Today at Berkeley Lab: December 12, 2006

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Today

8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Employee Activities Assoc.
Karats Jewelry Sale
Cafeteria Lobby

Noon
Environmental Energy Technologies
Curbing Power Hungry Data Centers
Bill Tschudi and Arman Shehabi, Berkeley Lab/ UCB
Bldg. 90-3122

1:15 p.m.
EHS 735, 738, 739
Bloodborne Pathogen/Biosafety Training
Bldg. 70A-3377

3 p.m.
EHS 730
Bldg. Medical/Biohazardous Waste
70A-3377

4 p.m.
Life Sciences & Genomics Divisions
Mapping the Structure and Function of the Brain: Where We Are and Where We Want to be
Arthur Toga, UCLA
Bldg. 66 Auditorium

Tomorrow

8:30 a.m to 10:15 p.m.
Human Resources
New Employee Orientation
Bldg. 50 Auditorium

10 a.m.
EHS 123
Adult CPR
Bldg. 48-109

10 a.m.
EHS 62
WorkSmart Ergonomics
Bldg. 70A-3377

10:15 a.m.
EHS 10
Intro to EH&S at LBNL
Bldg. 50 Auditorium

11:30 a.m.
EETD
Performance of Daylight Responsive Dimming Systems
Anseop Choi, Sejong U., Korea
Bldg. 90-3122

Noon
Dance Club
Waltz Practice
Bldg. 51 Lobby

Noon
Yoga Club
Class with Naomi Hartwig
Bldg. 937-302

12:15 p.m.
Yoga Club
Class with Chris Hoskins
Bldg. 70-191

1 p.m.
EHS 116
First Aid Safety
Bldg. 48-109

1 p.m.
EHS
Lock Out/Tag Out Verification
Bldg. 70-3377

1 p.m.
Computational Research
An Integrated Predictive Simulation System for Earthquake and Tsunami Disasters/The GeoFEM Benchmarks for the Parallel Finite Element Method on NERSC Computers
Kengo Nakajima, U. of Tokyo
Bldg. 50B-4205

3 p.m.
Advanced Light Source
Micro-Scale Investigation of Ni(II) & Co(II) Uptake by Cement Using a Combination of Scanning Electron Microscopy and Synchrotron-Based Techniques
Marika Vespa, Paul Scherrer Institute
Bldg. 6-2202

4 p.m.
Chemical Sciences
Understanding the Atomic-Scale Aspects of Radiation Damage and Aging in Pu and Pu/Ga Alloys Through Computer Simulations
Alison Kubota, Livermore Lab
Bldg. 70A-3377

Morning Editions: Bacon, Egg and Cheese Sandwich with Roasted Potatoes
Tomorrow's Breakfast: Pork Chop and Egss with Home Fries
Market Carvery: Roast Pork with Baked Potato and Vegetable
The Fresh Grille: Patty Melt with Fries
Menutainment: Fiesta Taco Salad

B'fast:	6:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Lunch:	11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Full menu

Smoot, left, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, right

Smoot Collects Nobel
Prize in Trip to Sweden

It was champagne, bright lights, a royal banquet and glittering ballroom dancing for Berkeley Lab physicist George Smoot, who received his share of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics last Sunday at the awards ceremonies in Stockholm, Sweden. This year’s prize in physics went to Smoot and John Mather of NASA for their detailed observations of cosmic microwave background radiation from the COBE satellite. Go here to watch video of Smoot's Nobel lecture. As part of the ceremony, Smoot screened a video of the Cal Marching Band reenacting the Big Bang, which he choreographed with them on the field of Memorial Stadium last month.

Nobelist Lee Turns 70;
Chu, Fleming at Fête





Lee

Yuan T. Lee, the former Berkeley Lab chemist who won the 1986 Nobel Prize for his work in the field of reaction dynamics, is 70 years old this week, and his host institution in Taiwan is throwing him a party. An international symposium on "Trends in Chemical Dynamics: From Small Molecules to Biomolecules," is running through tomorrow, sponsored by the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica. Berkeley Lab Director Steve Chu co-moderated a dinner yesterday, and today he is chair and presenter on the panel, "Dynamics in Biological Systems." Deputy Director Graham Fleming; Chemical Sciences' Dan Neumark, Richard Saykally, Martin Head-Gordon and William Miller; and Materials Sciencies' Yuan Ron Shen are also on the program. Read about the symposium here.

Global Warming Skeptics Voice Their Opinions
By Peter N. Spotts





Muller

With alarms bells over global warming ringing ever louder, is it possible for an active scientist working on climate questions to be skeptical of the cause or future severity? Some who look through the lens of geological time hold that warming's impact on society pales in comparison with the sudden, natural swings in climate that can occur, with some even arguing for a form of geo-engineering to forestall the next ice age. One such scientist points to work by Berkeley Lab physicist Richard Muller, suggesting an unusual cosmic source for cooling cycles that occur roughly every 100,000 years. But in an interview, Muller chuckles and notes that measurements he hoped would bolster his case for periodic swings through a patch of cosmic dust as the culprit so far failed to turn up evidence of dust. Full story.

Alloy Holds Promise
Of Speedier Chip





Subramanian

Scientists at I.B.M. and two partner companies have developed a promising material that they believe will lead to a new kind of computer memory chip able to meet the growing appetite for storing digital music, pictures and video. Berkeley Lab materials scientist Vivek Subramanian, who has read the technical paper describing the project, said, “Everybody recognizes that scaling flash is going to be a problem in the long run. This looks like a really attractive technology that is both scaleable and consumes little power.” Full story.

Holiday Shutdown
Plans Due on Friday

Researchers who need special monitoring of experiments over the holiday break must submit a Special Needs memo by Friday. In addition, those who need to give Facilities special contact instructions in the event of a utility interruption must complete a Utility Interruption Notification. These forms and additional information are available on the Facilities website. Utility services to about 70 Berkeley Lab buildings will be curtailed Friday, Dec. 22, at 6 p.m. through Jan. 1. Contact Desiree Elvira or Bob Berninzoni for additional details.

Interruption in E-Mail
Service Yesterday

E-mail service was interrupted for 90 minutes yesterday, from 12:15 to 1:45 p.m. The outage, caused by a software problem, affected about half of the Lab's e-mail users. The IT Division has found a solution to prevent this from occurring in the future, and apologizes for the inconvenience.

Karats Jewelry Sale,
8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Today

Karats Jewelers will be at the Lab today, selling rings, bracelets, necklaces and other items at a 10-percent discount. Layaway payment plans are available. The sale takes place in the cafeteria lobby from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Group Discount
For SF Musical

Lab employees can receive discounted tickets for the Tony-award winning musical "Jersey Boys," which runs through next spring at the Curran Theater in San Francisco. A group of 20 can purchase center orchestra seats for $75 or center balcony for $60 for the March 8 performance. Those interested in attending must contact Henry Marr by Monday, Dec. 18.

WEATHER

Rain.
High: 58° (14° C)

Extended Forecast

EMERGENCY INFO

Emergency: Call x7911
Cell Phones: Call 911
Non-emergency Incident Reporting: Call x6999

SECON level 3

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