The strangest form of antimatter ever seen has been discovered by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. The new particle goes by the jaw-breaking name “anti-hyper-triton.” It could not have been found without STAR’s main detector, a time projection chamber invented, designed, and built at Berkeley Lab. More>
The “Discovery” track of Berkeley Lab’s LDRD encourages bold, highly innovative concepts with strong potential for impact in their fields. The winning proposals for 2010 are described in a five-part series, concluding with this look at the search for industrial solutions to producing band-gap graphene structures with nanoscale resolution. Industrial-scale processes require pure materials, tight control over quality, and a high yield. Carbon nanotubes fail on all counts, says materials scientist Yuegang Zhang. “Just getting carbon nanotubes lined up is a problem,” he says. “They have a tendency to get tangled like a garden hose.” More>
Last week, Berkeley Lab was hit by a particularly nefarious targeted phishing attack that has fooled even the most cautious users. To help avoid future attacks, the cyber security team has published details about this most recent and prior attacks. The details show the methodologies used by these increasingly sophisticated attacks, such as e-mails referring to familiar scientific projects and appearing to come from colleagues. Tips and resources to help you avoid becoming a victim are available here.
HR Benefits: $100 Gift Card for Completing Health AssessmentEmployees and their spouses or domestic partners who are enrolled in non-Kaiser medical plans are eligible for free, confidential, health assessments and follow-up wellness coaching under UC’s StayWell program. The University is offering a $100 gift card to employees who complete a health assessment by Thursday, April 15. Spouses and domestic partners receive a $50 gift card. The cards may be used at dozens of retailers, restaurants, specialty shops, and online stores. Those who completed a health assessment and received a gift card last year may participate again this year. More>
In Memoriam: Thomas Pigford, 1922-2010Thomas Pigford, professor emeritus and founding chair of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at UC Berkeley, and an influential voice in nuclear policy, died Feb. 28 at the age of 87. During his tenure on campus, he led a research program to develop theoretical means for predicting the long-term behavior of radioactive and chemical waste disposed of underground. Pigford came to UC Berkeley in 1959, at the behest of then Chancellor Glenn Seaborg. He also held a position as a senior scientist at Berkeley Lab. More>
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