JGI Releases Latest
Genome Database

An enhanced version of the Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) data management system of the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) has been made available to the public. The new version, IMG 1.2, contains 270 additional public genomes and nine (four finished, five drafts) new JGI genomes. IMG 1.2 enables users to add annotations as well as save the results of their analysis of organisms and genes. IMG 1.2 also features enhanced comparative analysis capabilities, including VISTA exploration of sequence conservation for selected organisms and KEGG pathway and COG category profiles across all organisms. Full story.

Not Much Scientific Savvy
In U.S., Says Researcher

Political scientist Jon Miller sees America as a land of haves and have-nots — in terms not of money, but of knowledge. Miller studies how much Americans know about science and what they think about it. His findings are not encouraging. While scientific literacy has doubled over the past two decades, only 20 to 25 percent of Americans are "scientifically savvy and alert," he said. Most of the rest "don't have a clue." Full story.

Summer Lecture Tapes
Available For Viewing

Five talks from this past season of the annual Berkeley Lab Summer Lecture Series are available on videotape for viewing. Included in the selections are Lab Director Steve Chu's second lecture, entitled "New Solutions to the Energy Crisis" on August 1. Others feature physicists Rafael Bousso ("The World as a Hologram"), Carl Haber ("Imaging Voices of the Past"), and Hitoshi Murayama ("E=mc2"), and geologist Barbara Romanowicz ("Seismic Imaging of the Earth's Interior"). The tapes may be checked out from the Berkeley Lab Library in Building 50A-4206.

Give Blood, Save Lives
At Lab Donation Drive

The American Red Cross Bloodmobile will be at Berkeley Lab next Tuesday and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., just outside the cafeteria. Go here to make an appointment (click "registration" link, sponsor code is LBL). For questions, contact Clark Wood (x6489), or Heather Pinto (x4181). Those interested in donating funds to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief can call 594-5100 for more information.