Librarians Award
To Climate Report

The first of four 2007 reports by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize last year, was "The Physical Science Basis of Climate Change" from Working Group I, which concluded with "very high confidence" that human activity has caused past and future global warming. At the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society held last month in New Orleans, that report was recognized by the Atmospheric Science Librarians International (ASLI) as the year's top "high impact comprehensive publication." Among its lead authors were Bill Collins and Inez Fung of Earth Sciences and Surabi Menon of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division.

Pinar Elected Secretary
Of SIAM Activity Group

Ali Pinar, a researcher in the Lab’s Scientific Computing Group, has been elected to serve as secretary for the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Activity Group on Supercomputing. His two-year term began on Jan. 1. Pinar’s research focuses on combinatorial scientific computing. The SIAM Activity Group on Supercomputing provides a forum for computational mathematicians, computer scientists, computer architects and computational scientists to exchange ideas on mathematical algorithms and computer architecture needed for high-performance computing.

Funding Delay Causes Increase for ALS Building

A Science magazine article included in Monday’s edition of Today at Berkeley Lab described how cuts in federal funding might increase the construction costs of the Advanced Light Source User Support Building at Berkeley Lab. The increases are due to escalation caused by the delay in project funding and resulting delay in project construction. Prior to the funding revisions, the project was on time and under budget.

Use 'Today' to Share Your News With the Lab

Has your department or division made a new discovery? Has one of your colleagues received an award, or done something interesting here or outside of work? Is there an event taking place at the Lab to which others are invited? Staff are encouraged to share their news with the rest of the Lab by submitting story ideas to the editor of Today at Berkeley Lab. Send your suggestions here, or call x4045.

Physicists Hope Budget
Request Boosts Research

Under President Bush’s proposed federal budget announced on Monday, research in the physical sciences would receive a hefty boost. That is welcome news to physicists in a broad swath of fields, from those who study the tiniest of fundamental particles to those trying to understand basic science that could lead to future energy sources. It is especially welcome after two years of tight financial constrictions resulting from money wrangling between Congress and the White House that have turned off some experiments, delayed others and left some scientists unemployed. Full story.

Ventilation Can Affect Indoor Pollution Levels

Fisk

You recycle regularly, use compact fluorescent light bulbs, and try to buy organic. But we're betting there's a lot more you can learn about creating a more environmentally friendly world. For example, did you know pollutant levels in your house can be two to five times higher, and even as much as 100 times higher than those outside? Paint, carpet, flooring, and furniture emit volatile organic compounds, which can cause a variety of ills. Plus, there's less ventilation indoors to remove cigarette smoke, pet allergens, mold, and other pollutants, says William Fisk, head of the indoor environment department at Berkeley Lab. Full story.

Developing Green Energy
Is Good for Business

Last year, Americans spent more greenbacks on oil than any other nation, but the failure of the U.S. to lead in developing green energy is going to cost even more. Historically, renewable energy and energy efficiency have been treated as virtuous, feel-good projects rather than shrewd investments in the industries of the future. But some key myths need to be dispelled first, such as "Green power can't deliver the volume of energy we need.” U.S. electrical generators lose more heat energy than Japan uses to run its entire economy, which raises the question of whether we need as much energy as we think we do. Simply recycling waste energy from industry and farming could supply nearly 20 percent of U.S. electrical needs, according to a 2005 study by Berkeley Lab. Full story.