Myer	Benson

TechTV Taps Lab For
Global Warming Solutions

Global warming, Hollywood style, comes to theaters this weekend with the opening of the disaster epic The Day After Tomorrow. In the film, New York City is drowned under a tidal wave, Los Angeles is swept away by tornadoes, and the Bay Area is glacierized. How can scientists fight back? TechTV came to Berkeley Lab to talk with Larry Myer and Sally Benson about underground carbon sequestration. Capturing carbon dioxide at the emission source and burying it in deep brine formations is one way to prevent global warming. The TechTV report can be viewed here (RealPlayer required).

Howard Hughes To Recruit
50 New Fellows

With its endowment recovering from a dip many foundations saw several years ago, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) said last week that it would launch a campaign to back the research of up to 50 new scientists, marking its first major recruitment effort in 4 years and a major investment by the institute. HHMI's annual research budget is around $500 million, and it expects to pump as much as $350 million in additional support into the biomedical research community over the next 7 years, according to Thomas R. Cech, the institute's president. Full story.

Lab’s One Angstrom Facility In Microscopy Spotlight

The current issue of Microscopy Today tells the story of how Berkeley Lab's One Angstrom Microscope (OAM) at DOE's National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) was able to achieve record-breaking resolution. The Facilities Department's John Musante worked closely with Michael O'Keefe and John Turner at NCEM to construct the cutting-edge facility, a design which has influenced installations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Scripps Research Institute, and the University of Sheffield in the UK. Participants from all four institutions relate their experiences here. Further details of the OAM are given here.

Abraham Touts Lab Programs In London Speech

Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham in a broad-ranging speech to British officials in London, addressed the profound energy challenges the world faces in the 21st century, as well as the future of DOE’s fundamental scientific research endeavors, including the Lab’s own Advanced Light Source, nanoscience center, and Genomes to Life program. The full text of his speech can be found here.

Donner Access Road
To Close on Monday

The mining circle north access roadway to Donner Lab on campus will be temporarily blocked next Monday from 9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. while construction workers at the adjacent Stanley Building project dismantle a crane. The Contractor will have traffic control and flagpersons in place and will assist Donner Lab deliveries and temporary parking (if needed) within the project site as necessary.