One morning, Doris Tsao (BS ’96) woke up wondering, “Is space infinite or not?” Infinite space would be mind-boggling. But if space were finite, there would have to be something beyond it.

Leah Klement wants to know how medieval literature described and addressed social differences, especially during times of civil unrest. What she uncovers will shed new light on the societal struggles of the Middle Ages—and of today.

Daniela Bonafede-Chhabra (BS ’84) looks back to her time at Caltech—including the three hours and 15 minutes she spent waiting for her supervisor to arrive on her first day of work—with boundless appreciation.

HD 187123 b is Cam Buzard’s favorite planet. About 160 light years away in the constellation Cygnus, it circles a star about as massive as our sun—only so close that a year flies by in three days. It weighs more than 150 Earths and sizzles at about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Machine learning seems ubiquitous these days. The technique—which allows computers to automatically convert data into knowledge and action—is being used to train everything from internet search engines and self-driving cars to facial recognition systems and voice assistants such as Siri.