With oil companies presently recovering, on average, less than a third of the oil in proven reservoirs, any means of improving yield effectively increases the world's energy reserves. There are many techniques for coaxing reluctant oil from the ground; none of them work without knowing where the oil is hiding.
To find it, the DeepLook collaboration of oil-producing and service companies, led by BP Exploration, has awarded four grants--out of more than 100 proposals submitted--to develop new fluid-imaging techniques. One project, "Data Fusion for the Prediction of Reservoir Fluids," is being jointly undertaken by researchers from Berkeley Lab's Earth Sciences Division (ESD), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
"Our goal is to produce an efficient and robust characterization of the reservoir using soft computing techniques," says Masoud Nikravesh, an ESD researcher who is also a member of the Berkeley Initiative in Soft Computing (BISC) in UC Berkeley's Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department. Nikravesh and colleague Larry Myer represent Berkeley Lab in the cooperative effort.
The data will come from huge corporate databases already in oil industry archives. Well logs and core samples can reveal the mineral composition, geologic structure, porosity, and fluid content of the rock underlying individual wells. But the number of wells in a field is limited; boreholes produce very narrow samples and may drill right past substantial deposits of oil. Data from seismic studies is cheaper and covers a much bigger volume of the subsurface, but can be notoriously difficult to resolve into interpretable pictures.
When many kinds of information are compared and combined--"fused"--the result can be so much data "that you can't find its structure just by looking at it," Nikravesh says. "It must also be mined. If you're mining gold you have to sift through a lot of sand to get a little gold; we have to sift a lot of numbers to get the real data."
The sifting tools of this "data mine" are techniques developed by Lotfi Zadeh of BISC: fuzzy logic, neural networks, and other computational methods that, as Nikravesh puts it, "exploit tolerance for imprecision, uncertainty, and partial truth."
An important objective is to uncover rules for interpreting disparate but complementary information from many different sources. Given dependable data from the resulting "intelligent" software, well-understood principles of physics can be used with confidence to construct a simulation of an oil reservoir more accurate than any now in existence.
In return for their investment in this kind of research, the DeepLook collaborators want practical answers: subsurface maps that pinpoint bypassed oil in a reservoir with known uncertainty, plus accurate predictions of the future performance of the field. They want programs that produce these maps and predictions cheaply and quickly. Wells are expensive--they can cost half a million dollars on dry land and a hundred times that in hostile environments or in complex geologic settings.
While Masoud Nikravesh is confident that the Berkeley Lab/Oak Ridge/JPL joint project will do the immediate job for the oil companies, the implications for this kind of intelligent software go much farther. As an example, he cites JPL's expertise in remote sensing, demonstrated by missions like the Mars Pathfinder.
During the DeepLook project, Berkeley Lab scientists have worked closely with NASA researchers Sandeep Gulati and Amir Fijani from the Ultracomputing Technologies Group at JPL, and together they are preparing fundamentally different techniques for characterizing geological structures. Says Nikravesh, "If we can learn to work seriously with each other, applying our knowledge of the Earth--and of soft computing--and their pioneering methods of imaging, whole new worlds will open."
Photo: Masoud Nikravesh of the Earth Sciences Division is delving into data to find hidden oil reserves. XBD9708-03351-01 Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt
Physicist Warren E. Henry, whose nearly seven decades of work in the fields of magnetism and superconductivity have earned him praise as one of the most eminent African-American scientists in this nation's history, will be honored with an all-day symposium at Berkeley Lab.
On Friday, Sept. 19, dozens of his former students, colleagues and professional admirers will descend on the Lab, and Henry himself--now 88 years old--will hear testimonials to his productive life and career. The proceedings will be assembled and published.
The symposium, entitled "The Importance of Magnetism in Physics and Material Science," will begin at 9 a.m. in the Bldg. 66 auditorium. It is open to the public at no charge on a space-available basis.
