Scientists from a broad range of disciplines are collaborating at the Linde Center to generate a comprehensive understanding of our global environment—including the impacts of human activities on it. They investigate Earth's atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, and biosphere and their mutual interactions, characterizing their present and past states through innovative measurements, developing models to describe their evolution, and synthesizing measurements and models to produce sound predictions of the future. Among the questions addressed at the Linde Center are:
The Linde Center is located within the unique Linde + Robinson Laboratory, likely the most energy-efficient laboratory building in the United States. The Linde + Robinson Laboratory and nearby buildings house state-of-the art laboratories for oceanography, atmospheric chemistry, biogeochemistry, environmental microbiology, and environmental chemistry and technology.
If Sherlock Holmes, the fictional master of perception, had been a member of the Caltech community, he would not have needed a dozen clues to discover the allusion. At the time of discovery he characteristically would have exclaimed, "Elementary, my dear Watson!"
Science has progressed enormously since Robinson Laboratory was built. Now the Global Environmental Science initiative will provide a rare opportunity for Caltech’s divisions, working in concert and in parallel, to address an impending crisis that faces our planet.
The first person (or group of persons acting together) in the Caltech community to identify correctly that particular allusion will be awarded bragging rights plus $1,000 in cash. If no correct solution has been submitted by January 24, 2013 (one year from the date of the Linde + Robinson Laboratory dedication), Caltech will be declared the winner; and the cash will be added to the endowment for global environmental science.
Entries may be submitted via email to Perceptionsolution@caltech.edu.
For the complete statement of contest rules, eligibility and terms, please click here.
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Chatanantavet, Phairot and Lamb, Michael P. and Nittrouer, Jeffrey A. (2012) Backwater controls of avulsion location on deltas. Geophysical Research Letters, 39 . Art. No. L01402. ISSN 0094-8276
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Nittrouer, Jeffrey A. and Shaw, John and Lamb, Michael P. and Mohrig, David (2012) Spatial and temporal trends for water-flow velocity and bed-material sediment transport in the lower Mississippi River. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 124 (3-4). pp. 400-414. ISSN 0016-7606
Akagi, S. K. and Craven, J. S. and Taylor, J. W. and McMeeking, G. R. and Yokelson, R. J. and Burling, I. R. and Urbanski, S. P. and Wold, C. E. and Seinfeld, J. H. and Coe, H. and Alvarado, M. J. and Weise, D. R. (2012) Evolution of trace gases and particles emitted by a chaparral fire in California. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 12 (3). pp. 1397-1421. ISSN 1680-7316
Park, Hyo-Seok and Chiang, John C. H. and Bordoni, Simona (2012) The Mechanical Impact of the Tibetan Plateau on the Seasonal Evolution of the South Asian Monsoon. Journal of Climate, 25 (7). pp. 2394-2407. ISSN 0894-8755
Lamb, Michael P. and Nittrouer, Jeffrey A. and Mohrig, David and Shaw, John (2012) Backwater and river plume controls on scour upstream of river mouths: Implications for fluvio-deltaic morphodynamics. Journal of Geophysical Research F, 117 . Art. No. F01002. ISSN 0148-0227
Schneising, O. and Bergamaschi, P. and Bovensmann, H. and Buchwitz, M. and Burrows, J. P. and Deutscher, N. M. and Griffith, D. W. T. and Heymann, J. and Macatangay, R. and Messerschmidt, J. and Notholt, J. and Rettinger, M. and Reuter, M. and Sussman, R. and Velazco, V. A. and Warneke, T. and Wennberg, P. O. and Wunch, D. (2012) Atmospheric greenhouse gases retrieved from SCIAMACHY: comparison to ground-based FTS measurements and model results. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 12 (3). pp. 1527-1540. ISSN 1680-7316
Ballor, Nicholas R. and Paulsen, Ian and Leadbetter, Jared R. (2012) Genomic Analysis Reveals Multiple [FeFe] Hydrogenases and Hydrogen Sensors Encoded by Treponemes from the H_2-Rich Termite Gut. Microbial Ecology, 63 (2). pp. 282-294. ISSN 0095-3628
Huang, Xianglei and Yung, Yuk Ling (2012) Effects of Atmospheric Absorption of Incoming Radiation on the Radiation Limit of the Troposphere: Reply. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 69 (1). pp. 414-415. ISSN 0022-4928
Boxe, C. S. and Hand, K. P. and Nealson, K. H. and Yung, Y. L. and Saiz-Lopez, A. (2012) An active nitrogen cycle on Mars sufficient to support a subsurface biosphere. International Journal of Astrobiology, 11 (2). pp. 109-115. ISSN 1473-5504
Belyaev, Denis A. and Montmessin, Franck and Bertaux, Jean-Loup and Mahieux, Arnaud and Fedorova, Anna A. and Korablev, Oleg I. and Marcq, Emmanuel and Yung, Yuk L. and Zhang, Xi (2012) Vertical profiling of SO_2 and SO above Venus’ clouds by SPICAV/SOIR solar occultations. Icarus, 217 (2). pp. 740-751. ISSN 0019-1035
Zhang, Xi and Liang, Mao Chang and Mills, Franklin P. and Belyaev, Denis A. and Yung, Yuk L. (2012) Sulfur chemistry in the middle atmosphere of Venus. Icarus, 217 (2). pp. 714-739. ISSN 0019-1035
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Carter, William P. L. and Seinfeld, John H. (2012) Winter ozone formation and VOC incremental reactivities in the Upper Green River Basin of Wyoming. Atmospheric Environment, 50 . pp. 255-266. ISSN 1352-2310
Linde Center for Global Environmental Science
California Institute of Technology
1200 E. California Blvd., MC 131-24
Pasadena, CA 91125
Email: lindecenter@caltech.edu
Phone: (626) 395-8731
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