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2005

One of the most elusive questions in science has finally been answered: How do bees fly? The physics of bee flight has perplexed scientists for more than 70 years. But now, Michael H. Dickinson, the Esther M. and Abe M. Zarem Professor of Bioengineering, and his postdoctoral student Douglas L. Altshuler and their colleagues at Caltech and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, have figured out honeybee flight using a combination of high-speed digital photography, to snap freeze-frame images of bees in motion, and a giant robotic mock-up of a bee wing. The secret of honeybee flight is the unconventional combination of short, choppy wing strokes, a rapid rotation of the wing as it flops over and reverses direction, and a very fast wing-beat frequency. Caltech News Release posted 11-29-2005

Caltech Researchers have joined a global medical effort to address a number of diseases through innovative, multi-institutional, multidisciplinary approaches. The Global Enterprise for Micromechanics and Molecular Medicine (GEM4), is centered at MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering. According to Mory Gharib, Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Bioengineering, the participation of Caltech researchers will concentrate on the micromechanics of cells and tissues related to certain diseases. Caltech News Release posted 10-25-2005

John Dabiri and Mory Gharib report on their work in understanding the fundamental nature of biological fluid transport. The work could lead to new tools for diagnosing heart disease. Caltech News Release posted 10-25-2005

The International Symposium entitled "Biophysical and Biomechanical Adaptation and Bioinspired Engineering" was held at Caltech on March 28-30, 2005. (view agenda)

Michael Roukes, professor of physics, applied physics, and bioengineering, and his colleagues have created the first nanodevices capable of weighing individual biological molecules. This technology may lead to new forms of molecular identification that are cheaper and faster than existing methods, as well as revolutionary new instruments for proteomics. Caltech News Release posted 3-27-2005

Professor Rob Phillips, one of the core Bioengineering faculty members is among the first nine recipients of the Pioneer Award from the National Institutes of Health. The Director's Pioneer Award will provide Phillips with $2.5 million in funding for the next five years as part of the NIH's new "Roadmap for Medical Research" program. Phillips, an authority on the nanoscale mechanics of biological systems, says he will use the funding to enter into novel research areas. NIH Director's Pioneer Award is designed to support individual scientists and thinkers with highly innovative ideas and approaches to contemporary challenges in biomedical research. Caltech News Release posted 9-30-2004

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