In This Issue News Briefs from Around the Globe
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The California Tech [email protected] VOLUME CXVII NUMBER 11 PASADENA, CALIFORNIA TECH.CALTECH.EDU JANUARY 21, 2014 TERRAscope program continues earthquake research CYNTHIA ELLER detailed maps of ground shaking GPS devices. That all changed in of geophysics Mark Simons using of seconds of warning to people Caltech Today so that they could respond to those December 2004 with the magnitude data from GPS systems installed in areas about to experience in need immediately after a quake,” 9.3 earthquake and resulting by the Japanese had produced ground shaking, and minutes of Since the magnitude 6.7 adds Egill Hauksson, senior tsunami that struck the Indian extensive measurements of ground warning to people potentially Northridge earthquake 20 years research associate at Caltech. Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra, motion, as well as earthquake in the path of a tsunami. Japan ago (January 17, 1994), researchers To give us this new view of Indonesia. Quite abruptly, Caltech models constrained by this data, invested heavily in an earthquake at the California Institute of earthquakes, Caltech collaborated scientists had an enormous amount that provided new insight into the early-warning system after the Technology (Caltech) have with the U.S. Geological Survey of information coming in from mechanics of plate tectonics and magnitude 6.9 Kobe earthquake learned much more about where (USGS) and the fault ruptures. that occurred January 17, 1995, earthquakes are likely to happen, California Geological The Tohoku- on the one-year anniversary of the and how danger to human life Survey to form TriNet, Oki earthquake Northridge earthquake, and the and damage to property might be through which a vastly was unprecedented: system performed well during the mitigated when they do occur. expanded network of scientists estimate that Tohoku-Oki earthquake. “It was a “The Northridge quake really instrumentation was over 50 meters of slip major scientific and technological heralded the beginning of a new put in place across on the subsurface fault accomplishment,” says Gurnis. era in earthquake research, not southern California. occurred during the “High-speed rail trains slowed only in southern California, but Concurrently, a new devastating earthquake. and stopped as earthquake worldwide,” says Michael Gurnis, network of continuously Currently, scientists warnings came in, and there were John E. and Hazel S. Smits Professor operated GPS stations at Caltech and the Jet no derailments as a result of the of Geophysics, and director of was permanently Propulsion Laboratory qu a ke .” the Seismological Laboratory at deployed by a group of are prototyping new Closer to home, Caltech Caltech. geophysicists under the automated systems for professor of geophysics Robert In the years just prior to the auspices of the Southern exploiting the wealth of Clayton has aided local earthquake Northridge earthquake, Caltech California Earthquake GPS and satellite imaging detection by distributing wallet- launched a program called Center, funded by the data to rapidly provide sized seismometers to residents of TERRAscope supported by the USGS, NASA, NSF, and disaster assessment and the greater Pasadena area to keep Whittier foundations, which the Keck Foundation. situational awareness in their homes. The seismometers placed high-quality seismic sensors GPS data are used to as events occur around are attached to a USB drive on near where earthquakes occur. The measure displacements the globe. “We are now each resident’s computer, which is Northridge earthquake was, in as small as 1 millimeter at a juncture in time to remain on at all times. effect, the first test of TERRAscope per year between stations where new observational The data from these in which Caltech scientists at any two locations, capabilities and available seismometers serve two functions: could infer the distribution of an making it possible to computational power they record seismic activity on a earthquake rupture on subsurface track motions during, will allow us to provide detailed block-by-block scale, and, faults and directly measure the between, and after critical information with in the event of a large earthquake, associated motion of the ground earthquakes. Similar and unprecedented speed they can help identify areas that are with greater accuracy. “With a even larger networks of -http://www.fema.gov and resolution,” says hardest hit. One lesson learned in modern digital seismic network, seismometers and GPS sensors the instrumentation in Indonesia Simons. the Northridge earthquake was that the potential of measuring ground have now been deployed across previously deployed by the Earthquakes are notable— serious damage can occur far from shaking in real time presented the United States, especially Caltech Techtonics Observatory and, for many, particularly the epicenter of an earthquake. itself,” says Gurnis. “The real time EarthScope, supported by the with support from the Gordon upsetting—because they