CRT facility rendering

Regents Certify Helios,
CRT Impact Reports

The University of California Board of Regents yesterday certified the final Environmental Impact Reports for the Helios Energy Research Facility and the Computational Research and Theory (CRT) Facility. Both facilities are scheduled to begin construction in July. The Helios facility, to be located in the southeastern portion of Berkeley Lab, will house research programs focused primarily on alternative and renewable energy sources. The CRT facility, to be located in the western portion of the Lab site, will accommodate the National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center and office space to support computational science and engineering programs. Go here for more information on the Helios facility, and here for more information on the CRT facility.

Lab Team to Study
Nano Health Impact

Wan

Nanotechnology will have a great impact on energy storage, conservation and resources, but research in this area will inevitably release nanomaterials into the environment. To help understand the risks of exposure, scientists from Berkeley Lab’s Earth Sciences Division and Molecular Foundry have teamed to investigate reactions of nanoparticulates with geologic media, and to quantify transport of nanoparticulates through soils and groundwaters. This research team consists of Jiamin Wan (PI) and Tetsu Tokunaga (Earth Sciences), and Taleb Mokari (Materials Sciences). Funding was provided by the Department of Energy. An understanding of engineered nanoparticles is critical, enabling studies on exposure and transformation of nanomaterials to be carried out in a more realistic context.

Miller

Earth Scientist Talks
Fire on Local Broadcast

Norm Miller, with Berkeley Lab’s Earth Sciences Division, appeared in a recent story on wild fires, produced by local broadcaster KTVU Channel 2. With the recent conflagration in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the segment explored the connection between climate warming and an increase in wild fires. Major fires are currently burning in Asia, Africa, South America and here in California. Miller said climate warming doesn’t cause fires, but contributes to their severity and frequency. Ironically, the fires cause pollution that increases climate warming. Go here to watch the story.

Demise of American
High-Energy Physics?

Later this year, the Switzerland-based CERN laboratory is scheduled to fire up a new particle accelerator. With that, Europeans will wrest leadership in high-energy physics away from the U.S. after 80 years of hegemony. "Europe's now playing in the major leagues, and we're in the minors," said Texas A&M physicist Bhaskar Dutta. American physicists have dominated the field since the 1930s, when Ernest Lawrence developed the first cyclotron. In the last few years, the number of high-energy physics labs in the United States has been reduced from three to one — Fermilab, which is itself facing a diminished budget. Full story.