The idea for a tribute was an outgrowth of this year's National Society of Black Physicists conference held in Berkeley last March, according to Hattie Carwell, head of operations at DOE's Berkeley site office. Carwell said she was concerned that Henry's achievements were not generally appreciated within the scientific community, "and it seemed a shame people would not be aware of his prominence and eminence."
Hence the day-long honor for a scientist, educator and inventor who grew up in Alabama as a colleague of George Washington Carver. His science career took him through top-secret radar research during World War II (MIT Radiation Laboratory, 1943-46) and guidance systems design for missile detection in submarines at Lockheed (1960-69). During this period, he was also a guest researcher in UC Berkeley's Giauque Lab under the auspices of Glenn Seaborg.
Henry also taught special physics courses to young Army Air Corps officers who gained fame as the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II.
A professor emeritus at Howard University, Henry spent significant periods of his career at the University of Chicago, and on the faculty at Morehouse College, Spelman College, Tuskegee Institute and Howard University. He retired in 1977, but continues to be involved with a program called Minorities Access to Research Careers (MARC), which encourages third and fourth-year college students to be members of scientific teams.
Henry has been a scholar, researcher and author of considerable note. Ebony magazine wrote in the 1950s that "his research and knowledge of materials at extremely low temperatures is probably unsurpassed in the U.S." His graph on dimagnetism ("Halliday and Resnick Electricity and Magnetism") has been a physics textbook standard for years. He has written or contributed to hundreds of scientific articles and co-authored the 1934 book, "Procedures in Elementary Qualitative Chemical Analysis."
Henry earned his bachelor's degree from Tuskegee Institute in 1931, his master's from Atlanta University in 1937, and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1941.
Berkeley's celebration will be Henry's second--in 1988, he was feted with "Magnetic Phenomena: the Warren E. Henry Symposium on Magnetism, in Commemoration of His 80th Birthday and His Work in Magnetism" in Washington, D.C.
Nobel Laureate Glenn T. Seaborg will be among those making remarks at the 1997 symposium, following welcomes from Laboratory Deputy Director Pier Oddone and James Turner, director of DOE's Oakland Operations Office.
Speakers will include physics professors James Gates of the University of Maryland, Vladimir Kresin of Berkeley Lab, and Arthur Thorpe of Howard University. They will address the various disciplines that Henry influenced in his career. Former Henry students Matthew Ware of Grambling State University and Eleanor Franklin of Howard University will reflect on his teaching experiences. Former colleagues George Ferguson of the Naval Weapons Laboratory and Emory Curtis of Lockheed will address Henry's technical contributions, and historian William Holton will discuss Henry's experience with the Tuskegee Airmen.
An afternoon panel featuring Ferguson, Franklin, Curtis, Thorpe, Holton, UC Berkeley professor emeritus Harry Morrison and Zolili Ndlela, an ex-Henry student and now faculty member at Sacramento State University, will provide additional perspectives on Henry's career. Later, a dinner featuring an address by Ronald Mickens, a mathematical physicist from Clark Atlanta University and historian for the National Society of Black Physicists, will conclude the program at the Faculty Club at UC Berkeley.
Employees who are interested in attending any part of the day-long symposium are welcome to do so on a space available basis. For a schedule, contact the Work Force Diversity Office at X4130.
Photo: Warren Henry. XBD9708-03358
The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) at the Laboratory will join Intel Corp. and UC Berkeley in creating a new campus-wide network to carry out research and evaluate technologies for a new generation of supercomputers.
Called "Millennium," the three-year, $6 million project is aimed at allowing researchers in 17 different campus units to work locally on small clusters of computers, as well as tap into a much larger cluster that will be a campus-wide resource.
NERSC, which has established close research partnerships with UC Berkeley's Mathematics and Computer Science departments, will receive a cluster of Intel workstations under the agreement. NERSC's cluster will be used to test various applications and configurations as a possible computer architecture for the supercomputing center of the next century.
For its part, NERSC will adapt sophisticated software tools from its library for use on the campus system. NERSC has a lot of specialized expertise not available on campus, according to Bill Saphir of NERSC's Future Technologies Group, including extensive experience in setting up and running large computer systems. The center, established in 1974, is currently home to six Cray supercomputers.
