Caltech, Pasadena, CA Videos

Caltech-JPL Lifer Celebrates 50th Year as Caltech Organist
Music has sustained Les Deutsch (BS '76, PhD '80) from his earliest days, and as Caltech organist, he has arranged and performed the music for commencement every year since 1974. As he prepares for his 50th consecutive Caltech commencement, Dr. Deutsch recalls the most memorable ceremonies, and traces a life in music and in mathematics at JPL, where he recently retired after a 42-year career.

New tech stabilizes multi-rotor aircraft experiencing failure
A research team led by professor Soon-Jo Chung has developed a deep-learning method that can not only respond to strong winds but also detect, on the fly, when a multi-rotor aircraft has suffered an onboard failure. The system includes a neural network that is pre-trained on real-life flight data and then learns and adapts in real time based on a limited number of changing parameters, including an estimation of how effective each rotor on the aircraft is functioning at any given time. Learn more in the article on Caltech News.

High-Speed Cameras and Machine Learning Combine to Help Scientist Understand the Mechanics of Insect Flight
Flight has evolved four times in the history of life on Earth: in birds, bats, pterosaurs, and insects. The first three groups of animals evolved their wings from arms, making these wings straightforward to understand as other similar animals have analogous bones and musculature. Insect wings, however, have no muscles or nerves. They are instead controlled by muscles located inside the body that operate a system of marionette-like pulleys within a complex hinge at the base of the wing. Just how an insect controls this tiny, intricate structure in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is the subject of a new study by Michael Dickinson and his colleagues. Using high-speed cameras and machine learning, Dickinson's lab collected data on tens of thousands of fly wingbeats and created a map of how fly muscles puppeteer the motion of the wing hinge to create agile aerodynamic flight maneuvers. Prefer to read about it? Visit Caltech News for an in-depth article.

Caltech scientist explains the 3 Body Problem
The Three Body Problem is more than a title, it’s also a classic problem in physics first posed by Sir Isaac Newton. It is–famously–an “unsolvable” problem, as Katherine de Kleer explains in this introduction to the concept!

Einstein's Eclipse: How a Total Solar Eclipse Revolutionized Science | Interview with Diana Kormos-Buchwald
Did you know a total solar eclipse like the one captivating North America and the world today provided the evidence to support Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity over 100 years ago? Diana Kormos-Buchwald, director of the Einstein Papers Project, offers more insight in this video.

Blimp Battle–Caltech's ME72 annual "Battle Bots" competition takes flight
Each year, crowds gather to watch as students from the ME72 engineering design lab course engage in fierce, yet friendly, competition. This year's challenge: to imagine, construct, and operate as many as three dirigibles capable of capturing balloons and depositing them through hoops, while also scuttling their on-court opponent. The annual contest (now in its 39th year) has become tradition, drawing spectators from campus and area K-12 schools. Learn more about the contest: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/me72-takes-to-the-sky-for-rousing-match-of-quid-airship-quadball?utm_medium=social-organic&utm_campaign=institute-news&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=&utm_term=

Caltech Lab Introduces Bionic Jellyfish for Ocean Exploration
What if humans could have jellyfish explore the oceans on our behalf, reporting back what they find? New research conducted at Caltech aims to make that a reality through the creation of what researchers call biohybrid robotic jellyfish. These creatures, which can be thought of as ocean-going cyborgs, augment jellyfish with electronics that enhance their swimming and a prosthetic "hat" that can carry a small payload while also making the jellyfish swim in a more streamlined manner. Read more about the research in Caltech News: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/building-bionic-jellyfish-for-ocean-exploration?utm_medium=social-organic&utm_campaign=research-news&utm_source=reddit&utm_content=&utm_term=

Caltech Lab Builds Bionic Jellyfish for Ocean Exploration
What if humans could have jellyfish explore the oceans on our behalf, reporting back what they find? New research conducted at Caltech aims to make that a reality through the creation of what researchers call biohybrid robotic jellyfish. These creatures, which can be thought of as ocean-going cyborgs, augment jellyfish with electronics that enhance their swimming and a prosthetic "hat" that can carry a small payload while also making the jellyfish swim in a more streamlined manner. Read more about the work from Caltech's Dabiri Lab: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/building-bionic-jellyfish-for-ocean-exploration?utm_medium=social-organic&utm_campaign=research-news&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=&utm_term=

