Kibosh Put on Alternate
Theory of Star Formation
By Robert Sanders

A protostar accreting gas, creating a dense wake behind it

Astrophysicists at UC Berkeley and Livermore Lab have exploded one of two competing theories about how stars form inside immense clouds of interstellar gas. Using supercomputer simulations — some of which were conducted at Berkeley Lab — that take into account the turbulence within a cloud collapsing to form a star, the researchers conclude that the "competitive accretion" model cannot explain what astronomers observe of star-forming regions studied to date. Full story.

CERN Courier Celebrates
Antiproton Discovery

Chamberlain

It was 50 years ago this month that Physical Review Letters published the paper "Observation of Antiprotons" by Owen Chamberlain, Emilio Segrè, Clyde Wiegand and Tom Ypsilantis, from what was then known as the Radiation Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley, which announced the discovery of the antiproton. The latest issue of the Cern Courier features a story about the epic quest for the antiproton that eventually won the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physics for Chamberlain and Segrè. You can read the story here.

Study Says Coffee
No Threat to Health

Krauss

In a recent study, drinkers of decaf coffee had modestly higher levels of “bad” cholesterol than those who drank regular coffee, or no coffee at all, but the study’s author said there was no health threat. Other experts were skeptical of the study’s results, including Berkeley Lab Genomics Division scientist Ronald Krauss who said it should not be the basis for making any recommendations to the public. Full story.

For the first time in 15 years, employees can enroll in the Supplemental Disability Plan or decrease their Supplemental Disability Plan waiting period without the normal requirement of first submitting a statement of health and receiving approval from the insurance carrier. These changes can be made during November’s Open Enrollment period. Go here for more details on this program.

Lab Students Featured
In DOE Research Journal

The Office of Science has issued Volume Five of its Journal of Undergraduate Research, representing the best work by undergraduate participants in their internship programs. This issue includes two papers by Berkeley Lab students: “Examining Rhodium Catalyst Complexes for Use with Conducting Polymers Designed for Fuel Cells in Preparing Biosensors” by Melisa Carpio and mentor John Kerr of Environmental Energy Technologies; and “Modeling DNA Repair: Approaching in Vivo Techniques in the Hyperthermopile Sulfolobus Solfataricus by Jessica Blanton and mentors Jill Fuss, Steven Yannone, John Tainer, and Priscilla Cooper of Life Sciences. PDF copies of the journal are available here. Contact Laurel Egenberger (x5190) for a hard copy.

Synthetic Biology Talk
On Campus Tomorrow

Smolke

Christina Smolke, Cal Tech professor and UC Berkeley chemical engineering alumna, will be visiting the campus tomorrow as part of the Lab’s Synthetic Biology Seminar Series. Her talk will begin at 4 p.m. in the Bechtel Engineering Center’s Sibley Auditorium. She will discuss "Programmable Molecular Sensors and Switches: Applications in Metabolic Engineering, Intelligent Therapeutics, and Biosensors." This talk will be webcast live. To watch it, and view previous lectures, go here.