The mathematics of diffusion was established by Joseph Fourier (left) and Pierre Simon Laplace early in the 19th century, but they disagreed about methods and Fourier’s work was lost. It resurfaced a century later when Einstein (right) wrote about Brownian motion, establishing the reality of atoms. T. N. “Nari” Narasimhan, a guest in the Earth Sciences Division, tells the story in a recent edition of Physics Today. “Laplace and Fourier were natural philosophers seeking to comprehend a finite world subject to errors of discrete observations,” he writes, noting that to this day, “We continue to grapple with balancing the discrete and the continuous.” More>
Eddie Hercules Morris did just about everything in high school except study. He played football and baseball, held a steady job throughout his four years, was prom king and even did African drumming. A couple times, his GPA dropped to as low as 1.1. Ultimately, he barely graduated from Berkeley High School with a 2.14 GPA. Two years later, he’s spending the summer working in the laboratory of scientist Danielle Tullman-Ercek, putting engineered genes into bacterial cells to study protein pathways. How did this astonishing turnaround happen? More>
Spencer Klein of the Lab’s Nuclear Science Division will be the featured speaker at the next Science@Cal Lecture on August 21 at 11 a.m. in room 100 of the Genetics and Plant Biology Building on campus. His talk is entitled “Neutrino Astronomy in Antarctica." Klein helped build the IceCube neutrino observatory and is working on designing the proposed ARIANNA neutrino detector. More>
Video Feature: Catch All Five Carbon Smackdowns on YouTube You can catch all five of this summer’s Carbon Smackdown matches on Berkeley Lab's YouTube channel. Relive the blow-by-blow moments as Berkeley Lab scientists grapple with carbon emissions using some of the most advanced moves in the fight against climate change. Topics range from cook stoves in the developing world to carbon capture, wind warriors, smart windows, and visualizing clean energy.
An individual working at the Lab was seriously injured when his vehicle began moving while he was exiting it. While the cause of the accident has not yet been determined, drivers should always place their vehicle in park, turn off the engine, and engage the parking brake prior to exiting the vehicle.
The new hours for the 904 warehouse listed in the Aug. 13 issue of Today at Berkeley Lab have been changed again. Effective immediately, the warehouse, located at 380 Carlson Blvd. in Richmond, will be available by appointment only. Those needing access can contact Bill Llewellyn (734-1342) or Tom Hardy (x4938).
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