Theodore Havel

This year’s Super Bowl kicked off on Sunday, February 8th, between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. Over 100 million people watch the Super Bowl every year, which creates a fierce competition between companies to create the best ads they can for the most effective viewer impression. The most heartwarming ad — rated USA Today’s #1 of Super Bowl 2026 — was Budweiser’s depiction of the relationship over time between a Clydesdale foal and an eagle chick. These animals are closely

OpenAI recently launched their latest image and video generation model, Sora 2, a tool enabling the production of images and video from a text prompt. The initial Sora model debuted in February 2024, and had the capability to generate short clips without any sound. The output was limited to a few seconds in length, or up to 20 seconds for the highest paid subscription. While the earliest models did not produce very high quality clips, the model technology has advanced quickly. At this point, it

The Mount Wilson Solar Observatory was founded in 1904 by George Hale, who was also a trustee of Throop Polytechnic Institute (which later became Caltech). The first telescope built on-site was the Snow Solar Telescope in 1904, followed closely by the 60-foot Solar Tower and the 60-i

On April 21st, 2025, Pope Francis passed away. His successor is Pope Leo XIV, whose papacy began on May 8th, 2025. Pope Leo was a close advisor to Pope Francis. In the summer of 2023, I attended a lecture and dinner at Mt. Wilson given by Brother Guy Consolmagno, Director of the Vatican Observatory in Rome, which has been in operation since 1930. The Vatican Observatory is also affiliated with the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope in southeast Arizona, operated in partnership with the Unive

In my time at Caltech, I have found that scientists love to both work hard and play hard. While preparing for a party and hanging decorations at Dabney Garden last Fall, I noticed a statue of the Japanese deity Tenjin, on which I placed an Earth-shaped lantern. This man sitting on a yak with a Japanese name was of particular interest to me, as I have studied the Japanese language for over 10 years. Why had this statue been placed in one of the most historic spaces on campus? Why is Tenjin import

DeepSeek is a new China-based startup that has created a Large Language Model (LLM) chatbot as capable as the current industry standard, ChatGPT. DeepSeek was founded in 2023. The new models created were out of necessity made on a much lower budget than most U.S.-based programs. The United States government restricts the number of NVIDIA and other AI chips exported

I just finished reading the new book Star Bound by Emily Carney and Bruce McCandless III (shoutout to my friend Paige Kaufman who released a podcast interview with the authors yesterday – Space Spiels, wherever you get your podcasts). In the book, the authors discuss – among other things – how we have successfully grown plants in lunar regolith brought back from the Apollo missions. This is especially relevant now, as Artemis is aimed at establishing a permanent base on the surface of the Moon

This past summer I was walking on campus when in a window I saw something I would not expect to see at a technical school – a flyer with the following poem printed on it: I don’t care how God-damn smart / these guys are: I’m bored. / It’s been raining like hell all day long / and there’s nothing to do and a photo of Caltech’s first and only poet in residence, Richard Brautigan. The more I thought about it, however, I realized that there is a strong connection between science and po

The Caltech Turtle Club, founded in 2021, began its campaign to change the school’s mascot from the beaver to the turtle in April 2024. One of their chief arguments, presented on the club’s website, is for uniqueness: “It’s time for Caltech to distinguish itself with a mascot that sets us apart. MIT may also boast the beaver, but we are Caltech – a beacon of originality and ingenuity. By embracing the turtle, we not only carve out our own identity but also symbolize our commitment to forging ou

Embedded in the story of food is the story of people: in modern society, the people who grow and harvest it, the people who distribute it, the people who cook it, and if we are at a restaurant, the people who serve it. Eventually, it reaches us. Cooking and eating together are essential parts of our days and lives. However, at one restaurant in Pasadena, food is the story of… a robot. CaliExpress by Flippy is a partnership between Miso Robotics, the Cali Group, and PopID. Miso Robotics was foun