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Friday, August 28, 2009

Emergency Preparedness


Lab Disaster Exercise This Wednesday

The Emergency Services Program will hold the Lab's annual disaster exercise on Wednesday, Sept. 2. The exercise will evaluate the Lab's Emergency Response Organization and Alameda County Fire Department response to a plausible scenario at the Lab. Buildings 77, 48 and Blackberry Gate will be the sites participating in the exercise. Traffic signs will be posted in the area and shuttle buses will be routed around Building 77 when the exercise is in progress.

ALSSpecial Event: ALS User Meeting Oct. 15-17; Poster Abstract, Award Deadline is Monday

The Advanced Light Source will hold its 16th annual user meeting Oct. 15-17. It will be held jointly with the Molecular Foundry, with the two facilities participating in plenary talks, workshops, a poster session, and a banquet. This year's meeting will focus on energy and feature talks by Bill Brinkman (Director, Office of Science), Harriet Kung (Associate Director of Science for Basic Energy Sciences ), and Arun Majumdar (EETD Division Director). Scientific speakers include Pupa Gilbert (ALS), Mark LeGros (Physical Biosciences). The deadline for poster abstract submissions and award nominations is Monday. Early registration ends Sept. 25. More>

In The News: Smashing the Trillion-Zone Barrier

visualization[Scientific Computing] As computational scientists are confronted with increasingly massive datasets from supercomputing simulations and experiments, one of the biggest challenges is having the right tools to gain scientific insight from the data. One common method for gaining insight is to use scientific visualization, but the ever-growing size of scientific datasets presents a significant challenge to modern scientific visualization tools. The Department of Energy's Visualization and Analytics Center for Enabling Technologies (VACET) recently conducted experiments that provide "results that show visualization research and development efforts have produced technology that is today capable of ingesting and processing tomorrow's datasets," said Berkeley Lab's Wes Bethel, who is co-leader of VACET. More>

IT: Electrical Work Could Interrupt Phone, Internet Tomorrow

Tomorrow, between 8 and 11 a.m., electrical work will take place in Building 50A. Emergency and alternate power systems will be in place and no interruptions or outages are expected. However, the Lab's telephone switch and LBLnet (internet, e-mail) could be affected, and some AT&T cell phone users may experience some limitation in service at the Lab.

pilot carConstruction: Make Way for Pilot Cars Leading Trucks

The numerous construction projects taking place at the Lab mean a lot of truck traffic on the Hill. Any trucks 40 feet long or more traveling through the Lab require a pilot-car escort, a service being provided by Loadstar. These cars are identified by flags on the roofs. To improve safety during these trips, drivers should let the truck and pilot cars proceed along their route. Do not try to pass them or pull in between pilot cars and the truck. Loadstar personnel are assisting pedestrians at the Building 65 crosswalk in the morning and, during lunch, the cafeteria/Guest House crosswalk. More>

Construction: Parking Spots Blocked, Noise Due to Bldg. 71 Roof Work

Work to replace the roof on Building 71 will require the closure of 12 parking spots on the southeast side of the building. Occupants will hear workers on the roof throughout the project, scheduled to continue until Sept. 30. For more information, contact Mike Feder (x4167).

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