Summer Lecture Today:
Hope, Hype of Clean-Up

Bioremediation bacteria Rhodococcus

Today at noon in the Building 50 auditorium, leading authority on bioremediation Terry Hazen of the Earth Sciences Division will present the fourth lecture in this summer's lecture series. He'll discuss when it’s best to resort to engineered bioremediation of contaminated sites, and when it’s best to rely on natural attenuation. Recent advances have greatly broadened the potential applications for bioremediation in cleaning up many types of contamination. At the same time, however, scientists can better gauge how quickly contaminants can be degraded without human intervention. Go here for a complete schedule of this summer's lectures.

Library of Congress Tests Audio Preservation Method

Haber

At the Library of Congress, in a small, white room with bright red carpet, physicist Carl Haber sits down to play a record from 1930. It's a recording of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Iolanthe." But here's the strange thing: This record is broken. Haber, with Berkeley Lab’s Physics Division, was featured July 16 on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition for his work developing a technique that scans old and damaged records and makes digital recordings of them. The technique is undergoing testing at the Library of Congress. Go here to read a transcript of the broadcast and to listen to an audio file of the segment.

Relying on Science
To Conserve Energy

When Glenn Haege, the “Handyman” reporter for the Detroit News, wants to share energy conservation tips with his readers, he consults Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division for tips. Among the bits of information Lab experts have shared: Water heaters use more energy to heat water up and keep it hot than they do to heat it up once. The same energy is required to heat up the water regardless of whether it is heating a little bit at a time, or all at once. So, turning the water heater off for a few hours each day saves some energy. Full story.

Cell Phone Company
Reps Onsite July 25

AT&T (formerly Cingular Wireless) and Verizon Wireless will have representatives in the cafeteria lobby Wednesday, July 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to answer questions on discounts, promotions and equipment for personal use by Lab employees. Contact Telephone Services for inquiries about Lab-supported cellular service (x4966).