Humans throughout history have invented a variety of ways to fight back against troublesome bacteria. But bacteria live in a dangerous world too. The human body and other bacteria-rich environments ...

First light is the threshold moment in astronomy when a telescope makes its first observation and opens a new window to discovery. That same spirit of possibility defines the Caltech community.

The writer Malcolm Gladwell popularized the term "tipping points" to refer to the moment when a trend or social behavior crosses a threshold and rapidly spreads everywhere. In physics, tipping points ...

Limbs evolved as a means of locomotion. From the primitive rotating flagella of bacteria to the wings of flies and even our own legs, animals use these appendages to travel to find food or mates, or ...

Kareem El-Badry, associate professor of astronomy at Caltech, has been selected as one of 20 Packard Fellows for 2026. The Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering provide just under $990,000 ...

When Alex Blum was growing up in the Black Forest region of Germany, he was consumed by what some might consider an unusual pastime: reading fantasy books and trying to reconstruct the implicit ...

Although increased cell proliferation is a hallmark of cancerous tissues, in some cases, it may actually be protective against tumor growth, according to a new study from Caltech researchers. Using ...

Two new multi-institution collaborations led by Caltech scientists have been selected to receive first-round funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the Genesis Mission, a national ...

Our cosmos is awash with radio waves, originating from fierce jets blasting out of distant black holes, blinking dead stars closer to home, and many other exotic objects. To observe radio waves—which ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...