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More on these and future activities is available on the

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Today

Noon
Dance Club
Practice Session

Bldg. 51 Lobby

Noon
Yoga Club
Class with Naomi Hartwig
Bldg. 70-191

Noon
Environmental Energy Technologies
Using a Socio-Environmental Economy to Maximize Sustainable Development Effectiveness

Robert Van Buskirk
Bldg. 90-3122

1:30 p.m.
Advanced Light Source
Magnetic Transition Metal Oxides: Synthesis, Basic Effects, and Applications
Marco Liberati
Bldg. 2-100B

2 p.m.
Nano Institute
Understanding Charge Transport in Single-Molecule Circuits

Jeff Neaton
180 Tan Hall

2 p.m.
Environmental Energy Technologies
The Whys, Not Hows, of Intelligent Buildings

Fredrik Ostling
Bldg. 90-3122

2:30 p.m.
Virtual Institute of Microbial Stress and Survival
Is Consolidated Bioprocessing a Reachable Goal?
Cindy Wu
Sudar Auditorium, Potter St.

4 p.m.
Chemistry Department
Seaborg Lectures: Predicting New, Simple Inorganic Specie
s
Pekka Pyykko
120 Latimer Hall


Monday

Noon
Yoga Club
Class with Inna Belogolovsky
Bldg. 70-191

Noon
Dance Club
Beginning Night Club Two Step
Bldg. 51 Lobby

4 p.m.
Chemistry Department
Chan Memorial Lecture: The Molecular Basis of Eukaryotic Transcription

Roger Kornberg
Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Center

4 p.m.
Nuclear Engineering
The Lead-Cooled Fast Reactor: Concepts for Small and Medium Sized Reactors for International Deployment

Craig Smith
3105 Etcheverry

4:30 p.m.
Physics Department
Casimir Effects

Peter Milonni
1 LeConte

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This week's menu


Breakfast
6:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Lunch
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Coffee Bar

Mon. - Thur: 6:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Friday: 6:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Weekends: 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
 
RESEARCH UPDATE


Lab Technology Monitors
Australian CO2 Injection

Sequestration drilling in Australia

Australia has launched the first carbon sequestration project in the southern hemisphere with the help of technology developed by DOE researchers, including Berkeley Lab earth scientists Tom Daly and Barry Freifeld. The Otway Basin Pilot Project will inject and monitor carbon dioxide in a depleted gas field to demonstrate the feasibility of storing the greenhouse gas to fight global climate change. Lab-developed instrumentation will be used to track the CO2 plume during and after the injection, and seismic techniques will provide data about the location, migration, and permanent storage of the CO2 plume, which will be more than a mile deep. Full story.

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TECH TRANSFER NOTE


Lab Nano Solar Cell
Technologies Licensed

Berkeley Lab recently concluded an exclusive license with Solexant Corp. to further develop inexpensive, energy efficient, inorganic solar cell technologies. Associate Lab Director Paul Alivisatos and his research group in the Materials Sciences Division led the discovery of the nanomaterials. The inorganic cells are based on solution-processed ultra thin nanocrystal films and have demonstrated performance enhancement over traditional organic photovoltaic semiconductors. These inorganic materials will be useful for developing improved photovoltaics, LEDs, transistors, and sensors.

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PEOPLE


From Budapest to Berkeley:
Somorjai's Long Journey

Somorjai with wife Judith on their wedding day in Berkeley, 1957

“People choose a profession for three reasons — power, security or independence,” says Berkeley Lab materials scientist Gabor Somorjai. “Independence was my driving force.” His pursuit of freedom led him to flee his native Budapest after the Hungarian uprising against Soviet rule in 1956 and come to the United States. His journey is chronicled in a riveting story by Michael Barnes that appears in the latest issue of Catalyst, UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry research publication. The story begins with his harrowing escape from Hungary to his accomplishments as a highly regarded and prize-winning chemist. Go here to read the full article.

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IN THE NEWS


Is Discovery Youngest
Planet or Brown Dwarf?

A team of astronomers says it may have spotted the youngest planet ever found, boasting an age of less than 100,000 years old, and perhaps as young as 1,600 years old. They say it bolsters a controversial theory that planets form very quickly, like stars — but other astronomers say the massive object may not be a planet at all but a 'failed' star (brown dwarf) which explains its speedy birth. "I think most astronomers would agree that it is a brown dwarf forming by a 'stellar' process," says UC Berkeley professor and Berkeley Lab physicist Gibor Basri. Full story.

ANNOUNCEMENT




Spring Cleaning With Lab Flea Market

Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and closets are bursting with ‘junk’ collected over the winter…it must be spring. Berkeley Lab’s Flea Market classified ad service can help Lab employees divest themselves of items that are no longer needed and may be of use to others, for free or for purchase. Go here to access the site. Ads remain posted for 30 days, and can be altered, renewed or removed during that time.

 
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