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1.
Caltech Scientists Offer New Explanation for Monsoon Development
Caltech geoscientist Tapio Schneider has come up with a new explanation for the formation of monsoons. Schneider, associate professor of environmental science and engineering at Caltech, and colleague Simona Bordoni, who will start as an assistant professor at Caltech in 2009, propose an overhaul of a theory about the cause of the seasonal pattern of heavy winds and rainfall that essentially had held firm for more than 300 years.
The old theory, developed by famed English astronomer and mathematician Edmond Halley (of Halley's comet fame), said that monsoons were caused by differences in the heat capacities of the land and the oceans surrounding it. Schneider and Bordoni instead say monsoons are driven by the interaction of the tropical circulation and giant turbulent eddies, which break like waves into the circulation. The research appears in the July issue of Nature Geosciences.
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2.
Caltech Scientists Decipher the Neurological Basis of Timely Movement
Contrary to what one might imagine, the way in which each of us interacts with the world is not a simple matter of seeing (or touching, or smelling) and then reacting. Even the best baseball hitter eyeing a fastball does not swing at what he sees. The neurons and neural connections that make up our sensory systems are far too slow for this to work. "Everything we sense is a little bit in the past," says Caltech's Richard A. Andersen, who has now uncovered the trick the brain uses to get around this puzzling problem. Work by Andersen and his colleagues Grant Mulliken of MIT and Sam Musallam of McGill University, offers the first neural evidence that voluntary limb movements are guided by our brain's prediction of what will happen an instant into the future. "The brain is generating its own version of the world, a 'forward model,' which allows you to know where you actually are in real time. It takes the delays out of the system," Andersen says.
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3.
A Viral Cloaking Device
Viruses achieve their definition of success when they can thrive without killing their host. Now, biologists Pamela Bjorkman and Zhiru Yang of the California Institute of Technology have uncovered how one such virus, prevalent in humans, evolved over time to hide from the immune system. Understanding how Human Cytomegalovirus survives may help in the development of a vaccine, as well as in the fight against other viruses with similar evasive tactics.
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4.
Giant Impact Explains Mars Dichotomy
The surface landscape of Mars, divided into lowlands in the north and highlands in the south, has long perplexed planetary scientists. Was it sculpted by several small impacts, via mantle convection in the planet's interior, or by one giant impact? Now scientists at the California Institute of Technology have shown through computer modeling that the Mars dichotomy, as the divided terrain has been termed, can indeed be explained by one giant impact early in the planet's history.
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5.
Caltech Research Finds Further Evidence for Genetic Contribution to Autism
Some parents of children with autism evaluate facial expressions differently than the rest of usand in a way that is strikingly similar to autistic patients themselves, according to new research by neuroscientist Ralph Adolphs of Caltech and psychiatrist Joe Piven at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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6.
Salsa Dance Classes
The Caltech Salsa Club offers weekly salsa classes that focus on salsa rhythms, partner skills, Cuban Rueda, and more. Each Wednesday in Dabney Lounge, beginner class is taught from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., followed by a free practice session from 7:30 to 8 p.m., and intermediate class from 8 to 9 p.m. For individuals affiliated with Caltech or JPL, the fee is $7 per class or $25 for a five-class card, and for those not affiliated, the fee is $10 per class or $45 for a five-class card. Details: http://salsa.caltech.edu/classes.html.
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7.
Caltech Poetry Club Meetings
The Caltech Poetry Club meets at the tables in front of the Red Door Cafe to read and discuss poetry every Friday at noon throughout the summer. Attendees are encouraged to bring copies of poems that they have written or other favorites to share. The group reads chapters from a book of short essays by poet laureate Robert Hass, introducing contemporary poets, unusal themes, and fascinating connections. They also discuss and read their own poems.
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8.
Von Karman Lecture Series
JPL's Bob Mitchell, project manager for the Cassini mission, will give a talk called "Cassini Mission to Saturn Highlights" at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 24, in von Karman Auditorium at JPL and again at 7 p.m. on July 25, in the Vosloh Forum at Pasadena City College (south of Colorado on Bonnie).
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9.
Commencement 2008
These tribal rites have a very long history. They go back to the ceremony of initiation for new university teachers in medieval Europe. It was then customary for students, after an appropriate apprenticeship to learning and the presentation of a thesis as their masterpiece, to be admitted to the Guild of Masters of Arts and granted the license to teach.
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10.
Mathic Bus
It's a decision almost everyone has faced. You're waiting for a bus that never seems to come . . .
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