John Eiler, Sharp Professor of Geology and Professor of Geochemistry at Caltech, will present the next Watson Lecture on February 29 in Beckman Auditorium. The Watson Lecture Series features Caltech researchers and is named for the late Earnest C. Watson, who founded the series in 1922. He presented one of his most popular lectures, “Liquid Air,” as one of the first programs at the Beckman Auditorium in October 1964.

Dr. John P. Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), will be the speaker at the 2011 DuBridge Distinguished Lecture Series at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have demonstrated that high-speed intersonic ruptures exist and could occur during the next major earthquake. The researchers now have the ability to create laboratory earthquakes of varying force and magnitudes that mimic actual quakes.  By triggering laboratory earthquakes, researchers can study the behavior of quakes and their potential force and destructiveness—without a real quake actually occurring.