Researchers at UC Berkeley — including UC Berkeley professor and Berkeley Lab physical bioscientist Dan Fletcher — are proving that a camera phone can capture far more than photos of people or pets at play. They have now developed a cell phone microscope, or CellScope, that not only takes color images of malaria parasites, but of tuberculosis bacteria labeled with fluorescent markers. More>
Martin Jara, who worked in the IT Division’s Infrastructure Department, died Wednesday. He was 61 years old. He began his career at the Lab in 1993 and was with the Lab for 16 years. Jara was a telecommunications, networking and data communication specialist, providing support for audio/visual and video conferencing throughout the Lab. Jara was known for his kind and friendly attitude and for his dedication to providing outstanding support to his customers, said his supervisor, Ed Ritenour. He was also an accomplished musician and played in several local bands. He is survived by his wife Nancy Lewis, who works in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division. Memorial service information is not available at this time but will be posted in Today at Berkeley Lab when it becomes available.
Gravitational lensing is explained by Einstein's general theory of relativity: galaxies and clusters of galaxies, which are very massive objects, act on spacetime by causing it to become curved. Alexie Leauthaud (left) and Reiko Nakajima, astrophysicists with the Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, will discuss how scientists use gravitational lensing to investigate the nature of dark energy and dark matter in the universe. The event takes place Tuesday, July 28, at noon in the Building 66 Auditorium. Joe Gray, director of the Life Sciences Division, will present the final summer lecture on "Genome Science and Personalized Cancer Treatment" on Aug. 4. More>
To accommodate work on a water line in the area, the stack parking area near Buildings 75 and 69, located near the Grizzly Peak Gate, will be closed for eight weeks starting Monday. The small section of road in front of Building 75 will be closed as well as the adjacent bus stop. Traffic will be diverted around the security booth to the road. A pedestrian walkway is being planned for the area. Due to the bus stop closure, staff can use the nearby Building 26 bus stop to catch the Blue shuttle. A van will be available (trial basis) from 7 to 10 a.m. to take passengers to Buildings 69 and 75 from the 26 stop. For information on the construction, call x7239, and for the shuttle bus service, x4165.
Special Event: Open House Celebration of Aloke Chatterjee on Sunday The family of Aloke Chatterjee, former senior scientist and deputy director of the Life Sciences Division who retired in 2006, is hosting an open house in celebration of his life on Sunday. Chatterjee, a radiation biophysicist, passed away on June 20 at the age of 68. The open house will take place from noon to 4 p.m. at Endeavor Hall, 6008 Center St. in Clayton. Tributes will begin at 1 p.m.
In The News: Drive to Make Biofuels Thrive[Mercury News] Within the next decade, drivers in the Bay Area and around the country may get around powered by fuel made from pecan shells, switch grass or even poplar trees, thanks to local research funded by more than $700 million in grants. And researchers say the plant-based fuels nurtured by these efforts could be widely available at the pump at a cost comparable to gasoline, but better for the environment. As part of this effort, Chris Somerville (pictured) of the Energy Biosciences Institute and Blake Simmons of the Joint BioEnergy Institute are studying bioconversion, meaning biological processes like digestion, to access sugars. More>
To accommodate the removal of three dead trees, the road leading to the Blackberry Canyon parking lot (aka the Pit) will be closed tomorrow.
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