Helios Funding Looking
Better in State Portfolio

Facing a $3 billion shortfall and the prospect of cutting social services, state lawmakers are wary of the governor's proposal to invest $95 million in technology research. The coming days will determine what wins out. But things look better for the $70 million in the research initiative for bonds that are earmarked for building a Berkeley Lab-UC Berkeley research facility. It would house the Helios Project, which aims to make solar energy cheaper and easy to store, and the Energy Biosciences Institute, which has already received $500 million from oil producer BP to study new and cleaner energy sources. The $70 million was included in the Legislature's final stab at the budget, known as a conference report, which was finished last Friday. Read San Jose Mercury-News reporter Kate Folmar’s story here.

Reporter Reviews History
Of DOE Lab Illness Plan

Contra Costa Times reporter Betsy Mason prepared a package of stories that were published last Saturday which charted the history of a government program offering compensation to former DOE workers exposed to toxic materials that made them ill. Since 2001, when the federal Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act went into effect, 148,181 claims have been filed. Of those that have been decided, 38 percent have been approved. For former employees of Livermore lab, 73 percent of the compensation decisions have been denials. At Berkeley Lab, 76 percent have been denied. Read her story here.

Lab Closed Tomorrow
For Fourth of July

July 4 is a time to celebrate our nation’s freedom and independence, and, for most people, that means freedom from work, too. Berkeley Lab is no exception. Today at Berkeley Lab wishes everyone a safe and sane holiday. Publication, and work, will resume Thursday.

Do Property Values Fall With Local Wind Turbines?
By Wendy Williams 

Ever since the 130-turbine Nantucket Sound wind power project known as Cape Wind was proposed in 2001, opponents have claimed that Cape Cod's shoreline properties would depreciate in value. Several years ago, Ben Hoen, a Bard graduate student, conducted a study that found no evidence of a drop in property values. Wanting to extend his study to obtain a much larger sample size, he spoke with Ryan Wiser, with Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division. Full story.

Implants Bring Hope To Toughest Handicaps

Imagine implants that restore sight to the blind. The University of California at Berkeley and Berkeley Lab are working together to create light-sensitive switches that can be flipped on and off as easily as a television's remote control in the body's cells. A major goal of the Nanomedicine Development Center is to equip cells of the retina with photoswitches. This would ideally enable blind nerve cells to see, restoring light sensitivity in people with diseases like macular degeneration. It is just one example of implant devices that are taking advantage of improvements in MEMS sensors and wireless communications to give hope to the medically handicapped. Full story.

Lab Name: Chronicle Gets It Wrong, Sets it Right

The story had it right – in last week’s announcement about the Department of Energy funding the Joint BioEnergy Institute, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that “a group led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will build and operate a $125 million biofuels research center.” But the front-page headline declared it was a “Livermore Lab” center. On the web site, SFGate.com, it was referred to in a headline as a “UC Berkeley” project. After education by Lab staff, the Chronicle corrected its mistake on the web and ran the above correction on June 28.