Sarkis K. Mazmanian, a professor of biology at Caltech studying bacteria and their impact on immunity and on the human body, is being awarded a $500,000 “no strings attached” MacArthur grant on October 2. Mazmanian’s findings are revealing links between gut b... More »
Caltech engineers and scientists often work at the frontiers of science—pushing the limits of what is known and what is possible. Now, with its eighth annual Breakthrough Awards, Popular Mechanics magazine is recognizing two projects that fall into... More »
Rock fins up to about 1 foot (30 centimeters) tall dominate this scene from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ. NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity, well into i... More »
Matthew Elliott is Caltech’s newest assistant professor of economics. Born in England, he earned his BA and MPhil from Oxford in 2002 and 2004. After receiving his PhD from Stanford in 2011, he spent a year at Microsoft Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts... More »
Remnants of Ancient Streambed on Mars NASA’s Curiosity rover found evidence for an ancient, flowing stream on Mars at a few sites, including the rock outcrop pictured here, which the science team has named “Hottah” after Hottah Lake in Canada’s Northwest Terri... More »
This full view of the giant asteroid Vesta was taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, as part of a rotation characterization sequence on July 24, 2011, at a distance of 3,200 miles (5,200 kilometers). A rotation characterization sequence helps the scientists and eng... More »
A Sierra Nevada forest in Sequoia National Park, Calif. Forest patterns are correlated to snow depth. Image credit: University of Colorado, Boulder Mid-elevation forests – those between approximately 6,500 to 8,000 feet (1,981 to 2,438 meters) in elevation – a... More »
This artist concept features NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, a mobile robot for investigating Mars’ past or present ability to sustain microbial life. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA will host a news conference at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) T... More »
This map from NASA’s Dawn mission indicates the presence of hydrated minerals on the giant asteroid Vesta. Hydrated minerals are seen in white, with areas of high concentrations circled with a yellow dotted line in the annotated version. The data were obtained... More »
Almost everyone knows the feeling: you see a delicious piece of chocolate cake on the table, but as you grab your fork, you think twice. The cake is too fattening and unhealthy, you tell yourself. Maybe you should skip dessert. But the cake still beckons. In ... More »
This image combines photographs taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) at three different distances from the first Martian rock that NASA’s Curiosity rover touched with its arm. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Mars Science Laboratory Mission Status Rep... More »
Einstein and his wife Elsa aboard the SS Kitano Maru en route to Japan, October 1922. In the fall of 1922, when Albert Einstein’s Nobel Prize in Physics was announced, the already-famous physicist was on a steamer headed for Japan. The detailed and poetic tr... More »
