Physicists at the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter at Caltech have discovered the first three-dimensional quantum liquid crystal — a new state of matter that may have applications in ultrafast quantum computers of the future. “We have detected the existence of a fundamentally new state of matter that can be regarded as a quantum…
Inventing Tools for Detecting Life Elsewhere
Recently, astronomers announced the discovery that a star called TRAPPIST-1 is orbited by seven Earth-size planets. Three of the planets reside in the “habitable zone,” the region around a star where liquid water is most likely to exist on the surface of a rocky planet. Other potentially habitable worlds have also been discovered in recent years, leaving many…
Computer Model Shows Breakup of Iceberg Logjams
Model focuses on triggers for seasonal ice breakup that could improve accuracy of sea-level rise predictions. Projections of how much the melting of ice sheets will contribute to sea-level rise can vary by several meters based on the rate of iceberg calving at the edges of those ice sheets. To provide climate scientists with models…
Three New Minerals Discovered in Unique Meteorite
Computing with Biochemical Circuits Made Easy
Engineers Create Artificial Skin That ‘Feels’ Temperature Changes
Visualizing Gene Expression with MRI
Genes tell cells what to do—for example, when to repair DNA mistakes or when to die—and can be turned on or off like a light switch. Knowing which genes are switched on, or expressed, is important for the treatment and monitoring of disease. Now, for the first time, Caltech scientists have developed a simple way…
New Clues Emerge in 30-Year-Old Superconductor Mystery
One of the greatest mysteries of experimental physics is how so-called high-temperature superconducting materials work. Despite their name, high-temperature superconductors — materials that carry electrical current with no resistance — operate at chilly temperatures less than minus 135 degrees Celsius. They can be used to make superefficient power cables, medical MRIs, particle accelerators, and other…
Biologists Give Bacteria Thermostat Controls
A new helper in the fight against cancer and other diseases of the gut may be genetically altered bacteria that release medicines to tumors or the gut. Now, a new study performed using mice demonstrates how doctors might one day better regulate those therapeutic microbes by engineering them to respond to temperature. For instance, if…
Genetically Engineering Disease-Fighting Cells
The human body produces T cells to recognize and fight disease. Each T cell has a unique T cell receptor (or TCR) on its surface that surveils small fragments of proteins presented by other cells. Upon detecting evidence of cancer or infection, a subset of T cells binds the diseased cells and orchestrates their elimination.…
Recreating Our Galaxy in a Supercomputer
Chorus of Black Holes Radiates X-Rays
Supermassive black holes do not give off any of their own light, hence the word “black” in their name. However, many black holes pull in, or accrete, surrounding material, and emit powerful bursts of X-rays. Collectively, these active black holes throughout the sky can be thought of a cosmic choir, singing in the language of…
DNA Origami Lights Up a Microscopic Glowing Van Gogh
Using folded DNA to precisely place glowing molecules within microscopic light resonators, researchers at Caltech have created one of the world’s smallest reproductions of Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night. The reproduction and the technique used to create it are described in a paper published in the advance online edition of the journal Nature on July 11.…
Newborn Exoplanet Discovered Around Young Star
Planet formation is a complex and tumultuous process that remains shrouded in mystery. Astronomers have discovered more than 3,000 exoplanets–planets orbiting stars other than our Sun–however, nearly all are middle-aged, with ages of a billion years or more. For astronomers, attempting to understand the life cycles of planetary systems using existing examples is like trying…