[Nature News] Albert Einstein predicted that clocks should run more slowly in stronger gravitational fields, and now a team led by Holger Müller (right) of the Chemical Sciences Division and UC Berkeley’s Physics Department has measured the time-shift more accurately than ever before. Using special clocks with a height difference of just 0.1 millimeters — a set-up that seems quaintly small in this day of big physics — they showed that gravity's effect on time is predictable to seven parts in a billion. What made the experiment possible was the laser atom trap that won Steven Chu the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1997, and indeed the former Berkeley Lab director and current Secretary of Energy was a member of Müller’s research team. More>
Those who missed any of the talks presented as part of the Lab’s Carbon Cycle 2.0 symposium that took place earlier this month, or just want to see them again, can do so on the CC2.0 website. Edited YouTube videos of each symposium speaker are posted there, as well as the unedited simulcasts of each presentation.
Fifty-seven middle school students along with teachers and parents, from the Athenian School in Danville, visited the Lab last Friday as part of the Center for Science and Engineering Education's “Berkeley Lab Educational Visits” program. They were welcomed by Aundra Richards of the DOE Berkeley Site Office, participated in hands-on activities related to their chemistry and physics coursework, toured the Advanced Light Source and Environmental Energy Technologies Division research labs, and finished the day exploring liquid nitrogen. Athenian is an independent school that serves grades 6-12.
The Lab is holding a public meeting tonight to present and receive comments about the Seismic Phase 2 project. If approved by the Regents and the Department of Energy, the project would demolish some existing structures, seismically strengthen Building 85/85A, and provide for construction of a general purpose laboratory, bringing about 130 researchers back to the Hill. The meeting takes place at the North Berkeley Senior Center (1901 Hearst Ave.) at 7 p.m. More>
From training sessions on the restart of UCRP contributions to a workshop on coping with change, the HR Benefits department hosts a number of events to help staff manage their work and life. To assist in tracking upcoming events, the department produces a monthly calendar, and the March edition is now available.
The UC Berkeley Men’s Basketball team is currently in first place and is set to play its final two home games. The first is tonight at 6 p.m. against the Arizona Wildcats and the second is Saturday against 2nd place Arizona State at noon. Lab staff are invited to purchase discount tickets to the games (use LAB for promotion code).
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