Glowing Turbulence - Caltech aeronautics graduate student Tanners Harms demonstrates
Aeronautics graduate student Tanner Harms studies turbulence. While many people might associate the word with a bumpy airplane ride, Harms says that is not exactly right. “That’s the effects of turbulence more than turbulence itself,” he explains. “Turbulence is actually the chaotic and unpredictable movement of fluids.” Harms demonstrated this phenomenon in his lab with some water and dye. “Every time I put a drop of dye in the water, it’s not going to be the same. I do the best I can to replicate each drop, but no matter what I do, it’s going to look different—like a snowflake.” Among many other real-world applications, studying turbulence can help researchers figure out the best way to contain oil in the ocean following a spill and to better understand how garbage accumulates in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating pile of plastic that is twice the size of Texas. And without turbulence, Harms adds, there would be no life on Earth. Something to think about the next time you hear the familiar “ding” on an airplane warning you to buckle up. “Because mixing is largely driven by turbulence, a world with no turbulence might have pockets of dense oxygen and dense nitrogen, but they wouldn’t mix together,” he says. “It would be very difficult for there to be anything that could sustain life as we know it.” Harms will present as part of the Science Journeys program, designed especially for middle and high school students, on February 23 in Beckman Auditorium. A recording of the event will be posted on the Science Journeys website at a later date.

Preview: Wed., Feb. 7 Watson Lecture ft. Shri Kulkarni
In his Watson Lecture on Feb. 7, 2024, Professor Shri Kulkarni will share some of the thrilling events the Zwicky Transient Facility has revealed in its first years of operation—such as stars being swallowed by black holes and planets being engulfed by their parent stars—and explore how machine learning is powering an unprecedented new era of discovery at Caltech's Palomar Observatory. RSVP: https://events.caltech.edu/calendar/watson-lecture-illuminating-the-dynamic-night-sky?utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=watson-lectures&utm_source=caltechnews&utm_content=&utm_term=?utm_medium=social-organic&utm_campaign=watson-lectures&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=&utm_term=

Learn more about the event and register to attend on Wed., Jan. 31: https://events.caltech.edu/calendar/watson-lecture-lunar-trailblazer1?utm_medium=social-organic&utm_campaign=watson-lectures&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=&utm_term=

Meet Dr. Jessleen Kanwal: 2023 L'Oréal USA For Women In Science Honoree
Caltech postdoc Jess Kanwal is a 2023 L’Oréal USA For Women in Science Honoree. She studies a tiny insect called the rove beetle to help understand core functions of the human brain. Watch to learn more about Jess’s work and the story behind the science. Via @lorealusa

Caltech Submillimeter Observatory Telescope Dismantled and Heading to New Mission in Chile
This past summer, astronomers, engineers, and technicians dismantled the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory's telescope, located in Submillimeter Valley below the peak of Maunakea in Hawai'i. Still remaining on the mountain is the helmet-like dome of the observatory. Its removal, paused due to winter weather, will continue in the spring of 2024. "What was once the site of one of the world's premier submillimeter telescopes will be home to lichens and insects and be indistinguishable from the mauna around it," says Sunil Golwala, director of CSO since 2013 and a professor of physics at Caltech. "We are grateful for the time we spent there." Ultimately, astronomers plan to ship the telescope to the Atacama Desert in Chile, where it will be reassembled and renamed the Leighton Chajnantor Telescope. Read more details about the telescope's decommissioning, the dismantling, and the history of the observatory: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/telescope-dismantled-and-heading-to-new-mission-in-chile?utm_medium=social-organic&utm_campaign=institute-news&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=&utm_term=

