15 for 2015: The Year in Research News at Caltech
The year 2015 proved to be another groundbreaking year for research at Caltech. From seeing quantum motion, to reconfiguring jellyfish limbs, to measuring stellar magnetic fields, researchers continued to ask and answer the deepest scientific questions.
In case you missed any of them, here are 15 stories highlighting a few of the discoveries, methods, and technologies that came to life at Caltech in 2015.
Written by Lori Dajose
Credit: K.Batygin/Caltech
New Research Suggests Solar System May Have Once Harbored Super-Earths
Thanks to recent surveys of exoplanets—planets in solar systems other than our own—we know that most planetary systems typically have one or more super-Earths (planets that are substantially more massive than Earth but less massive than Neptune) orbiting closer to their suns than Mercury does. In March, researchers showed that our own solar system may have once had these super-Earths, but they were destroyed by Jupiter's inward and outward migration through the solar system. This migration would have gravitationally flung small planetesimals through the solar system, setting off chains of collisions that would push any interior planets into the sun.
Credit: Lance Hayashida/Caltech and the Hoelz Laboratory/Caltech
Caltech Biochemists Shed Light on Cellular Mystery
The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is an intricate portal linking the cytoplasm of a cell to its nucleus. It is made up of many copies of about 34 different proteins. Around 2,000 NPCs are embedded in the nuclear envelope of a single human cell and each NPC shuttles hundreds of macromolecules of different shapes and sizes between the cytoplasm and nucleus. In February, Caltech biochemists determined the structure of a significant portion of the NPC called the outer rings; in August, the same group solved the structure of the pore's inner ring. Understanding the structure of the NPC could lead to new classes of cancer drugs as well as antiviral medicines.
Credit: iStockphoto
Research Suggests Brain's Melatonin May Trigger Sleep
For decades, supplemental melatonin has been sold over the counter as a sleep aid despite the absence of scientific evidence proving its effectiveness. Few studies have investigated melatonin produced naturally in the human body. This March, Caltech researchers studying zebrafish—animals that, like humans, are awake during the day and asleep at night—determined that the melatonin hormone does help the body fall asleep and stay asleep. Specifically, they found that zebrafish larvae that could not produce melatonin slept for only half as long as normal larvae.
Credit: Gregg Hallinan/Caltech
Advances in Radio Astronomy
In May, a new radio telescope array called the Owens Valley Long Wavelength Array (OV-LWA) saw its first light. Developed by a consortium led by Caltech, the OV-LWA has the ability to image simultaneously the entire sky at radio wavelengths with unmatched speed, helping astronomers to search for objects and phenomena that pulse, flicker, flare, or explode.
In July, Caltech researchers used both radio and optical telescopes to observe a brown dwarf located 20 light-years away and found that these so-called failed stars host powerful auroras near their magnetic poles.
In July, Caltech researchers used both radio and optical telescopes to observe a brown dwarf located 20 light-years away and found that these so-called failed stars host powerful auroras near their magnetic poles.
Credit: Michael Abrams and Ty Basinger
Injured Jellyfish Seek to Regain Symmetry
Some kinds of animals can regrow lost limbs and body parts, but moon jellyfish have a different strategy. In June, Caltech researchers reported that the star-shaped eight-armed moon jellyfish rearranges itself when injured to maintain symmetry. It is hypothesized that the rearrangement helps to preserve the jellyfish's propulsion mechanism.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Geologists Characterize Nepal Earthquake
In April, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocked Nepal. While the damage was extensive, it was not as severe as many geologists predicted. This year, a Caltech team of geologists used satellite radar imaging data and measurements from seismic instruments in Nepal to create models of fault rupture and ground movement. They found that the quake ruptured only a small fraction of the "locked" tectonic plate and that there is still the potential for the locked portion to produce a large earthquake.
Credit: Caltech/JPL
New Polymer Creates Safer Fuels
Plane crashes cause devastating damage, but this damage is often exacerbated by the highly explosive nature of jet fuel. This October, researchers at Caltech and JPL discovered a polymeric fuel additive that can reduce the intensity of postimpact explosions that occur during accidents and crashes. Preliminary results show that the additive can provide this benefit without adversely affecting fuel performance. The polymer works by inhibiting "misting"—the process that causes fuel to rapidly disperse and easily catch fire—under crash conditions.
