Fourth-year mathematics undergraduate Akshar Ramkumar has been selected as one of 16 recipients of the Churchill Scholarship, which provides funding for a one-year master's degree at the University of Cambridge.At Caltech, Ramkumar has conducted research in quantum computation and its intersection with theoretical mathematics. The summer after his second year, he worked in the lab […]

Michael M. Watkins, professor of aerospace and geophysics, has been appointed the new director of the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS). KISS, a "think and do tank," brings together scientists and engineers from campus, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (which is managed by Caltech for NASA), and around the world to brainstorm and develop new […]

The power of artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing has made it possible to design genetic sequences encoding for diverse biological applications, such as proteins that form the building blocks of materials stronger than steel, or personalized cancer treatments. But the act of constructing DNA sequences to realize those designs has been a significant bottleneck. […]

Through a clever combination of two imaging modalities, scientists from Caltech and USC have developed a new technique that can quickly provide 3D color images that capture both the structure of soft tissues and details of how the blood vessels are functioning. The researchers have used the new technique to successfully image multiple parts of […]

Jonas Zmuidzinas (BS '81), the Merle Kingsley Professor of Physics at Caltech, will receive the 2026 James Craig Watson Medal, a National Academy of Sciences honor presented every two years for "outstanding contributions to the science of astronomy." The award comes with a $25,000 prize, $50,000 of research support, and a gold-plated bronze medal.Zmuidzinas has […]

A new study, which draws on survey data from approximately 3,000 respondents in the United States and Canada, finds that women, on average, exhibit greater skepticism toward artificial intelligence (AI) technologies than men. Analysis suggests that differences in risk orientation and exposure help explain this gender gap.A paper describing the research appears in the journal […]

If you use consumer AI systems, you have likely experienced something like AI "brain fog": You are well into a conversation when suddenly the AI seems to lose track of the different ideas you have been talking about and how they fit together. That same problem crops up when programmers build "agents," systems that use […]

The first line of treatment for cancer is, whenever possible, to remove the cancerous tissue from the body. Though often remarkably effective, removing only the cancerous tissue is a challenge for doctors and surgeons. With no intraoperative method to analyze excised tissues, a surgeon typically must rely on preoperative visualizations—ultrasounds, MRIs, and the like—to accurately […]

Shri Kulkarni, the George Ellery Hale Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Science, has been awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, the highest honor from the organization, awarded annually since 1824.According to the award citation, Kulkarni is receiving the award for his "sustained, innovative and ground-breaking contributions to multi-wavelength transient astrophysics."In 1982, while […]

One year after the 2025 Los Angeles fires, Caltech researchers are pressing forward with research projects to provide answers in service of public health and safety. Through investigations that included testing for heavy metal contamination, monitoring air quality, and assessing the burn area's erosion hazards, Caltech scientists immediately launched into action in the days and […]