Researcher unveils sensor that rapidly detects COVID-19 infection

New test may enable the at-home diagnosis of a COVID infection through rapid analysis of small volumes of saliva or blood in less than 10 minutes

07-Oct-2020 - One feature of the COVID-19 virus that makes it so difficult to contain is that it can be easily spread to others by a person who has yet to show any signs of infection. The carrier of the virus might feel perfectly well and go about their daily business--taking the virus with them to work, to ...

Sweat-powered electronic skin

Electronic skin fully powered by sweat can monitor health

27-Apr-2020 - One of the ways we experience the world around us is through our skin. From sensing temperature and pressure to pleasure or pain, the many nerve endings in our skin tell us a great deal. Our skin can also tell the outside world a great deal about us as well. Moms press their hands against our ...

Cells communicate in a dynamic code

Important intercellular communication encodes and transmits more than thought

20-Feb-2018 - Multicellular organisms like ourselves depend on a constant flow of information between cells, coordinating their activities in order to proliferate and differentiate. Deciphering the language of intercellular communication has long been a central challenge in biology. Now, Caltech scientists ...

Taking a closer look at genetic switches in cancer

24-May-2017 - Many things go wrong in cells during the development of cancer. At the heart of the chaos are often genetic switches that control the production of new cells. In a particularly aggressive form of leukemia, called acute myeloid leukemia, a genetic switch that regulates the maturation of blood stem ...

New technique for exploring structural dynamics of nanoworld

30-Apr-2015 - A new technique for visualizing the rapidly changing electronic structures of atomic-scale materials as they twist, tumble and traipse across the nanoworld is taking shape at the California Institute of Technology. There, researchers have for the first time successfully combined two existing ...

Weighing molecules 1 at a time

Caltech-led physicists create first-ever mechanical device that measures the mass of a single molecule

28-Aug-2012 - A team led by scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have made the first-ever mechanical device that can measure the mass of individual molecules one at a time. This new technology, the researchers say, will eventually help doctors diagnose diseases, enable biologists to ...

Caltech scientists film photons with electrons

4D electron microscopy makes it possible to image photons of nanoscale structures and visualize their architecture

21-Dec-2009 - Techniques recently invented by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech)—which allow the real-time, real-space visualization of fleeting changes in the structure of nanoscale matter—have been used to image the evanescent electrical fields produced by the interaction of ...

Oscillating Ions imitate optical Laser

MPQ/Caltech scientists demonstrate mechanical analogue to an optical laser with single ions

26-Aug-2009 - For decades there has been interest in phonon lasers that emit quanta of vibrational energy - so called phonons - instead of light. In solids, because of the short wavelength, the implementation of such a device would make it possible to achieve unprecedented resolution in imaging techniques like ...

Caltech researchers show how organic carbon compounds emitted by trees affect air quality

10-Aug-2009 - A previously unrecognized player in the process by which gases produced by trees and other plants become aerosols has been discovered by a research team led by scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Their research on the creation and effects of these chemicals, called ...

Caltech physicists create first nanoscale mass spectrometer

Device can instantly measure the mass of an individual molecule

27-Jul-2009 - Using devices millionths of a meter in size, physicists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a technique to determine the mass of a single molecule, in real time. The mass of molecules is traditionally measured using mass spectrometry, in which samples consisting of ...