Tackling Data Center
Energy Consumption
By Richard Hart

A KGO-TV (ABC 7) report on the expanding energy consumption of data centers —and how some large Silicon Valley companies are now building outside the area because they can't get enough electricity — features Berkeley Lab scientists Richard Brown and Bill Tschudi, both with Environmental Energy Technologies Division. The story includes details on an experiment at the Lab’s National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) center to develop more cost-effective ways to cool data centers. Possible options include direct current, huge fans installed in the floor of computers, and Virtualization, which enables one computer to do the job of many servers. Go here to watch a video of this story.

Russian Steam Spurts
Again After Landslide
By Heidi Ledford

Valley of Geysers

Four months after a landslide dumped 4.5 million cubic meters of rock and mud into Russia's Valley of Geysers, two geysers have re-emerged, and others may be on their way, researchers say. Initial reports of the landslide worried Tamas Torok, a microbiologist at Berkeley Lab who regularly visits the region to study its unique microbial climate. “They said the Valley of Geysers was destroyed,” he says. But on a recent visit, he found that many of his research sites had escaped unharmed. Full story.

The Clean Combustion
Of Low-Swirl Injection

Biofuel Expert Somerville
Talks in Berkeley Monday

Chris Somerville, with Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division, will present a lecture on “Reducing Our Carbon Footprint: Converting Plants to Fuel” on Monday at 5:30 p.m. in the Berkeley Repertory Theatre (2025 Addison St.). Somerville is an expert on the structure and function of plant cell walls and the development of plants with strong potential as biofuel feedstocks. Go here for more information.

Somerville, left, and Keasling

Keasling, Somerville
Get BayBio Awards

In front of several hundred biosciences industry leaders, Berkeley Lab’s Jay Keasling and Chris Somerville were honored together on stage at the BayBio Pantheon Awards Dinner last month. The duo received this year’s Visionary Award for their roles (respectively) in bringing the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) and the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) to Berkeley. BayBio is a trade association serving the life science industry in Northern California. Each year the group recognizes achievement and honors excellence in the field. Go here for the complete list of honorees.

Incorrect Link Listed
In Yesterday’s TABL

Yesterday’s edition of Today at Berkeley Lab included the incorrect link to the full story on Lab contributions to the Supercomputing ’07 conference featured in HPC Wire magazine. Go here to read the article.