Saykally

Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham yesterday announced the seven winners of the 2004 E.O. Lawrence Award.   Each winner will receive a gold medal, a citation and $50,000. The award is given in seven categories for outstanding contributions in the broadly defined field of atomic energy. Berkeley Lab's Richard Saykally, with the Chemical Sciences Division, was among those named. All but one of the winners is affiliated with the University of California. Go here to read the DOE's press release on the awardees, and here to read a Berkeley Lab release on Saykally's receipt of the award.

Cui Among Top
Young Innovators

Cui

Technology Review, a publication of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, recently named the top 100 young innovators of nanotech. Among the group is Berkeley Lab guest Yi Cui, who works in the Materials Sciences lab of Paul Alivisatos. Many of this year's TR100 honorees, the article says, "are turning to nanotechnology to gain an unprecedented level of precision, control, and flexibility in creating new materials and devices. Go here to see the complete list of innovators(Cui's profile is second on the list).

UC Berkeley Clears
Invasive Trees

At a time when the traditional fire season is in full swing, UC Berkeley is wrapping up a fire prevention project this month that will remove almost 6,000 eucalyptus trees from the hills surrounding the campus. The Claremont Canyon Phase 4 project is one part of a 10-year plan to ultimately remove more than 25,000 eucalyptus trees. The non-native eucalyptus trees are aggressive growers and particularly dangerous in a fire. Other fire prevention work on campus has been in collaboration with Berkeley Lab as well as other cities and agencies. Full story.

Neumark

By observing how a single electron behaves amid a cluster of water molecules, a team of Berkeley Lab scientists, led by Chemical Sciences Division Director Daniel Neumark, better understands the fundamental process that drives a myriad of biological and chemical phenomena, such as the formation of reactive molecules in the body that can cause disease. The researchers used an extremely fast imaging technique to observe an excited electron, surrounded by several dozen water molecules, relax back to its original energy state. Full story.

Contract RFP Delayed;
UC Panel Supports Bid

The University of California Regents were told yesterday that the draft Request for Proposals (RFP), preliminary to a historic competitive bidding process for the Berkeley Lab management contract, remains at the U.S. Department of Energy and may not be released until after the election in November. In that case, according to UC Vice President Robert Foley, the current UC contract set to expire in January will "probably" be extended again. At the same meeting in San Francisco, Bill Friend of the UC President's Council on the National Laboratories reported the council's strong support for UC competing to continue managing Berkeley Lab. "Do a first-class proposal that blows away the competition," he urged the Board. A summary of the council's recommendation can be read here.

Calling All Bicyclists:
Obey Rules, Stay Safe

Three bicycle accidents over the past several weeks on the Hill has prompted the safety and security office at Berkeley Lab to issue an urgent call for all bicycle commuters to observe traffic rules and use caution on the roads. The Lab's hillside terrain requires extreme care, in particular on downhill roads, and speed limits - as well as all other automobile laws - are in effect for bicycles, too. Updated equipment maintenance is also encouraged. For more information, go here to read UC Berkeley's "Rolling Through Berkeley" brochure, including a section on "Safe Riding."