Talks by Lab Scientists
At Physical Society Meeting

The American Physical Society held its annual meeting this past weekend, and Lab researchers had a major presence at the gathering. Inez Fung (Earth Sciences) and Bob Cahn (Physics) provided plenary talks, Art Poskanzer (Nuclear Science) and Jed Biesiada (Physics) gave Prize Session lectures, and Wim Leemans and Frank Bieniosek (AFRD), along with Kevin Lesko, Paul Fallon and Peter Jacobs (Nuclear Science), presented invited talks. Natalie Roe (Physics) was the meeting’s program chair. Go here for more information.

Lipoprotein Scientist
Frank Lindgren Dies

Lindgren

Frank Lindgren, among the pioneering researchers who identified blood lipoproteins as “good” and “bad” cholesterol, died on April 6. He was 83 years old. Lindgren came to Berkeley Lab as a student of John Gofman in the 1950s, retiring in 1992 after 42 years with the Lab. His devotion to refining the analytical ultracentrifuge procedures established it as the “gold standard” of lipoprotein measurements. Go here to read a full obituary written by a former colleague.

Solar, Wind Duke it Out
In High-Powered Battle

Wiser

In the battle over which provides the more cost-effective source of clean energy — wind or sun — it appears that wind has sun on the ropes, at least for the moment. Both are environmentally friendly, but solar power is much more expensive, say experts. "You get more bang for your buck from wind energy than from solar energy," said Ryan Wiser, who leads renewable-energy research at Berkeley Lab. Full story.

Energy Audits Take Guesswork out of Green

A recent study suggested the government could save $1.3 billion in energy costs in five years by using new energy-efficient computers and improving data center operations. But you will never know how much these efforts might cut energy costs unless current information on technology-related power consumption is known. To discover that information, experts recommend doing a power audit. For example, Berkeley Lab offers instructions for self-benchmarking a data center’s energy consumption. Now the lab is working on a software-based self-benchmarking application named Data Center Pro, or DC Pro. A beta version will be available in May. Full story.