[March 17] 2026 San Gabriel Valley Food Passport: To Be Continued!

[March 17] A Letter to Future Generations: On the Philosophy of Happiness — Part V

[March 17] Beavers Have Ice in Their Veins: Caltech Winter ‘25-26 Athletics

[March 17] Caltech Astrophysicist Carl Grillmair Dies at 67

[March 17] Caltech Wildlife: Hummingbirds

[March 17] Congress Votes to Retain Science Funding, Declines Most Proposed Cuts

[March 17] Dabney Hosts Lunar New Year-Themed Interhovse

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I attempted to go to Edwin Mills (one of the places in the SGV Food Passport) on Valentine’s Day, but sadly we needed a reservation to try it out. Oops! So more delicious restaurants in the SGV Food Passport will be explored and reviewed next term.

Okay, so I’ve thrown a lot of philosophy at you. But here’s the thing: this isn’t meant to be intellectual trivia for impressing people at parties. The ancient Greeks called philosophy a “way of life” — not an academic subject, but a set of practices for living well.

As many of us know, s’more year fall and winter terms are absolute killers. Unfortunately, I was also a victim of this, which is why instead of my usual periodic updates throughout the winter athletic season, I am bringing to you all a complete season recap in a nutshell!

Carl Grillmair, an astronomer at Caltech’s IPAC science and data center for astronomy and planetary science, died on February 16. He was 67. His death has shaken the Caltech community, where colleagues remember as both a creative scientist and a foundational member of IPAC’s research programs.

Did you know that hummingbirds are a family of birds found exclusively in the Western Hemisphere (here chants the Bad Bunny version listing all American countries)? When I first arrived at Caltech, I found these hovering drones such a blessed sight.

On March 4, the Senate Commerce Committee voted to advance the bipartisan NASA Authorization Act of 2026, authorizing a $24.7 billion budget for this fiscal year, extending operations for the International Space Station through 2032, and — for the first time — backing plans for a permanent crewed presence on the Moon.

On the night of February 21, Dabney Hovse welcomed students across campus for its Lunar New Year-themed Interhovse celebration. The courtyard centerpiece was a striking red dome topped with gold, glowing from within with shifting colored lights that illuminated the space throughout the night.

When I first met Pedro Neves, a visiting researcher from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, it was at a Watson Lecture in October 2025. Our shared native language, Portuguese, provided an immediate shorthand, but the conversation quickly moved to the mechanics of the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point.

Remembering Parker Thompson