Scientists have developed a way to inhibit the luminescence of quantum dots, and then activate them on demand. The nanosized beacons could help scientists understand how some diseases interfere with the traffic patterns of cellular proteins, and more importantly, how to treat such diseases. It could also reveal how different parts of a cell change over time, protein by individual protein. More> 
In The News: CellScope Makes Popular Science ‘Best of ‘08’ List[Popular Science] “Imagine you’re out in the middle of nowhere and you want to be able to diagnose malaria,” says Berkeley Lab physical bioscientist Daniel Fletcher, holding up what looks like a cellphone sprouting a kaleidoscope. All you have to do is aim the phone at a patient’s wan-looking skin or a drop of blood squeezed onto a microscope slide, he explains. Then you point, click, and hit “send.” The digital image zips to an off-site lab, where a technician scans it for signs of disease and e-mails back an initial diagnosis—all in less than 10 minutes. The technology made Popular Science’s “Best of What’s New ’08” list. More>
Research: ESnet Completes Construction of Science Data NetworkThe Department of Energy’s Energy Science Network (ESnet) has just completed hardware installations for the nation’s first dynamic circuit network dedicated solely to scientific research, called the Science Data Network (SDN). This new network consisting of multiple 10-gigabit optical circuits, each capable of transferring the equivalent of 500 hours of digital music per second, has extensive reach and enables close collaboration among DOE laboratories and research facilities across the United States, as well as scientists using international research networks in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and South America. More>
A town-hall meeting will be held for occupants and neighbors of Building 50 to discuss the seismic-upgrade construction that will take place there starting in January. The meeting will be held tomorrow at 9 a.m. in the Bldg. 50 Auditorium. Topics will include the occupant move plan, changes to building egress and parking, and construction activities. Contact Jack Heffernan for more information (x5993).
Lab staff can purchase discounted tickets to the ice-show version of Disney’s popular High School Musical movie, taking place at Oakland’s Oracle Arena March 4-8. Use BERKLAB as the promotion code.