Smoot at Energy Forum

Nobelists: Sustainability
Needs Science, Public
By Erin Allday

Half a dozen Nobel laureates — including Berkeley Lab Director Steve Chu and Physicist George Smoot — met before a vibrant crowd of 600 at UC Berkeley Saturday afternoon to exchange suggestions for battling global warming, from expanding the country's nuclear power program to designing nanotechnology that would mimic the way insects dispose of energy waste. They agreed the U.S. has the technology and science know-how, but without widespread public and government support of energy conservation, technology can only go so far. "It's not going to be a scientific solution or an economic solution. In the end, the public has to buy into this," Chu said. Full story.

Scorekeeper Valerie Espinoza-Ross, with Earth Sciences

Science Bowl on Jan. 27;
Volunteers Needed

The Department of Energy's annual Science Bowl competition, in which teams from area high schools test their knowledge to win a spot at a national competition, comes to the Lab on Saturday, Jan. 27. Employees are invited to watch the competition, which runs from 8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. in various locations. Volunteers are also needed to assist with judging, timekeeping and scorekeeping. Those interested should attend a training session to be held tomorrow at 4 p.m. in Building 7-211. For more information, contact Joe Crippen (x4813).

Campus-Lab Buildings for Energy Study May Get UC Funding
By Ian Hoffman

The University of California is weighing "billions" in bond financing for new buildings, starting with more than $100 million in alternative energy and supercomputing facilities at Berkeley. Topping the list of beneficiaries are scientists — especially Berkeley alternative energy researchers led by Nobel laureate physicist and Berkeley Lab Director Steve Chu. In less than a half-hour Wednesday, he raced from pitching the Board of Regents to the Presidio to plead his case to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. By his estimates, Chu made more than 50 such presentations last year. His pitch is straightforward: Global warming is real, and the uncertainties are between "bad news and really bad news." But, Chu told regents Wednesday, "We can do something about this." Full story.

Network Upgrade
Outage Tomorrow

The IT Division will be upgrading LBLnet's wide-area network connection tomorrow from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. During this period, traffic between the Lab and the Internet will be interrupted, but the Lab's internal connections will be fine. For questions, call Ted Sopher (x4144) or Mike Bennett (x7913).


Details on UC Ethics Course For Lab Staff Coming

Friday's issue of Today at Berkeley Lab included a San Francisco Chronicle article on an online ethics course that all UC employees, including Berkeley Lab staff, will be required to take. The Lab's Human Resources department will announce the details on taking this course within the next few months. For more information, contact Sherri Harding (x7737).