"This is precisely the kind of Lab-campus collaboration the Department of Energy envisioned when they decided to establish the NERSC program at Berkeley Lab," said Associate Lab Director William McCurdy, head of Computing Sciences at the Laboratory. "NERSC brings to Millennium a unique contribution of its staff and a select group of users from its national user community. Both of these groups have experience in working with new computer architectures--like Millennium--to make them productive scientific computing tools."
As an example of the collaboration, Millennium principal investigator James Demmel is a professor of computer science and mathematics at Cal with a joint appointment in the Lab's Future Technologies Group. Likewise for David Culler, who is chief architect of the Millennium system and a computer science professor with a joint appointment at the Lab. NERSC Division Director Horst Simon also teaches computer sciences classes on campus.
"This is another success story for the NERSC Future Technologies Group," said Simon, who initiated this group about a year ago with the goal of facilitating collaboration with the UC Berkeley campus and industry. "What makes this project so compelling is that we've found an effective way to rapidly evaluate technologies such as Millennium for meeting DOE's future supercomputing needs."
The planned centerpiece of the Millennium technology is a 288-processor "network of workstations," which is a very large version of the smaller networks in campus departments and at NERSC. Together, the linked Millennium computers will have a computing capacity comparable to that of the most powerful supercomputers.
The Millennium system will be a massively parallel processor computer, but in a much different configuration than NERSC currently uses. Because the experimental system will be located so close to Berkeley Lab, NERSC staff will be able to evaluate its potential for meeting future supercomputing requirements by combining off-the-shelf components with specialized computer codes.
"One of the most exciting aspects of Millennium is the potential to demonstrate that you can take a large number mass-market commodity PCs and networks, harness them together with some special software, and get a powerful supercomputer for less than the current prices of supercomputers," Saphir said. "People have tried for years to do this, but no one has done it convincingly, and with the rock-solid reliability we need for the production computers at NERSC."
Millennium is one component of Intel's Technology for Education 2000 program. The three-year, $85 million grant program will support university research and curriculum development and help place PCs, workstations, servers and networking hardware based on Intel architecture in key research universities throughout the United States.
Three veteran Lab employees will be the first recipients of the J.M. Nitschke Technical Excellence Award, established this year to honor the unsung heroes behind major scientific discoveries.
The awards, which include a citation and cash prize, will be presented by nuclear chemist Albert Ghiorso during a 3:30 p.m. ceremony in Perseverance Hall on Monday, Sept. 15. Laboratory employees are invited to attend; refreshments will be served.
The J.M. Nitschke Award is made through the East Bay Community Foundation, with funds from the estate of the late Michael Nitschke, a long-time physicist in the Nuclear Science Division who died in 1995.
A protege of Ghiorso and nuclear chemist Earl Hyde, Nitschke played a prominent role in the discovery of element 106 (seaborgium) and in uncovering the chemical properties of elements 104 and 105 (rutherfordium and hahnium). He was later the driving force behind the concept of accelerating short-lived radioactive nuclides. The award honoring his name is intended to be an annual event.
The first Nitschke Awards will go to Leon Archambault and Donald Syversrud of the Engineering Division, and to John Meneghetti of the Accelerator and Fusion Research Division. Both Archambault and Syversrud worked closely with Nitschke on the OASIS project (On-line Apparatus for SuperHILAC Isotope Separation), a fast, efficient, on-line mass separator for studying radionuclides. Archambault, in addition, worked with Nitschke on TAS (Total Absorption Spectrometer), a device that could determine the absolute masses of radionuclides. Syversrud, a vacuum systems expert, also played an important role in the creation of the Bevalac--the combining of the SuperHILAC with the Bevatron.
Meneghetti, a semi-retired "engineering technologist," played key roles in the construction of the SuperHILAC, the Bevalac, the 88-Inch Cyclotron, and the Advanced Light Source. He was the inventor of an innovative cryogenic vacuum liner for the Bevatron that was crucial in enabling the Bevalac to accelerate the heaviest of ions with sufficient intensity for research. Like Archambault and Syversrud, Meneghetti also worked closely with Nitschke.
