DOE, UC Announce
One-Year Lab Extension

In separate news releases, the U.S. Department of Energy and the University of California on Friday announced a one-year extension for Berkeley Lab’s management contract, to Jan. 31, 2005. The current contract was scheduled to expire last Saturday. DOE’s statement said the extension was granted “to provide sufficient time to conduct a competition that results in an award” to the selected manager. UC President Robert Dynes praised the decision, noting that “We have a long tradition of scientific and engineering excellence at Berkeley Lab, and we are tremendously proud of the laboratory's ground-breaking achievements.” Read releases from the DOE, UC, and Dynes’ letter here.

Abraham Unveils FY05
DOE Budget Today

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham will release the Department of Energy's FY 2005 budget request today at DOE headquarters. The DOE budget is a portion of President Bush's overall budget request that will be presented to Congress. A webcast of the Secretary's remarks, beginning at 10 a.m. (Pacific Time), can be accessed here.

Politicians, scientists and tech industry leaders on Friday attended a ceremonial groundbreaking, ushering Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry into the bevy of nanotechnology labs and industries springing up Bay-Area wide to alter matter at the level of atoms and molecules. Now a "virtual center" for nanotechnology tools and scientists at multiple University of California campuses, the foundry in 2006 will assemble under one roof 240 experts in disciplines ranging from physics to biology to engineering and genetics, joined in pursuit of extraordinary substances and machines unseen by human eyes. Full story.

Nanotech 'Stars' Discuss
Its Potential and Pitfalls
By Bernadette Tansey

Alivisatos

It's no surprise that the Bay Area is a leading contender in the emerging field of nanotechnology. But could nanotechnology -- the design of materials about 50,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair -- bring changes in medicine, computing and energy, to name just a few arenas, that now seem like the realm of science fiction? The Chronicle invited three of the most prominent leaders in the field to join in a freewheeling discussion and give readers an insider's view of nanotechnology's potential and possible pitfalls. They include Venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, Don Eigler, of IBM's Almaden Research Center, and Paul Alivisatos, director of the Lab's Molecular Foundry. Full story.