Today at Berkeley Lab: April 24 2008

Thursday, April 24, 2008

More on these and future activities is available on the

Today

11 a.m.
NCEM
Destabilized Magnesium-Based Alloy Thin Films for Hydrogen Storage
David Mitlin
Bldg. 72-201

1 p.m.
Computational Research
Continuing Development of Models Based on Icosahedral Geodesic Grids at Colorado State University
Ross Heikes, Celal Konor, and David Randall
Bldg. 50A-5132

1 p.m.
CITRIS
Services and the Global Society
Steve Wright
290 Hearst Mining Bldg.

1:30 p.m.
Materials Sciences
Gold-Catalyzed Oxidation of Silicon for the Realization of Highly Ordered Nanostructure Assemblies
Oscar Dubon
Bldg. 66 Auditorium

4 p.m.
Physics
BOSS: The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
David Schlegel
Bldg. 50A-5132

Tomorrow

Noon
Dance Club
Practice Session
Bldg. 51 Lobby

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

Noon
Environmental Energy Technologies
A Radical Distributed Architecture for Local Energy Generation, Distribution, and Sharing
Randy Katz
Bldg. 90-3122

2 p.m.
Nano Institute
Nano-Optics: Beating Diffraction One Bowtie at a Time
Jim Schuck
180 Tan Hall

Go here for more on the relocation of staff from Bldg. 937 (downtown) to the Hill

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.

Perlmutter Exploring Universe’s Dark Forces




Perlmutter

One of the chief astrophysicists behind the discovery of the acceleration of the expansion of the universe delights in the confusion about the observation. In fact, he wonders if the acceleration will end up being the most important feature in the ultimate explanation. “It might be something unexpected that looks like acceleration,” says Saul Perlmutter, leader of the Supernova Cosmology Project at Berkeley Lab. Ever the experimentalist, the 48-year-old Perlmutter is waiting, and planning, for more observations: “Until we go for a long run of more data, this just isn’t a mature field.” Full story.

Green Computing: From
Designs to Applications

The staff of Berkeley Lab’s National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center and the Computational Research Division are taking on energy-efficiency research that aims to influence the computing industry in designing and building computer and storage technologies that will benefit scientists, consumers, and the environment. In a coordinated set of projects, these researchers are exploring subjects in computer architecture, algorithms, and mass-storage-system designs to improve the energy efficiency of scientific computations. Full story.

EETD’s Gadgil Wins
Sustainability Prize




Gadgil with cookstove

Among the activities included in UC Berkeley's fifth-annual Sustainability Summit, held on Tuesday, was the distribution of Sustainability Awards. Among the recipients was Ashok Gadgil, with Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division. He was recognized for “bringing to his teaching his personal experiences with sustainability-related projects in developing nations.” Gadgil lead efforts to create an efficient cookstove for refugees in Darfur, and low-cost methods to purify drinking water in Asia. Go here for more information on the summit.

Chemical Scientist Gets
Graduate Fellowship

Stephen Heller, with Berkeley Lab’s Chemical Sciences Division, is among 913 awardees of a Graduate Research Fellowship, sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The program makes awards directly to graduate students rather than to universities. Students receive three years of funding for research-focused master's and doctorate degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The students receive a stipend of $30,000 a year, plus $10,500 a year as a cost of education allowance. NSF Fellows are expected to become experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering. Go here for more information.

Daughters/Sons Visit Lab Today
For Science Fun, Career Fairs

Today is “Daughters and Sons to Work Day,” and the Lab is participating in the annual event with a slew of science-related workshops that kids ages 9-16 will be attending. Activities also include career fairs and an ice cream social. Those traveling around the Lab in cars and on bicycles are urged to use caution, and patience, as the children travel to their various destinations.

WEATHER

Clear.
High: 54° (12° C)

Extended Forecast

EMERGENCY INFO

Emergency: Call x7911
Cell Phones: Call 911
Non-emergency Incident Reporting: Call x6999

SECON level 3

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