Chu Speaks Tonight
At Commonwealth Club

Chu

Berkeley Lab Director Steve Chu will discuss his fascinating career in science — from his New York roots, to his Nobel Prize in Physics, to his current leadership and research strategy — at a Commonwealth Club program tonight, co-sponsored by the Exploratorium. Part of the museum's tribute to the 100 years of Nobel Prizes, the Chu conversation begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Club headquarters at 595 Mission St. in San Francisco. It will be taped for subsequent broadcast on national public radio stations. Go here for information on attending the talk, and here for background on the Exploratorium tribute.

Olsen (left) and Owen

Foundry Plumbers Play
Role in Controlling Fire

On Wednesday, July 13, Critchfield Mechanical, Inc., plumbers Robert Owen and Erik Olsen were on their way home from their day of work at the Molecular Foundry. As they approached Fish Ranch Road along Grizzly Peak, they saw a fire flare up in the brush. They jumped from their vehicles and tried to stomp out the blaze, and when unsuccessful, they phoned the fire department. Owen and Olsen also assisted the responding firemen in laying out the hose. The fire, caused by a trucker's wayward flare, was quickly extinguished, resulting in little damage — thanks in large part to the actions of the two Berkeley Lab subcontractors.

Sweet Bioscience Could
Aid in Disease Diagnosis
By David Pescovitz

Bertozzi

UC Berkeley professor and Berkeley Lab researcher Carolyn Bertozzi keeps a close watch on carbohydrates, but it's not because she's on a trendy diet. In her chemistry laboratory, Bertozzi pays close attention to the carbohydrates that dot the surface of cells. These sugars decorating the cellular landscape are implicated in myriad biological processes, from intracellular communication to the growth of tumors. Bertozzi, a professor of chemistry and of biochemistry and molecular biology, and her graduate students have devised new chemical tools to uncover how the sugar structures change based on various factors. Someday, their research could aid doctors in diagnosing cancer and other diseases. Full story.

U.S. Gets More Asian
Pollution Than Thought

Air pollution blows across the Pacific Ocean from Asia to North America far more regularly than was previously thought, says a new UC Davis study. The findings are likely to affect attempts to clear hazy skies over much of the U.S. and to understand how growing Asian air pollution will influence global climate change. "As it turns out, Asian pollution, particularly in the Sierra-Cascade range and elsewhere in the American West, is the rule, not the exception,” said UC Davis atmospheric scientist Steve Cliff. The lead author on the new study is Tony VanCuren, of UC Davis. Co-authors are Cliff and Michael Jimenez-Cruz, a Berkeley Lab researcher at the Advanced Light Source, and Kevin Perry from the University of Utah. Full story.