Lab Physicist Lends
Holographic Expertise

Bousso

A recent article in the New York Times explores why scientists think it is important to explain why the theory of time travel is impossible. Among the experts quoted in the story is Berkeley Lab physicist Raphael Bousso. "Everything we know about stops at the Big Bang, the Big Crunch," he says. Bousso is an expert on holographic theories of space-time, a topic he will discuss during a Summer Lecture on Wednesday, July 27 at noon in the Building 50 Auditorium. Go here to read the New York Times story (registration required), and here to see a complete list of Summer Lecture speakers.

Life Detector
On Road to Mars

Mathies

The dry, dusty, treeless expanse of Chile's Atacama Desert is the most lifeless spot on the face of the Earth, and that's why Berkeley Lab physical bioscientist Richard Mathies and his student Alison Skelley joined a team of NASA scientists there earlier this month. They knew that if the Mars Organic Analyzer (MOA) they'd built could detect life in that crusty, arid land, then it would have a good chance some day of detecting life on the planet Mars. Full story.

DOE Forrestal Exhibit
Features Lab Artifacts

The Department of Energy's Office of Science introduced a new exhibit in the lobby of the Forrestal Building in Washington D.C. this week, featuring scientific displays from program offices and national laboratories. On loan from Berkeley Lab is one of E.O. Lawrence's first hand-held cyclotrons, a spark chamber, one of the original Time Projection Chambers, and the UVWaterworksTM water purifier. The exhibit will run through late August.

Opening the Lines
Of Communication

Chu

With the debut of this column, I hope to expand my lines of communication with employees by initiating a series of efforts that provide opportunities for you to hear from me, and for me to hear from you. I believe that honest, frequent two-way communication at all levels is essential in every successful organization, and Berkeley Lab is no exception. We will continue to hold our quarterly senior managers' "brown bags" at various places on and off the hill, inviting interested employees to have a dialogue with Deputy Director Graham Fleming, Associate Laboratory Director for Operations David McGraw, and me. Our next session will be Friday, July 22 in Building 937-302. Bring your lunch and your questions.

I am also reserving a space in the cafeteria for small group lunches with me each week that my schedule allows. We will rotate invitations through the divisions and departments, and I hope staff from all levels of service will join me to talk about the Lab and our work environment. This column, and a more extensive space in The View, will provide me forums for periodic announcements, key messages, and discussions of issues that I believe are important for all of us to understand. For example, this summer I will share my impressions of the Lab based upon my first year of service as Director.

Finally, we will initiate something this week called "Ask Steve." I want you to e-mail me if you have questions or concerns about anything at the Lab. I can't guarantee I will personally respond to all messages, but I promise to read them all and to provide answers when possible. If the question is relevant to a major portion of the Lab population, we will publish question and answer in Today at Berkeley Lab.

Here is the address: [email protected]. I hope to be hearing from many of you, in person or electronically, in the coming weeks.