Price

Lab Plan for Safer Airports Complete
By Betsy Mason

Airports are considered prime targets for terrorists, but a new blueprint developed by Sandia/California and Berkeley Labs could make them safer from chemical and biological attacks. A five-year project, which included simulated biological attacks at San Francisco International Airport, has resulted in guidelines for airports nationwide. Finished this week and expected to be distributed soon, the report includes plans to better prevent, detect and respond to attacks. "If you had to bet money on where the next attack would be, airports would be high on the list," said Berkeley Lab physicist Phillip Price. Full story.

Physics Feat Bodes Well
For Evolved Accelerator
By Betsy Mason

Giant, billion-dollar particle accelerators have been at the cutting edge of physics for decades. But now researchers at Berkeley Lab are pioneering a new technique that promises results from a much smaller, much cheaper device. Instead of a two-mile-long accelerator, like that used at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, researchers are shooting for a tabletop version. Instead of a billion dollars for such a device, researchers believe they can deliver a radically smaller version for a few million. Full story.

Creative Waste
Management in Space

Chang

For Mars-bound astronauts, fuel may be just one flush away. Shih-Ger Chang, a senior scientist at Berkeley Lab, has developed a recipe to feed astronauts on a three-year round-trip mission to Mars. What is his secret ingredient? Human waste. Full story.

Physics Nobel Goes to
'Theory of Everything' Trio
By Simon Johnson

Three American scientists won the 2004 Nobel physics prize on Tuesday for showing how tiny quark particles interact, helping to explain everything from how a coin spins to how the universe was built. David Gross, David Politzer and Frank Wilczek showed how the attraction between quarks — nature's basic building blocks — is strong when they are far apart and weak when they are close together, like the tension in an elastic band when it is pulled. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said their work helped give "a unified description of all the forces of Nature ... from the tiniest distances within the atomic nucleus to the vast distances of the universe." Full story.

Computer Forensics
Topic Of Brown Bag

With the number of security-related incidents at an all-time high, conducting investigations of incidents in a manner that preserves legal evidence has become more important than ever. The next Computer Protection Brown Bag Event will cover computer forensics. Come to Building 70A-3377 at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 12, to hear Charles Hessifer of Guidance Software talk about forensics and demonstrate how forensics software works. Bring your lunch and your questions.

Spots Still Open for
XP Security Course

Enrollment is open for the upcoming Windows XP Security hands-on course to be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 20, in Building 90-0026. Go here to read the course description, and here to enroll. Enrollment is free, but space is limited.