Building Better Bones
Topic of 'Friends' Talk

Tomsia

The next "Friends of Science" lecture will take place next Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the Building 66 Auditorium and feature materials scientist Antoni Tomsia. He will discuss "How to Build Better Bones," which explains how he and others are developing bone-like materials that could greatly improve implants such as artificial hips and shoulders. To reserve a spot, send e-mail here.

Witherspoon Lecture
On Methane Hydrates

Kennett

James Kennett, with the department of geological sciences at UC Santa Barbara, will deliver the next lecture in the Paul Witherspoon Distinguished Seminar Series. He will discuss "Methane Hydrates in Quaternary Climate Change: The Clathrate Gun Hypothesis," at 11 a.m. tomorrow in the Building 50 Auditorium. Witherspoon is a UC Berkeley emeritus professor and researcher in the Lab's Earth Sciences Division, which sponsors the seminar series. Go here for more information.

Asian Club Hosts
Lab Picnic

The Lab's Asian Club is hosting a picnic on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the cafeteria lawn. It will feature free Chinese and Japanese gourmet food and drinks, as well as traditional music and calligraphy demonstrations. All Lab employees are invited. Send e-mail here to confirm attendance.

Neumark

The Optical Society of America as awarded Chemical Sciences Division Director Daniel Neumark its William Meggers award, which recognizes outstanding work in spectroscopy. The award specifically honors Neumark's "pioneering contributions to the molecular spectroscopy of transient species, including transition state spectroscopy by photo-detachment, the development of anion zero-electron-kinetic-energy spectroscopy and time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy." He will receive the award at the society's annual meeting in October.

ARUBA Places Second
In Campus Competition

Gadgil with bottom ash

ARUBA (Arsenic Removal Using Bottom Ash), the low-cost technology for removing arsenic contamination from drinking water, received second prize in a competition of the Center for Entrepreneur- ship and Technology at UC Berkeley's College of Engineering. The Technology Breakthrough Award comes with a $500 prize, and cited ARUBA for "greatest immediate social impact." It was developed by a team of Berkeley Lab Environmental Energy Technologies Division researchers, led by Ashok Gadgil, to be affordable and effective in developing countries, especially Bangladesh, where arsenic-poisoned water threatens the health of millions of people. Go here for more information on ARUBA.