Caltech

Caltech is positioned at the centre of a growing quantum science ecosystem in California. The item highlights the institute's role in research, talent and industry links as the state builds momentum in quantum computing and related technologies. Details on specific initiatives, funding or partnerships remain limited, and reaction to the story has so far been modest.

The University of Chicago and Caltech held a joint conference on artificial intelligence in scientific research, examining how AI tools are reshaping methods and discovery across disciplines. The event brought together researchers to discuss the expanding role of machine learning in science, from accelerating experiments to generating new hypotheses. Attendees and organisers say the partnership reflects growing academic interest in harnessing AI responsibly for fundamental research.

The Curiosity rover has returned a high-resolution image, labelled MSL 5061, of a rock target studied with its ChemCam instrument, credited jointly to NASA, JPL-Caltech, Los Alamos National Laboratory, CNES and IRAP. The image is being shared in interactive Q-View, GIGAmacro and Gigapan formats, letting viewers zoom in on fine surface detail from Mars.

NASA's Curiosity rover continues sending new images from Mars, with raw photographs from sols 5052 to 5060 now available in high-resolution, zoomable formats. The images, credited to NASA/JPL-Caltech and French partners including CNES and IRAP, are hosted on Flickr alongside Gigamacro and Gigapan viewers that let the public explore the Martian terrain in fine detail.

A high-resolution image of NASA's Perseverance rover, credited to NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS, is being shared with interactive GIGAmacro viewing links that let people zoom into fine details of the rover as captured in 2019. Space enthusiasts are passing around the detailed imagery, highlighting the level of detail available in the publicly accessible NASA material.

A high-resolution image from NASA's Curiosity rover, taken on sol 5052 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, has been shared with interactive viewers from Q-VIEW, GIGAmacro and Gigapan, letting people zoom into the Martian terrain in extreme detail. The image credits NASA's JPL and an international consortium of labs, including French and Canadian contributors to the rover's instruments. Space enthusiasts are exploring the fine detail of the surface in the zoomable versions.

Astrophysicist Neil Gehrels was recognised as a 2016 Distinguished Alumnus of Caltech. Gehrels, known for his leading role in NASA gamma-ray burst astronomy, including the Swift and Fermi missions, was honoured by his alma mater for his contributions to space science. Coverage of the recognition is currently limited to a brief announcement.

A newly released image from NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, taken by the Curiosity rover around sol 5058, is being shared widely. The high-resolution image, credited to NASA/JPL-Caltech and French partner teams, is available through interactive gigapixel viewers, letting members of the public zoom into the Martian surface in fine detail.

Episode 40 of the RuntimeArguments podcast, titled "Cargo Cult Programming", is now available at RuntimeArguments.fm. Host Wolf opens with Richard Feynman's famous 1974 Caltech commencement speech, in which islanders in the South Pacific built mock runways and wooden headphones after World War II in hopes of summoning cargo planes — a metaphor Feynman used to warn against pseudoscience, now applied to developers who copy patterns without understanding them.