cells into the fray. This means that checking the number of these cells is a relatively easy way to detect and monitor such conditions. Currently, most white blood cell counts are performed with large-scale equipment in central clinical laboratories. If a physician collects blood...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Biologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have identified the origin of olfactory nerve cells, finding that neural-crest stem cells – multipotent, migratory cells unique to vertebrates that give rise to many structures in the body – play a key role in building olfactory sensory neurons in the nose. When human noses detect a scent, two types of sensory neurons are at work. These neurons are particularly...

W. M. Keck Observatory With data collected from the mighty W. M. Keck Observatory, California Institute of Technology (Caltech) astronomer Mike Brown — known as the Pluto killer for discovering a Kuiper-belt object that led to the demotion of Pluto from planetary status — and Kevin Hand from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have found the strongest evidence yet that salty water from the vast liquid ocean beneath Europa’s frozen exterior actually makes its way to the surface....

THUWAL, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is pleased to announce that, on February 16, 2013, the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to appoint Jean-Lou Chameau as the next President of KAUST. Dr. Chameau, who has served since 2006 as the President of the California Institute of Technology, will become the second President of KAUST later this year. The Chairman of KAUST's Board of...

California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Every great structure, from the Empire State Building to the Golden Gate Bridge, depends on specific mechanical properties to remain strong and reliable. Rigidity—a material's stiffness—is of particular importance for maintaining the robust functionality of everything from colossal edifices to the tiniest of nanoscale structures. In biological nanostructures, like DNA networks, it has been difficult to measure this stiffness, which is...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports – Your Universe Online An unusually dense cloud located near the center of the galaxy does not appear to be forming any massive stars, astronomers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have discovered, and that behavior has them puzzled as it appears to defy the rules of star formation. The cloud, which the researchers have named G0.253+0.016, is located in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole three millions times as massive as the...