Caltech Submillimeter Observatory Telescope Dismantled and Heading to New Mission in Chile
This past summer, astronomers, engineers, and technicians dismantled the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory's telescope, located in Submillimeter Valley below the peak of Maunakea in Hawai'i. Still remaining on the mountain is the helmet-like dome of the observatory. Its removal, paused due to winter weather, will continue in the spring of 2024. "What was once the site of one of the world's premier submillimeter telescopes will be home to lichens and insects and be indistinguishable from the mauna around it," says Sunil Golwala, director of CSO since 2013 and a professor of physics at Caltech. "We are grateful for the time we spent there." Ultimately, astronomers plan to ship the telescope to the Atacama Desert in Chile, where it will be reassembled and renamed the Leighton Chajnantor Telescope. Read more details about the telescope's decommissioning, the dismantling, and the history of the observatory: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/telescope-dismantled-and-heading-to-new-mission-in-chile?utm_medium=social-organic&utm_campaign=institute-news&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=&utm_term=

Caltech Submillimeter Observatory Telescope Dismantled and Heading to New Mission in Chile
This past summer, astronomers, engineers, and technicians dismantled the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory's telescope, located in Submillimeter Valley below the peak of Maunakea in Hawai'i. Still remaining on the mountain is the helmet-like dome of the observatory. Its removal, paused due to winter weather, will continue in the spring of 2024. "What was once the site of one of the world's premier submillimeter telescopes will be home to lichens and insects and be indistinguishable from the mauna around it," says Sunil Golwala, director of CSO since 2013 and a professor of physics at Caltech. "We are grateful for the time we spent there." Ultimately, astronomers plan to ship the telescope to the Atacama Desert in Chile, where it will be reassembled and renamed the Leighton Chajnantor Telescope. Read more details about the telescope's decommissioning, the dismantling, and the history of the observatory: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/telescope-dismantled-and-heading-to-new-mission-in-chile?utm_medium=social-organic&utm_campaign=institute-news&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=&utm_term=

Count down to 2024 with Caltech
From cutting-edge labs to the athletic fields, library stacks to the Red Door, the Caltech community is looking forward...to 2024 and beyond! ⏳ 🥳

What if a small wearable sensor could help you and your doctor monitor disease, stress, hormone levels, and more? On Wed., Dec. 13, at 7:30 p.m. PT in Caltech's Beckman Auditorium, Wei Gao, assistant professor of medical engineering, will discuss his work on chemical biosensors that analyze human sweat to track important health measures such as metabolites, nutrients, hormones, proteins, and medication levels.

The Remains of an Ancient Planet Lie Deep Within Earth
A new study led by Caltech researchers suggests that two continent-sized blobs of unusual material found deep near the center of the Earth are remnants of an ancient planet that violently collided with Earth billions of years ago in the same giant impact that created our Moon. The study, published in the journal Nature on Nov. 1, also proposes an answer to another planetary science mystery. Researchers have long hypothesized that the Moon was created in the aftermath of a giant impact between Earth and a smaller planet dubbed Theia, but no trace of Theia has ever been found in the asteroid belt or in meteorites. This new study suggests that most of Theia was absorbed into the young Earth, forming the LLVPs, while residual debris from the impact coalesced into the Moon. Qian Yuan, O.K. Earl Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate, explains more in this video. And read on for even more information via Caltech News: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/the-remains-of-an-ancient-planet-lie-deep-within-earth?utm_medium=social-organic&utm_campaign=research-news&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=&utm_term=

How Squeezing Light Reduces Uncertainty in LIGO's Measurements
Professor Lee McCuller uses a balloon to describe new cutting-edge technology, called frequency-dependent quantum squeezing, which boosts LIGO's ability to make ultraprecise measurements.

2023/24 Watson Lecture kick-off: Hosea Nelson: The Chemistry of Everything | Oct. 18, 2023
Where do medical drugs come from? That is a great question—one that often conjures visions of both scientists in the lab and executives in the boardrooms of multibillion-dollar corporations. While both of these images may be accurate, we often overlook the most interesting place where disease treatments arise: nature. In fact, more than half of on-market drugs are derived from living organisms. In this talk, Hosea Nelson (PhD '13), professor of chemistry, will discuss his research group's effort to develop new platforms for molecular discovery using advanced methods in electron microscopy. The Chemistry of Everything: Uncovering New Treatments in the Natural World Hosea Nelson (PhD ’13) Wednesday, October 18, 2023 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. PT Learn more and register to attend: https://ci.ovationtix.com/36761/production/1179001?performanceId=11358383