UC Receives Most
Patents in 2003

For the 10th consecutive year, the University of California is the leader among the nation's universities in developing new patents, according to a report by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In 2003, UC recorded a total of 439 patents. For the same year, Berkeley Lab recorded 22 domestic patents. Go here to read UC's press release, and here to see the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's announcement.

Chakraborty Joins Engineering Academy

Chakraborty

Berkeley Lab materials scientist Arup Chakraborty   is among the 76 new members and 11 foreign associates recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer, and honors those who have made "important contributions to engineering theory and practice, including significant contributions to the literature of engineering theory and practice. Go here to see a complete list of newly elected members.

Overseas Travel Deals Now Available

For employees who need to travel overseas, the Lab now has access to unrestricted international fares with United Airlines. The rates are effective for travel through June 30. The fares are changeable and refundable without any penalty. Among the fares available are Amsterdam for $760, Frankfurt for $680, Paris for $615, and Shanghai for $998 (one-way rates). Tickets can be purchased by calling Maritz travel agency at 888-243-1125 or visiting Travel Power, the Lab's online booking system. For more information, visit the Travel Office website.

Benson

Underground Project
for Cleaner Air
by Gary Polakovic

A deep underground, ambitious experiment -- called the Weyburn Project -- is underway in the Saskatchewan prairie to determine whether carbon dioxide can be safely buried. If so, carbon sequestration could be a way to reduce one of the biggest contributors to global warming. "When I first heard about this, my reaction was, 'Wow, this is really nuts,'" said Berkeley Lab Deputy Director Sally Benson . Full story (registration required).

From Space, A New
View of Doomsday
by Dennis Overbye

Perlmutter

Once upon a time, if you wanted to talk about the end of the universe you had a choice: either the universe would collapse under its own weight in a fiery "big crunch," or the galaxies, now flying outward from each other, would go on coasting outward forever. Now there is the Big Rip, one of a constellation of doomsday possibilities resulting from the discovery by two teams -- one of which was lead by Berkeley Lab's Saul Perlmutter -- of astronomers that a mysterious force called dark energy seems to be wrenching the universe apart. Full story (registration required).

Sunflower System
Down for Upgrades

The Sunflower Asset Management System will be offline for a major upgrade this week. Berkeley Lab Property Management is replacing the old client server system with a web-based version that promises to be faster and friendlier for users to enter transaction data and access reports. For information, contact Carol Earls.