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A full listing of the Lab's activities is available on the

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Today

9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Accelerator and Fusion Research
Conference on Warm Dense Matter
Bldg. 50 Auditorium

9 a.m.
EHS 348
Chemical Hygiene and Safety
Bldg. 70A-3377

1 p.m.
EHS 231
Compressed Gas and Croygen Safety

Bldg. 70A-3377

4 p.m.
Life Sciences and Genomics
Flexible Modular Proteins in DNA Replication and Repair Machines
Walter Chazin, Vanderbilt U.
Bldg. 66 Auditorium

4 p.m.
Physics
D-\bar{D} Mixing
Yuval Grossman, Cornell U.
Bldg. 50A-5132


 

Tomorrow

10 a.m.
EHS 10
Introduction to EH&S at Berkeley Lab
Bldg. 70A-3377

Noon
Yoga Club
Class with Naomi Hartwig

Bldg. 70-191

Noon
Dance Club
Practice Session

Bldg. 51 Lobby

1 p.m.
EHS 614
Satellite Accumulation Areas Management

Bldg. 70A-3377

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Daily Specials: Jan. 7-11


Today: General Tzo's Chicken, Jasmine Rice, Asian Slaw
Friday: Lamb Korhesh, Basmati Rice, Roasted Eggplant with Mint and Shallots


Breakfast: 6:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Lunch: 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Cafe: 6:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
 




Power Outage Hits Lab; Transformer Failure Suspected

Thanks to the quick work of the Berkeley Lab plant maintenance staff, a power outage that threatened to shut down half the laboratory for an extended period of time yesterday afternoon was limited to under three hours. What officials believe may have been a power transformer failure in the primary substation bank knocked out electricity to 26 buildings at about 12:30 p.m.

Electrical engineers then worked aggressively to switch power to the secondary bank of transformers, reactivating four electricity service zones one-by-one until full power was restored at about 3:15 p.m. The cause of the outage is still being investigated.

When the blackout occurred, initial estimates were for no restoration of service for up to 12 hours. Based on that scenario, Berkeley Lab Director Steve Chu authorized that all non-essential staff in the affected buildings could leave work early, with their supervisors’ approval.

Meanwhile, the Laboratory’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was activated, and plans were initiated to assess any potential damages, dispatch repair crews, and arrange for the orderly departure of affected employees. Public address announcements and building managers kept staff up to date with status reports in lieu of inaccessible Internet and e-mail systems. Entrance to the Lab during the outage was controlled. As of this morning, no damage or residual hazards were reported from the outage.

Reconnection of all server systems by the Information Technology Division was established early last evening.

Any continuing problem with power or systems reconnection should be reported to the Work Request Center at [email protected], or X6274.
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COMPUTER UPDATE

Deactivating Accounts
For Terminated Staff


When an employee or guest terminates his or her employment with the Lab, the Regulations and Procedures Manual (RPM) requires that their computer accounts and passwords be disabled to help maintain computer security. System administrators and others who manage non-institutional accounts should ensure that accounts of terminating employees and guests, or others no longer collaborating with the Lab, are terminated in a timely manner.  All non-employee access must be associated with a Laboratory sponsor who takes security responsibility for the user. The process for deactivating institutional accounts can  be found here.

Back-Up Support for Mac
Leopard Operating System

Symantec NetBackup will not provide support for a Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) client until next year. This means Mac users at the Lab who now upgrade their Mac OS to 10.5 can no longer back up their systems using the central backup services. The alternative is to back up locally. For more information, contact the IT Help Desk (x4357).
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ANNOUNCEMENT

Briefing Required
On Trafficking Victims


The U.S. Government has adopted a zero-tolerance policy regarding engagement in or support of trafficking in persons or use of forced labor, and has enacted federal laws in support of this. All Berkeley Lab employees are required to review a short informational briefing and sign an acknowledgement that they understand this information by Friday.  For more information, contact Madelyn Bello.

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IN THE NEWS


Designer Microbes Change
Sun to Fuel, Eat Waste
By Bob Drummond

Keasling

Synthetic biology builds on the more than three decades of genetic engineering behind trailblazing biotechnology companies such as Amgen Inc. and Genentech Inc. The science, also called gene splicing, typically involves transplanting a single gene from one cell into another to produce a particular protein, says Jay Keasling, director of Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division. In synthetic biology, scientists implant a series of genes designed to work together, like stations along a biological assembly line. “It's one thing to throw a gene into a cell,'' Keasling says. “We're talking about putting in genetic circuits that will allow us to coordinate many different processes simultaneously.'' Full story.

Magnetic Fields Control Cellular Signaling

Kumar

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have developed a new "nano-biotechnology" that enables magnetic control of events at the cellular level and could lead to finely-tuned but noninvasive treatments for disease. The technology uses tiny beads that bind to receptor molecules on the cell surface. The beads provide the optimal crystal geometry to make them "superparamagnetic," which enables them to be magnetized and demagnetized over and over. The research study was coauthored by Sanjay Kumar, with Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division. Full story.

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High: 50° (10° C)
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Extended Forecast
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Emergency: Call x7911
Cell Phones: Call 911
Non-emergency Incident Reporting: Call x6999


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