Abraham (with Deputy Director Pier Oddone, left) at Berkeley Lab last week

Berkeley Lab Touted
For Science Education
By Betsy Mason

The head of the federal Energy Department called for more national labs to follow Berkeley Lab’s lead by sending scientists into community schools in an effort to excite students about science. The program would be one element of a DOE initiative to improve science and math education in the United States. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced the new program at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center on Thursday. Full story.

Director-Designate Chu
Named to NVIDIA Board

NVIDIA Corporation has announced the appointment of Dr. Steven Chu to its Board of Directors. Dr. Chu will become the Director of Berkeley Lab on Aug. 1. "We are honored to welcome Steve to our Board of Directors," stated Jen-Hsun Huang, president and CEO of NVIDIA. "The NVIDIA Board is gaining a world renowned physicist and visionary scientific leader. Steve's proven leadership in ground-breaking research complements NVIDIA's passion for developing new technologies and markets." NVIDIA is a market leader in visual computing technology, in particular graphics and communications processors for PC’s and games. Full story.

Video Shows Switchable
Mirror Technology

The amount of energy lost through the heating and cooling of windows cost U.S. consumers an estimated $9.3 billion a year. As much as 40 percent of this loss could be prevented through the widespread adoption of an R&D 100 Award-winning technology called "transition metal switchable mirrors," which was developed by the Berkeley Lab EETD team of Tom Richardson and Jonathan Slack. A video that shows how a thin-film coating, made from transition metals, enables glass to be switched back and forth from a transparent to a reflecting state can be viewed here (QuickTime required).

DOE Statement on Yucca
Mountain Court Decision

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham issued the following statement Friday reacting to multiple decisions reached by the U.S. Court of Appeals regarding Yucca Mountain: "I am pleased with today’s decisions handed down by the Court. The Court dismissed all challenges to the site selection of Yucca Mountain. Our scientific basis for the Yucca Mountain Project is sound. The project will protect the public health and safety." Read the entire DOE press release here. Read an Associated Press article about the decision here.