Low-Cost Malaria Drug
Honored at Forum
By Berndette Tansey

Bay Area companies dominate the list of awardees to be honored as technology pioneers by the influential World Economic Forum at its celebrity- studded meeting next month in Davos, Switzerland. Among the honorees is Amyris Biotechnologies, which was co-founded by Jay Keasling, director of Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division. The company uses a re-engineered microbe to produce high yields of a malaria drug called artemisinin at a low cost. Full story. Go here to see a list of all the California companies honored by the World Economic Forum.

When a Giant
Walked the Earth
By Henry Fountain

Price

The Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2, a five-year drilling effort that ended in 1993, produced a core representing about 110,000 years of ice accumulation. The core has been used to study long-term climate fluctuations. Measurements of atmospheric methane trapped in the ice, for example, have been used to show how global temperatures rose and fell over thousands of years. But methane measurements at several points along the core, all within about 300 feet of the bottom, are much higher than all the others. The question for Berkeley Lab nuclear physicist P. Buford Price is what caused those methane spikes. Full story (requires registration).

Motorists and Cyclists
Should Exercise Caution

In November, a Lab employee exiting Grizzly Peak Gate by car was struck by a cyclist riding down Centennial Drive at a high speed. The cyclist required hospitalization. The accident underscores the need for pedestrians, motorists, and cyclists to be vigilant as they enter and exit the Lab. The California Vehicle Code (CVC) specifies minimum requirements for bicycle lighting and reflective visibility and safety equipment. All bicycle riders on Lab property must wear approved helmets and obey CVC and Lab traffic and parking regulations (including speed limits and signs), and use a headlamp when riding in the dark. Go here for more information.

EETD Scientist Wins
Fulbright Scholar Grant

Mohamed

Sodky Hamed Mohamed, a guest in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division, was recently awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant. He works in EETD's Windows and Daylighting Group. His research focuses on the characterization and optimization of the properties of transition metal oxides and oxynitrides. He is one of approximately 850 foreign faculty and professionals the Fulbright Scholar Program will bring to the U.S. for teaching and research.

Computing Staffer Gets
'Young Scientist' Award

Yu-Heng Tseng, a scientist in the Computational Research Division's Scientific Computing Group, was recently honored as an "Outstanding Overseas Young Scientist" by the Foundation for the Advancement of Outstanding Scholarship in Taiwan. Tseng, a native of Taiwan, works on a global climate research project funded under the Department of Energy's Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) program.

Energy Expert Edits
Efficiency Publication