Light-Emitting Diodes
Can Brighten the Night

Evan Mills, of Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division, is the author of an article in today's issue of Science which proposes that highly-efficient, cost-effective white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) be promoted as a replacement for the inefficient, polluting fuel-based lighting that is now widely used in developing nations. In his article, Mills notes that more than 1.6 billion people have no access to electricity, and many others have only intermittent access. Those who can afford some type of illumination when it's dark rely on lamps that burn kerosene, diesel, propane, or biomass-based fuels. Full story.

UC Team to Compete
For LANL Contract

The University of California Board of Regents voted yesterday to pursue continued management and operations of Los Alamos National Laboratory by submitting a competitive proposal to the Department of Energy. The deadline for the proposal is July 19. The final bid will be submitted by a UC and Bechtel-led team that includes BWX Technologies Inc. and Washington Group International, as well as a consortium of New Mexico higher education institutions. Full story.

Call Issued for '06
INCITE Proposals

DOE's Office of Science is now seeking proposals for large allocations of computing resources through the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program. Now in its third year, INCITE has been expanded to include high end computing resources at four DOE labs, including NERSC, or National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (located at Berkeley Lab), as well as Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, and Argonne Labs. Go here for more information.

Purchase Discounted Waterworld Tickets

A representative from the Lab's Employee Activities Association will be in the cafeteria today, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. selling discounted tickets for Waterworld in Concord. The tickets are good for May 28, 29, and 30, and June 18, 19, 26 and 26. The cost is $10 for each ticket, which is a $10 savings over the regular price.

Tucson Getting Hotter,
Even When Sun is Down
By Lourdes Medrano

	Levinson

If you've been in Tucson for some years, you know those moonlight walks aren't as cool as they used to be. Blame the so-called "urban heat island" effect for keeping you drenched in sweat well into the night. Climate experts say that as cities like Tucson expand, the growing mix of buildings, dark roofs and asphalt absorbs more of the sun's rays. This makes cities hotter than their rural surroundings, creating a heat island. "We've seen this trend in many cities, where there are more dark surfaces and fewer trees," said Ronnen Levinson, with Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division. Full story.

ESnet Adds City-Area
Ethernet Networks

Johnston

The Energy Sciences Network, or ESnet, is adding 10G Ethernet metropolitan-area networks in key U.S. cities in a move that could increase commercial development of this emerging technology. ESnet is one of the fastest IP networks in the world and ranks as a leader of network technology. Run by the Department of Energy, ESnet supports thousands of government, industry and university scientists who conduct experiments in areas such as high-energy physics, human genomics, and climate modeling. The article quotes William Johnston, the ESnet program manager here at Berkeley Lab. Full story.

Microarrays Could Help
Clean Tomales Bay

Andersen

After an outbreak of Norwalk-like viruses near Tomales Bay in 1998, government officials and local residents are looking into the best way to clean up this popular body of water. John Hulls, a writer with the Point Reyes Light weekly newspaper, contacted Berkeley Lab earth scientist Gary Andersen, for more information. Andersen has developed "microarrays," a chip that uses 500,000 DNA probes to identify and quantify more than 9,000 individual bacteria. Full story.