have The presence of many view also gave first responders NSF, and in countries around the and Betty Moore Foundation. always come without warning. seismometers could help first world by various respective By the time the magnitude 9.0 Earthquakes do in fact happen responders to find the worst- national agencies like the Tohoku-Oki earthquake hit quickly and unpredictably, affected areas more quickly after networks deployed by the northern Japan in 2011, the but not so much so that early- an earthquake strikes. Japanese government. Seismologocial Laboratory at warning systems are impossible. Caltech scientists have also been In this issue Initially, says Gurnis, Caltech had developed greatly In a Moore Foundation-supported playing a leading role in the large there were not many expanded computing power collaboration with UC Berkeley, multi-institutional Salton Seismic large earthquakes to capable of ingesting massive the University of Washington, and Imaging Project. track with the new dense amounts of seismic and geodetic the USGS, Caltech is developing network of broadband data. Within weeks of the disaster, a prototype early-warning system NEWS seismic instruments and a team led by Caltech professor that may provide seconds to tens Continued on page 3 New events from the Caltech Y3 News briefs from around the globe Helping readers burst out of the Caltech bubble FEATURE Style tips for the Need to know < 100 words about the world this week – topics sorted from good to bad career fair 4 by The Tech Eds FEATURE Iran agrees to new deal 5% purity, not 20%, for Uranium enrichment agreed to be new limit [CNN] Nailen reviews The Crystal Method5 US reduces caloric intake 118-calorie average decrease in consumption reported by USDA [TIME] Colby arsonists caught 3 individuals arrested for starting fire that has burned 1900+ acres [LAT] inflation leads president to plan decrease in govt. subsidies [NYT] SPORTS Venezuela to raise prices 56% Caltech gets new Famous conductor dies 80-year-old Cladio Abbado (La Scala, Vienna Philharmonic, etc.) died [NYT] volleyball coach 7 Taliban attacks again 22 killed, civilians & military, in attack on Pakistani army checkpoint [CNN] Sochi Games threatened 22-year-old suspected suicide bomber may have slipped by security [ABC] EWS 2 JANUARY 21, 2014 N THE CALIFORNIA TECH ASCIT Minutes* Food with Mannion! *(Still no new minutes) ASCIT Board of Directors Meeting Do you like eating food? Minutes for November 19, 2013. Taken by Catherine Jamshidi How about free food at nice restaurants? Officers Present: Zach Rivkin, Connor Coley, Malvika Verma, Connie Hsueh, Ever want to tell the world exactly what you think of Michelle Tang, Catherine Jamshidi Guests: Connor Rosen, Margaret Lee said food? Call to Order: 9:05pm The Tech will be beginning a new column to chroni- President’s Report (Zach): • In my candidacy statement from April, I advocated for student leadership cle the foodie experiences of new writers every other to take a level headed approach with the administration and focus on week...The Catch: They’ll be going head-to-head with increasing student mental health resources. The process has usually been successful, and the most recent and largest accomplishment is an evening Tom Mannion who will be reviewing the same restau- hours pilot program. After half a year of civil discussions with Kevin rant. If you have ever thought you were more of a gour- Austin, Leslie Nye, Tom Mannion, Anneila Sargent, John Dabiri, plus many other invaluable participants, along with a recent hardline mand than our resident master chef, now’s your chance passionate Faculty Board presentation, a limited evening hours trial will go into effect until the end of this academic year. This is an incredible to prove it! step forward for the Caltech safety net and auspiciously points towards a Email us for a spot on the list at [email protected] positive shift in relations between students and student affairs. I hope to see further improvements during the next half of ASCIT’s term and in the years ahead. Significant thanks goes to those mentioned above along with the student leadership, the Head UCCs, and especially to the IHC Chair Connor Coley for spending an innumerable number of hours and The California Tech offering constant support through the entire process. • Club funding has been completed. • The ASCIT retreat and midyear reviews occurred. Survey responses were Caltech 40-58, Pasadena, CA 91125 advertising e-mail: [email protected] Write very helpful for framing discussions and supplying appropriate feedback. editorial e-mail: [email protected] Officer’s Reports: • V.P. of Academic Affairs (ARC Chair: Malvika): Editors-in-Chief Jonathan Schor articles for o Meeting with Provost Online Education Committee Stanford Schor . Flipped classroom vs. online courses . News Editors Faculty don’t want to dumb down standards Neera Shah . Concrete proposal: CS0 Nehaly Shah the Tech o The second Student-Faculty Lunch was this past Thursday. We have Photography Editor continued to see a large amount of interest in this program from Alex Hsu both students and faculty.