Today at Berkeley Lab: September 6, 2006

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

Today

Noon
Dance Club
West Coast Swing
Bldg. 51 (Bevatron) lobby

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

Noon
Yoga Club
Class with Chris Hoskins
Bldg. 70-191

3 p.m.
Advanced Light Source
Ferromagnetic Semiconductors Formed by Ion Implantation and Pulsed-laser Melting
Oscar Dubon, UC Berkeley
Bldg. 6-2202

4 p.m.
Seaborg Center
PuCoGa5: Dazed and Confused Superconducting 5f Electrons?
Eric Bauer, LANL
Bldg. 70A-3377

Tomorrow

7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
EHS
Iron Age Shoemobile
Temporary Location: Bldg. 56 Parking Lot

Noon
EETD
Refrigerator Energy Efficiency Standards in Ghana
Essel Ben Hagen, Institute of Industrial Research
Bldg. 90-3122

4 p.m.
Life Sciences & Genomics
Regulatory Mechanisms Controlling the Balance Between Cell Life and Death
Atan Gross, Weizmann Institute of Science
Bldg. 66 Auditorium

Morning Editions: Breakfast Burrito with Hash Browns and Toast
Tomorrow's Breakfast: Avocado and Cheese Omelette with Fruit and Toast
Market Carvery: Cheese Manicotti with Salad and Garlic Bread
The Fresh Grille: Grilled Prime Rib Sandwich with Onion Rings
Menutainment: Chicken Stir Fry with Egg Fried Rice

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

NERSC Hours Used To
Improve Storm Defense

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been using 800,000 hours of time on the Department of Energy's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) at Berkeley Lab to create revised models for predicting the effects of storm surges along the Gulf Coast. In particular, simulations were generated this summer for the critical five-parish area of Louisiana surrounding New Orleans and the Lower Mississippi River. These revised models are serving as the basis of design for levee repairs and improvements currently being designed and constructed by the Corps of Engineers in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's destruction in New Orleans. Read a fact sheet about the work here.

Gelco - Helpful Hints
Platforms/Browsers/FAQs

Since upgrading to Gelco 9.0, the Travel Office has received many inquiries. One frequently asked question relates to the time it takes to save documents. Using the Gelco vendor supported platform Windows XP (Professional/Home) running the Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0, 5.5 and 6.0 browsers should keep the time to a minimum. Although Gelco does not formally support the Macintosh platform, the application may run satisfactorily on a Macintosh OS X operating system running the Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.6 browser. Go here to download Mozilla Firefox, and here to read additional Gelco FAQs.

Safety Shoe Service Changes Location

Due to the earthmoving activities in the Building 51 (Bevatron) parking lot, the Iron Age Shoemobile will temporarily park in front of Building 56, just north of its current location off of Alvarez Road. Call Betsy MacGowan (x2826) for additional information.

Global Warming Plan
Could Be Costly
By Marc Lifsher





Benson

California's ambitious plan to curb global warming will be costly to businesses and consumers, experts say, and its effect on the climate could be negligible -- unless other states and nations follow. Under the state bill, a carbon dioxide emissions trading market would be created. A company that emits less than its quota allows would be able to sell pollution credits to another firm that can't hit its target. How well that market functions could play a major role in determining whether electricity prices rise or possibly fall. Berkeley Lab earth scientist Sally Benson said studies foretold possible hikes in electricity bills of as much as 20 percent to pay for the cost of disposing excess carbon dioxide underground. Full story. Benson was also quoted in another LA Times story on this topic.

Nanotube Resonators
Break Gigahertz Barrier





Zettl

Physicists in the U.S. have created nano- electromechanical system (NEMS) resonators that achieve self-detectable mechanical resonance at frequencies greater than 1.3 GHz. Based on a carbon nanotube (CNT) structure, the devices can operate at room temperature and in air at atmospheric pressure. When taken together, these features are described as a "Holy Grail" of NEMS resonator performance. Previous CNT resonators were limited to 200 MHz and could not operate at atmospheric pressure. Created by Berkeley Lab materials scientist Alex Zettl and colleagues at UC Berkeley, the NEMS also proved to be very sensitive mass detectors with 10-18g (attogram) resolution. Full story.

Unauthorized Absences And Job Abandonment

The Laboratory is proposing to implement policies on unauthorized absences and job abandonment. The proposed policies provide clear definitions and procedures for addressing these issues for employees and supervisors. The proposed policies may be found here. These policies apply to nonrepresented employees only. Represented employees should contact their union representative or consult their collective bargaining agreement. To comment on these proposed changes, contact Human Resources (MS 90R2121) by Friday, Oct. 6.

WEATHER

Partly cloudy.
High: 72° (22° C)

Extended Forecast

SECURITY CONDITION

SECON level 3

More Information

INFO