Caltech

Meet Rob Bagley, Caltech’s chef de cuisine (pictured in his home garden). Bagley is responsible for overseeing culinary offerings on campus. We've been working really hard on developing and testing our recipes during the last few months, since we’ve had this time to focus on it. Our revamped menu has much more of a global, regional approach based on the demographics of the community that are here on campus now. We've been focusing on American regionalsmoking and barbecuing... brisket and pulled pork with different charcoal and woodsItalian regional, Russian food, Korean food, European fare, of course. A lot of the people on the housing crew are Mexican/Latino, so we have a lot of offerings for them. We've added chorizo to the grill and Taco Tuesdays with tortillas made from scratch. Very delicious. We're fortunate enough to have wonderful culinarians working here from different regions of Mexico. And Mexico has a very broad array of cuisines and flavor profiles, from Oaxacan to Zacatecan to Caribbean Latino. I met a few Nigerian students on campus, so we've added Nigerian offerings, and we also have Persian and Mayan dishes. With all the things going on right now, I think what has saved a lot of us is that appreciation for food and culture. We’ve been visiting the dorms, too, where graduate students arriving on flights are quarantining. We're actually dropping food off ourselves in full PPE. Sometimes they'll stick a head out and say, ‘Oh my gosh! Everything's so delicious. Thank you so much!’ Everyone's so isolated, and food is one of our only connections. It's definitely a positive thing and a nurturing thing, and it's something that all of us need. During the pandemic, Chandler Café and the Red Door Marketplace have stayed open, with limited hours and other adjustments, to cater to essential workers as well as the graduate students, faculty, and staff who are on campus, including those students who have to quarantine after arriving from out of state in one of the two open residences on campus. #CaltechTogether is a special series of #SoCaltech spotlighting the many ways members of our community are joining together to support one another and to take responsibility for our collective health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Buried beneath 20 kilometers of ice, the subsurface ocean of Enceladusone of Saturn's moonsappears to be churning with currents akin to those on Earth.

A new view of the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy! In a major milestone, researchers have imaged polarized light encircling that massive object, which could help humanity better understand the physics of black holes.

The Ingenuity Mars helicopter, which arrived with the Perseverance rover, is a technology demonstration that will attempt the first-ever powered, controlled flight on another world. The teams operating Ingenuity and Perseverance have now chosen the flight zone where the helicopter will conduct its operations for up to 31 days (30 sols, or Mars days). Join NASA experts to discuss upcoming milestones. Public questions will also be addressed. Speakers are expected to include: Lo...ri Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington Bobby Braun, director for planetary science, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California J. (Bob) Balaram, Ingenuity chief engineer, JPL Håvard Grip, Ingenuity chief pilot, JPL Farah Alibay, Perseverance integration lead for Ingenuity, JPL See more

A new way of using ultrasound allows researchers to accurately predict movements based on brain activity. The method offers promise for less invasive brain-machine interfaces, such as tools to aid paralyzed individuals.

We mourn the death of cellular biologist Jean-Paul Revel. Revel is widely recognized for being the first to identify and characterize gap junctions (a means of cellular communication) and was revered as an instructor, particularly among undergraduates.

In his Watson Lecture (12/9/2020 at 5 pm PT), neurologist David Anderson will share how scientists in his lab are coming to understand the brain mechanisms that govern emotion-driven survival behaviors, such as mating or the fight-flight-or-freeze response. Learn more about the lecture and RSVP to attend and to participate in the post-lecture live Q&A with Dr. Anderson: https://events.caltech.edu/calendar/watson-lecture-2020-12

In a story of lost and stolen books and intercontinental sleuthing, a Caltech historian and his former student have unearthed hundreds of previously uncounted copies of Isaac Newton's groundbreaking science book "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica." The tome transformed human understanding of celestial and terrestrial forces, providing a mathematical basis for the movement of planets, moons, and comets, as well as objects on Earth.

The remote interactions and physical distancing necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19 can lead to feelings of isolation, anxiety, and more. That is why, as part of the Caltech Together campaign, the Institute aims to ensure that students, staff, and faculty are aware of the support systems available to the Caltech community.

Researchers discover that a quantum quirk is the reason a perfect crystal is not good at conducting heat, although it seemingly should be

Trust in election results is essential to America's democratic process. In this recent lecture, part of Caltech's highlight Watson Lecture Series, Professor R. Michael Alvarez explores and addresses a series of common misconceptions about the security of America's upcoming election.

NASA has confirmed the Caltech-led Lunar Trailblazer mission to proceed to final design and build. The Lunar Trailblazer mission targets one of the most surprising discoveries of the decade: the presence of water on the Moon.

Water on the moon? The great thing about today's news, says professor Bethany Ehlmann, is that both papers make predictions that are testablewhich forthcoming missions like Lunar Trailblazer will help to do!

When Julia Hori talks about the concept of motherhood, she takes the conversation far beyond the biological relationship between mother and child. As students in her online fall course, Literary Constructions of Motherhood, quickly began to notice, the term "mother" crops up widely in our language and culture, from "Mother Earth" to "mother tongue" to "motherland."

Today is a great day to #vote... according to Caltech professor R. Michael Alvarez, co-director of the Caltech MIT Voting Technology Project, the best way to ensure your vote counts is to vote early!

To deepen their understanding of the brain, neuroscientists must be able to map in great detail the neural circuits that are responsible for tasks such as processing sensory information or forming new memories. Now, a team of Caltech researchers has described a new approach that may allow for the activity of all of the thousands to millions of neurons within a particular brain circuit to be observed in real time.

Caltech and five other research institutions and universities, along with the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, and business, manufacturing, trade, and labor organizations filed suit to block the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) from implementing and enforcing final rules that would overhaul the H-1B visa program. Read the full letter from President Rosenbaum and Provost Tirrell here.

If we WERE living in a simulation, would we know? Caltech's Houman Owhadi suggests quantum physics experiments could be a key way of discovering paradoxes indicative of computer simulation shortcuts.

How much confidence you have in a given political poll should be determined by the quality of the pollthis illustrated guide from the Caltech Science Exchange explains key points to look for when reading polling results.

Did you know you experience two different kinds of thirst? Scientists, led by Caltech's Yuki Oka, have identified brain cells that monitor liquid, mineral, and salt levels in the body and influence what types of drinks we crave when thirsty. Via NPR:

Ernie's food fed our stomachs, his kindness fed our souls. Congratulations to Ernie on his retirementhe will be missed. Story via Pasadena Now.

It's 10 a.m. - get ready to drop, cover, and hold on at 10:15 a.m. for the Great #ShakeOut! And when the "shaking" stops, refresh yourself on what to do before, during, and after an #earthquake with this guide from #CaltechScienceExchange.

Findings in a new study, led by Caltech professor Monica Kohler, may force changes in how California state officials calculate building codes.