Forbes magazine's special report on the world's most powerful people features two Caltech researchers. Jim Heath, Gilloon Professor and professor of chemistry, was named one of the seven most powerful innovators, and David Baltimore, Caltech president emeritus, Nobel laureate, and Millikan Professor of Biology, was included among the seven most powerful people in medicine.
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Hirosi Ooguri, Caltech's Fred Kavli Professor of Theoretical Physics, has been named the recipient of the 2009 Nishina Memorial Prize, the oldest and most prestigious physics award in Japan. Since 1955, the Nishina Memorial Foundation has awarded the prize annually, and past winners include four Nobel laureates in physics. The award ceremony will take place on December 4 in Tokyo.
Ooguri was selected for his research on topological string theory, which the foundation describes as "an important step toward realizing physicists' dream to show that superstring theory unifies general relativity and quantum mechanics." For more information, go to the Nishina Memorial Foundation website.
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In work that someday may lead to the development of novel types of nanoscale electronic devices, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Caltech has combined DNA's talent for self-assembly with the remarkable electronic properties of carbon nanotubes, thereby suggesting a solution to the long-standing problem of organizing carbon nanotubes into nanoscale electronic circuits.
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Researchers at Caltech have shown that a highly specific intrabody (an antibody fragment that works against a target inside a cell) is capable of stalling the development of Huntington's disease in a variety of mouse models. "Gene therapy in these models successfully attenuated the symptoms of Huntington's disease and increased life span," notes Paul Patterson, the Anne P. and Benjamin F. Biaggini Professor of Biological Sciences.
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Caltech researchers led by assistant professor of geobiology Victoria Orphan have found that the members of a deep-sea symbiotic microbial community are able to fix nitrogen. The unexpected metabolic ability may help solve a lingering mystery about the world's nitrogen cycling budget. A paper about the work appears in the October 16 issue of the journal Science.
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The Caltech-Occidental Orchestra will perform a concert conducted by Allen Gross at 3:30 p.m. on November 22 in Ramo Auditorium. The program has not yet been announced. A free reception will follow the performance.
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Gary Blasi, professor of law at UCLA, will give a talk called "Ending Chronic Homelessness in Southern California" at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 24, in Beckman Institute auditorium. This event is part of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, presented by Caltech Y and Social Activism Speaker Series. For a full list of the week's events, go to sass.caltech.edu.
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All are invited to join Caltech students volunteering at Union Station Homeless Services' annual Thanksgiving Dinner in the Park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on November 26 at Pasadena's Central Park. Thousands of community members are served holiday meals at this event each Thanksgiving. To register, go to surveymonkey.com, and for more information, e-mail gregf@caltech.edu. This event is part of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, presented by Caltech Y and Social Activism Speaker Series. For a full list of the week's events, go to sass.caltech.edu.
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At noon on November 23 in the Caltech Y lounge, a panel of men and women who work with the homeless providing food, teaching skills, and helping them transition out of homelessness will answer questions and provide information on how you can make a difference in a homeless person's or family's life. Free lunch will be served. To sign up, go to surveymonkey.com. This event is part of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, presented by Caltech Y and Social Activism Speaker Series. For a full list of the week's events, go to sass.caltech.edu.
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Edward Stone, the David Morrisroe Professor of Physics at Caltech and former director of JPL, discussed the Thirty Meter Telescope in a lecture at Alumni College. Stone explained how if we collect and concentrate enough light from dim, distant bodies, we can observe them as they were near the beginning of the universe, over 13 billion years ago.
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