The National Academy of Sciences has called DOE's Environmental Management Science Program "an urgent and prudent investment for the nation." The program was created by Congress in 1995 to "stimulate basic research and technology development" that would make environmental restoration of the nation's nuclear weapons complex more effective, efficient, and less costly. This year, 66 projects were selected from more than 540 proposals following a rigorous scientific peer review process.
The largest grant received at this Laboratory was for $900,000 and it went to Norm Edelstein in ESD. Edelstein will use his grant to investigate the basic chemistry of technetium, an element derived from uranium and plutonium fission with a half-life of 200,000 years that is used to absorb slow neutrons in reactors.
A grant for $816,000 went to Ki Ha Lee in CSD for the development of a high-frequency electromagnetic impedance measurement instrument. This device is intended to improve subsurface fluid flow predictions at weapons production sites, a necessity for knowing how best to clean up contaminant spills.
The third grant went to CSD's Kenneth Raymond. He is to receive $405,000 to design metal ion sequestering agents that can be used to safely and inexpensively remove radioactive contaminants from the environment.
Secretary of Energy Federico Pena, in announcing the awards last week, said: "The environmental cleanup of the nuclear weapons complex is an enormous and important task. The projects we've announced today (Aug. 28) hold the promise that this cleanup can be done quicker and more economically."
In all, DOE awarded a total of $46 million for this year's grants. Of this amount, the recipients will share $22.2 million for the first year. The Environmental Management Science Program is managed as a partnership between two DOE agencies, the Office of Environmental Management and the Office of Energy Research.
Cosmic rays, along with beams from various lasers, are used to identify any sources of distortions in the precision field cage structure or the thousands of individual electronics and systems on the TPC's readout sectors. Wieman says the TPC team plans to continue their fine-tuning but they are satisfied that the machine's performance looks good and that it will be ready for its scheduled shipment to Brookhaven National Laboratory in November. --Lynn Yarris
Bradbury took over the directorship of the laboratory from Robert Oppenheimer immediately after World War II on a "temporary" basis. He convinced a disorganized government of the need to maintain nuclear expertise and persuaded a core of scientists and engineers to remain at the remote mountain location, which was far from major cities and prestigious universities. Under Bradbury's leadership, which continued for 25 years, Los Alamos continued its research in nuclear and nonnuclear weapons, developed thermonuclear weapons, and maintained a solid record in basic research.
Bradbury, a California native, earned his bachelor's degree from Pomona College in Claremont and a doctorate in physics from UC Berkeley. He was a research fellow at MIT and then joined the faculty at Stanford. At Los Alamos during the war, he assembled the explosive lenses for Trinity, the world's first atomic test.
"Oppenheimer was the founder of this Laboratory," said a colleague in 1983. "Bradbury was its savior."
He is survived by his wife, Lois, and three sons. -- Paul Preuss
Sherie Reineman has been working at Berkeley Lab since April 1996, providing administrative services to various scientific programs. Her duties have not changed drastically over the course of the last year and a half, but her attitude about her job and commitment to the Lab clearly have.
"I really enjoy my job now," Reineman says. "I like the idea of being able to do different things and gain experience from different divisions. Most importantly, I get benefits and feel like a part of the Lab, which makes work more worthwhile."
Reineman's career changed three months ago when she was hired into the Administrative Flywheel, a new resource provided by the Administrative Services Department (ASD). Formerly a temporary contractor, Reineman is now a career employee who enjoys full benefits while developing an insider's knowledge of the Laboratory, something she will be able to apply in future assignments.
The idea behind the Flywheel is simple. Instead of relying entirely on outside people to fill temporary administrative positions, divisions and departments will be able to draw on an in-house pool of trained career employees who can fill these positions whenever needed. A team of ASD supervisors explored similar concepts at UC Berkeley and UC Davis and adapted them to the Lab's needs.