Credit: Spencer Kellis/Caltech
Controlling a Robotic Arm with a Patient's Intentions
When you reach for a glass of water, you do not consciously think about moving your arm muscles or grasping with your fingers—you think about the goal of the movement. This May, by implanting neural prosthetic devices into the posterior parietal cortex (PCC)—the region of the brain that governs intentions for movement—rather than the motor cortex, which controls movement, Caltech researchers enabled a paralyzed patient to more smoothly and naturally control a prosthetic limb. In November, the researchers showed that there are individual neurons in the PPC that encode for entire hand shapes, such as those used for grasping or gesturing.
Caltech Scientists Develop Cool Process to Make Better Graphene
Graphene is an ultrastrong and conductive material made of a single layer of carbon atoms. While it is a promising material for scientific and engineering advances, manufacturing it on an industrially relevant scale has proven to be impractical, requiring temperatures of around 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and long periods of time. A new technique invented at Caltech allows the speedy production of graphene—in just a few minutes—at room temperatures. The technique also produces graphene that is stronger, smoother, and more electrically conductive than normally produced synthetic graphene.
Credit: Rafael A. García (SAp CEA), Kyle Augustson (HAO), Jim Fuller (Caltech) & Gabriel Pérez (SMM, IAC), Photograph from AIA/SDO
Astronomers Peer Inside Stars, Finding Giant Magnets
Before this October, astronomers have only been able to study the magnetic fields of stars on the stellar surfaces. Now, using a technique called asteroseismology, scientists were able to probe the fusion-powered hearts of dozens of red giants (stars that are evolved versions of our sun) to calculate the magnetic field strengths inside those stars. They found that the internal magnetic fields of the red giants were as much as 10 million times stronger than Earth's magnetic field. Magnetic fields play a key role in the interior rotation rate of stars, which has a dramatic effect on how the stars evolve.
Credit: Chan Lei and Keith Schwab/Caltech
Seeing Quantum Motion
To the casual observer, an object at rest is just that—at rest, motionless. But on the subatomic scale, the object is most certainly in motion—quantum mechanical motion. Quantum motion, or noise, is ever-present in nature, and in August, Caltech researchers discovered how to observe and manipulate that motion in a small device. By creating what they called a "quantum squeezed state," they were able to periodically reduce the quantum fluctuations of the device. The ability to control quantum noise could one day be used to improve the precision of very sensitive measurements.
Credit: Ali Hajimiri/Caltech
New Camera Chip Provides Superfine 3-D Resolution
3-D printing can produce a wide array of objects in relatively little time, but first the printer needs to have a blueprint of what to print. The blueprints are provided by 3-D cameras, which scan objects and create models for the printer. Caltech researchers have now developed a 3-D camera that produces the highest depth-measurement accuracy of any similar device, allowing it to deliver replicas of an object to be 3-D printed within microns of similarity to the original object. In addition, the camera, known as a nanophotonic coherent imager, is inexpensive and small.
Credit: Image provided courtesy of Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis; artwork by Darius Siwek.
One Step Closer to Artificial Photosynthesis and 'Solar Fuels'
Plants are masters of photosynthesis—the process of turning carbon dioxide, sunlight, and water into oxygen and sugar. Inspired by this natural and energy-efficient process, Caltech researchers have created an "artificial leaf" that takes in CO2, sunlight, and water to produce hydrogen fuels. This solar-powered system, one researcher says, shatters all of the combined safety, performance, and stability records for artificial leaf technology by factors of 5 to 10 or more.
Credit: Santiago Lombeyda and Robin Betz
Potassium Salt Outperforms Precious Metals As a Catalyst
Rare precious metals have been the standard catalyst for the formation of carbon-silicon bonds, a process crucial to the synthesis of a host of products from new medicines to advanced materials. However, they are expensive, inefficient, and produce toxic waste byproducts. This February, Caltech researchers discovered a much more sustainable catalyst in the form of a simple potassium salt that is one of the most abundant metals on Earth and thousands of times less expensive than other commonly used catalysts. In addition, the potassium salt is much more effective at running challenging chemical reactions than state-of-the-art precious metal complexes.
Credit: Qi Zhao/National University of Singapore
Probing the Mysterious Perceptual World of Autism
The way in which people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) perceive the world is unique. It has been a long-standing belief that people with ASD often miss facial cues, contributing to impaired social interaction. In a study published in October, Caltech researchers showed 700 images to 39 subjects and found that people with ASD pay closer attention to simple edges and patterns in images than to the faces of people. The study also found that subjects were strongly attracted to the center of images—regardless of what was placed there—and to differences in color and contrast rather than facial features. These findings may help doctors diagnose and more effectively treat the different forms of autism.
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