Bay Area To Get Unique
X-ray Microscope at ALS

Larabell

A first-of-its-kind x-ray microscope being built for the Advanced Light Source at Berkeley Lab holds forth the promise of “cat scans” for biological cells and other unprecedented capabilities for cell and molecular biology studies. The new microscopy resource also promises a better understanding of human diseases at the molecular level and possibly new discoveries for treating those diseases. Researchers with Berkeley Lab and the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) have received $2.5 million in grants to build the new microscope. Carolyn Larabell of Physical Biosciences is the principal investigator, and physicist Mark Le Gros is co-principal investigator. Full story.

ITER Planner to Give
Talk on Fusion Project

Sauthoff

The world nuclear physics community and the Bush Administration have deemed the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) a high priority for tokomak-based fusion energy research. The United States will be negotiating its part in the project. U.S. Planning Officer Ned Sauthoff of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory will talk to Berkeley Lab employees about the ITER program, its scientific benefits, and its road to implementation next Wednesday, April 7, at 11 a.m. in the Building 50 Auditorium, sponsored by the Nuclear Science Division.

New UC Web Site
Tracks Contract News

The University of California, as part of ongoing efforts to communicate with employees and others about the upcoming contract competitions for the laboratories, has launched a new website. Go here to get the latest news and information regarding lab contracts, competition schedules, employee benefits, messages from UC leadership and other information regarding the UC contracts. A separate link on the page connects to news about the Berkeley Lab competition. The Berkeley Lab home page also features a link directly to the contract update site.

Lori Tamura: Spreading
The Word About the ALS

Tamura and her Bonsai tree

As a writer and editor for the Technical and Electronic Information Department, Lori Tamura’s job is to help promote the work of the Advanced Light Source. She helps produce a variety of publications, including a monthly newsletter, an activity report, and science highlights. Tamura transferred from Los Alamos to Berkeley Lab in 1998. She says she enjoys her job because “I get to learn about new science, through writing, while indulging my craving for logic and order, by editing.” She admits to watching entirely too much TV, and she’s quite proud of the dead bonsai tree in her office, which she spray-painted green to make it look alive. “It brings the outdoors in, but is very low maintenance,” she laughs.

Weekend Power Outage
Will Affect Building 90

A scheduled electrical power outage will take place this Saturday and Sunday at Building 90 and all 90 trailers, part of a ventilation improvement project that should lead to air conditioning for the building by July. The outage will begin at about 5 a.m. Saturday and continue until around 5 p.m. Sunday to install a motor control center and circuit breakers. For information, contact Matt Hilburn at x7270 or Guy Kelley at x4703.

Cement Truck Traffic
Increases This Week

Continuing this week on the UC Berkeley campus as part of the Stanley Building reconstruction project, an increased number of cement trucks will be slowing traffic around the campus perimeter. The pour schedule will result in 30 to 40 concrete truckloads between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. each day.