"We realized that the contract labor system was inadequate," says ASD head Meredith Montgomery. "We have 60 to 100 contract labor employees in administrative roles onsite at any given time. Why not offer these options to career people?"
Montgomery decided to start small and expand as the concept gains acceptance. The Flywheel now consists of five people, but will expand to meet the growing demand for trained administrative services employees. So far, Montgomery says, the program has been well received and the demand far exceeds the supply.
Flywheel assignments can vary greatly in length and type of work--from as little as 10 days, filling in for someone on vacation, to longer periods to fill a temporary vacancy. Members of the Flywheel say they are happy with the arrangement.
"As soon as I started working I realized I really loved it here," says Reineman, whose current assignment at AFRD will end this month. "Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a home. But having a permanent position takes care of part of that. And maybe the next assignment will be just as nice--plus I will get more experience elsewhere."
Montgomery regards Flywheel staff as ASD ambassadors, who, she hopes, will help change people's view of how they fit into the larger organization. "We would like to shift the culture and embrace the idea that we are all part of the Laboratory as a whole as opposed to just one unit," she said.
This concept is in fact a centerpiece of the ASD's vision for itself and its staff. Formally founded in November 1995, the department has been integrated labwide since January 1997, when Montgomery was appointed first ASD head.
Flexible workforce
The purpose of the department is to create a flexible workforce that can meet the Lab's changing business needs. ASD aims to move from a model in which programs operate as separate business units to a system of shared resources and strengthened coordination. By developing standardized procedures and reducing duplication of work, Montgomery says, ASD will be able to provide services that are more timely and cost efficient. For instance, functions such as travel arrangements or purchasing are no longer being handled by each department or division, but are instead increasingly coordinated out of specialized resource centers.
"There used to be a very clear separation between Operations and the work going on in each of the programs," Montgomery said. "And the program pieces themselves were separate business units with their own way of managing administrative support. There is tremendous potential for savings just by creating uniform approaches. It's not that the work has been centralized, it's that the coordination piece has been centralized."
Under the new model, administrative employees continue to work as part of the same programs, but instead of reporting to the individual program administrator, they report to an ASD supervisor, who also evaluates their work. Funding for the administrative positions continues to come out of the program budget, as do training and staff development.
The ASD will also be responsible for job recruitment, including posting the position, interviewing, and filling the job.
"As we bring new people into ASD we want to build up-front the expectation that they're not hiring into a specific chair and that's the only chair they're going to sit in," Montgomery said. "We don't want to limit the contribution that talented people can make to the Laboratory."
Montgomery conceded that ASD's approach to filling and managing administrative positions has created a certain level of apprehension among some employees who are concerned about being reassigned. But, she says, ASD's intent is to focus on building in flexibility and enhancing career opportunities for employees.
"For the most part work is still where it's always been, and we're not reassigning people arbitrarily," she said. "Some people have come forward and asked for reassignment, and we try to find matches for skills and needs in other places. At the other extreme, it has happened that the work dries out in certain areas and we've tried to place people in other parts of the Laboratory when that's happened."
Even-handed evaluations
Other advantages, Montgomery added, include a more even-handed classification and evaluation system and development of performance expectations that are uniform within similar job categories across the Lab.
"The scientist evaluates the performance of his administrative staff in a vacuum," she said. "In a universe of one, that person can be a star or a terrible performer. An administrative person, on the other hand, is evaluating that performance in a way that looks across the board and is able to compare against everyone who does similar work."
The ASD is still in its early stages of integration and development, and Montgomery sees it as a work in progress. She is also aware that the transition will be difficult at times, but she is optimistic that everyone will come out ahead.
"We have to remind ourselves that change is always difficult," she said. "But it's also healthy."
Photo: Career employee Sherie Reineman (at left, with AFRD's Colleen Haraden), is filling a temporary position in AFRD as a member of the Administrative Flywheel. XBD9708-03258-01 Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt
The Lab's Computing Sciences organization last month announced a reorganization to better align its various research and development components.
