Good Vibrations
For their 1966 song, “Good Vibrations,” the Beach Boys assembled an unusual mix of instruments—including a jaw harp, a cello, and an Electro-Theremin—to produce one of their biggest hits. By arranging sound waves in a unique and particular way, they were able to elicit a positive response. Many doctors and researchers have the same goal.…
The Sounds of Science
Take a walk around the Caltech campus on any given day—save perhaps Ditch Day or commencement—and it is unlikely to reveal itself as a noisy place. However, step into any number of labs, and you can hear the sounds of science at work, from buzzing brain scanning technology to music-like signals from space, and many…
Tracking Down Infections
Today, when there is an outbreak of disease, the first reports of it are likely to be online, through Facebook or Twitter. And as word in cyberspace goes viral, it can map closely to the spread of the actual virus in the physical world. That’s the conclusion of NYU researcher Rumi Chunara (BS ’04), whose…
