Yuk L. Yung, professor of planetary science and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) senior research scientist, passed away on March 16, 2026 after a brief illness. He was 79."Yuk loved Caltech, JPL, and his many close colleagues, and it showed in the many ways he shared his scientific passion and understanding of this life we lead […]

Scientists at Caltech have figured out how to precisely engineer tiny three-dimensional (3D) metallic pieces with nanoscale dimensions. The process can work with any metal or metal alloy and yields components of surprising strength despite having a porous and defect-ridden microstructure, making it potentially useful in a wide range of applications, including medical devices, computer […]

Cheers echoed through Caltech's Scott Brown Gym as a 20-pound student-built robot powered its way up a steel-plated pyramid and crested the summit. Moments later, the machine accurately deposited its payload of pellets, drawing another round of applause from the crowd gathered for the 41st annual ME 72 Engineering Design Competition.Every year, third- and fourth-year […]

Anima Anandkumar, the Bren Professor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, has been appointed to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General's Scientific Advisory Board, which brings together distinguished researchers from around the globe to advise UN leaders on breakthroughs in science and technology. Established in August 2023, the 15-person board provides "independent insights on trends at the […]

Exhaled breath can provide a treasure trove of health information, offering a noninvasive window to both respiratory microenvironments and systemic physiological states. But collecting such data is a challenge.In 2024, Caltech's Wei Gao, professor of medical engineering, and members of his laboratory developed a prototype for a smart mask that uses clues from exhaled breath to monitor […]

Alumna Lauren Edgar (PhD '13) has been selected by NASA as one of 10 new astronaut candidates following a competitive selection process involving more than 8,000 applicants from across the United States. Edgar and her colleagues will now complete nearly two years of training before becoming eligible for flight assignments supporting future science and exploration […]

Since 1990, the United Nations (UN) has used the Human Development Index (HDI) to assess the development of a country using indicators of well-being and quality of life gathered via census data. HDI scores are then used by government agencies and nonprofits to help allocate resources. But the index rankings do not reflect information at […]

When the densest objects in the universe collide and merge, the violence sets off gravitational waves that reverberate across space and time over hundreds of millions and even billions of years. By the time they pass through Earth, such cosmic ripples are barely discernible.Thanks to a global network of gravitational-wave observatories—the US-based National Science Foundation-funded […]

Caltech scientists have developed a method that detects tiny, imperceptible movements at the surface of objects to reveal details about what lies beneath. By analyzing the physics of waves traveling across the surface of an object—whether that be a manufactured product or the human body—the new technique can determine both the stiffness and thickness of […]

There are many open questions about how our planet formed 4.55 billion years ago: When did plate tectonics start? When did the earth's mantle begin to vigorously circulate in a process called convection? What was Earth like early in its lifetime? Because no rock records from the earliest years of the earth remain, researchers turn […]