Computing Sciences was formed 18 months ago to incorporate Berkeley Lab's Information and Computing Services Division (ICSD) with the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) and Energy Sciences Network programs, both of which were moved by DOE from Livermore to Berkeley.
With the reorganization, research on networking and collaborative technologies will be under ICSD. High-performance computing research, including data management and data-intensive computing, will be the major thrust of the NERSC R&D program.
"We are fully committed to positioning Berkeley Lab as the computational laboratory of choice in the DOE community," said Computing Sciences head C. William McCurdy in announcing the reorganization. He also noted that a new Computing Infrastructure Support Department has been formed to improve support for computer users at the Lab.
For more information about the reorganization, visit the Computing Sciences web page at http://lbl.gov/Computing-Sciences/
You may vote for one person for each category using the ballot included on this page (simply cut out, vote, and mail), or you may pick up a ballot at your department's mail stop. Please indicate your employee number on the ballot to ensure one vote per person (numbers will not be linked to names to ensure confidentiality).
The Employee Activities Association is monitored by the Activities Coordinator in Human Resources under the guidance of the Advisory Panel. The five-member panel consists of two members representing the recreational activity groups, two members representing the cultural activity groups, and one member-at-large.
The responsibilities of the Advisory Panel are to advise management and the Human Resources Department activities coordinator about the Association's activities; monitor the distribution of funds to benefit the largest number of employees; monitor the Association's activities; provide long-term planning; and recommend new programs and activities.
Nominees for Cultural Representative (select one):
Whether he's writing a novel about a revolutionary physics experiment on Crete or a news release about new plasma sources at the Lab, writer Paul Preuss believes his work must be well-written, well-researched and easily understood.
Fortunately, he gets plenty of practice writing both science fiction and science fact. In recent weeks, for example, Preuss has spent his days writing about the Lab's scientific achievements, and his evenings--at least one a week--in Bay Area bookstores signing copies of his most recent novel. His 13th work of fiction, "Secret Passages" was published in hardcover last month.
Although he has traveled the world as part of his research (traveling to Crete for "Secret Passages"), national labs are also a source of information to the writer, and familiar territory.
When researching his 1983 novel "Broken Symmetries"--long before joining the Lab--Preuss spent a lot of time here learning about the 88-Inch Cyclotron. As the son of one of the first military officers assigned to the Atomic Energy Commission after World War II, he spent a lot of time in and around Sandia National Lab in Albuquerque.
Writing news releases is almost an anonymous enterprise, he says, because the focus is on the scientist, not the writer. As a published author, however, Preuss sometimes finds himself the center of attention--and sometimes not. He points to his latest round of book signings.
"Signings can be an excruciating exercise in reducing your ego," he says, smiling. "Either no one shows up, or there is a line of collectors who don't read your book, but want a signed first edition.
"Fortunately, there's usually at least one person to offset all that, someone who's read the book, can discuss it intelligently and give you good feedback," he says.
As a serious writer of science fiction, Preuss says he thinks he and others are being pushed into a corner by a public that "expects science fiction to be as lurid and highly flavored as summer movies.
"I think science has to be an integral part of the story--a scientific notion, proposal or puzzle, not rockets and rayguns, makes the story worth reading," says Preuss, who combines quantum physics, earthquakes, love, priceless Minoan artifacts and new perspectives on the idea of time in "Secret Passages."
In addition to his baker's dozen of novels, Preuss has also written science articles for magazines, authored more than 100 reviews for some of the nation's top newspapers, written and produced documentaries and films, and even made a four-minute short for the first episode of "Sesame Street." He graduated from Yale in 1966.
Each assignment, he says, adds to his education. For instance, one of his freelance articles on computational chemistry led him to NASA Ames Research Center, where in the course of an hour interview, he had to ask his subject to start over three times.
"I didn't understand a single word afterwards, but one week and three books later, I began to understand what he was talking about," he said. "You can't be a science writer and be too shy or too proud to ask lots of `stupid' questions."
Good science writing, Preuss says, requires you to describe things in a way that allows the reader to visualize what's happening. "It has to be simple enough to grasp, but not so oversimplified that it leads the reader astray. It has to be vivid, but you can't do that just by adding adjectives. You have to understand the underlying factors yourself, then convey them clearly to the reader."
Though he's the newest member of the Lab's Public Information Department, Preuss has already spent time nosing around various facilities as he takes on assignments. "I love it--some of the buildings smell like the old aircraft hangars in Albuquerque where I grew up," he said. "The people are fascinating, too. There's a richness and vitality among the people who work here. I'm looking forward to meeting more of them."
Photo: Paul Preuss. XBD9709-03365
For the visitor to this year's Berkeley Lab Open House on Saturday, Oct. 18, the challenge will be clear--how to see it all in just six hours.
"A World of Great Science," this year's Open House theme, is a good indication of the breadth of opportunity that will be available between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Facilities tours, exhibits, lectures, demonstrations, web-surfing, and a wide range of children's shows and hands-on experiences will give visitors plenty to see and do.
There will be a special noontime tribute to Berkeley Lab Nobel Laureate Glenn Seaborg on the occasion of the official naming of element 106 in his honor. (On Aug. 30, the Council of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry officially adopted seaborgium for the name of element 106.) A team of dignitaries hosted by Laboratory Director Charles Shank will help celebrate the special event. Speakers will also address Seaborg's lifelong commitment to science education.
Seaborgium will also receive unusual attention later this year, as the key element in the creation of "flubber" in the Disney remake of the 1960s movie "Flubber." The movie will open in theaters this Thanksgiving with Robin Williams as the absent-minded professor.
Seaborg visited the movie set at San Francisco's Treasure Island last December and was given an exclusive tour and audience with the director and stars. The studio is contributing promotional items to Open House visitors as part of the Seaborg ceremony.
Before and after the tribute, a broad array of activities are planned. Those who want to learn more about Berkeley Lab's large user facilities will find hands-on exhibits and docents at the Advanced Light Source, the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), the National Center for Electron Microscopy, and the 88-Inch Cyclotron. Hosts will also explain the Laboratory's accomplishments in heavy-ion fusion and superconducting magnets, the genome program, medical imaging and subsurface transport of materials.
The Engineering program will show off its fabrication skills, including glass-blowing, and the Hazardous Waste Handling Facility will showcase its state-of-the-art construction and technology. Nature walks, exhibits on everything from air and water quality to radiation safety, and interactive computer demonstrations are planned.
There are plenty of activities for children--family science tents with teacher-directed experiments and workshops, live science demonstrations in "Science Discovery Theatre," and the ever-popular visit to the Berkeley Lab fire department.
An Open House web site linked to the Berkeley Lab Home Page is under construction and will feature a complete list of activities and times. In addition, taped information on the program and parking is available by calling 495-2000. As was the case in 1995, the Laboratory will be closed to most traffic that day, and special parking arrangements will be designed for workers and volunteers. Details will be published in future issues of Currents.
Volunteers to serve as hosts, tour guides, children's activity aides and general staging assistants are still being sought. Interested employees should contact Rich Wilson at X7391 or RWWilson@lbl.gov.
The Lab's Green Team has organized two events in honor of Pollution Prevention Week, Sept. 15-19.
Rick Ferguson, Pitney Bowes site manager, says the open house will be an opportunity for the mailroom staff to meet employees and discuss what and how they are doing. "My staff and I look forward to meeting each of you, showing you our operation, and discussing mail services with you--both successes and failures."
Mailroom staff will be handing out booklets describing mailroom and mail services and activities. Refreshments will also be served.
Everyone who ordered tickets through the Employee Buying Service should pick them up from Helen Coleman in the cafeteria lobby during the week of Sept. 15-19. Please have your receipt with you. You will also receive a $2.50 food coupon with each ticket purchased. Enjoy the game!
In a move to capture more of its office waste for recyling, the Laboratory is expanding its recycling program to include colored paper.
At present, employees are asked to put white paper in green containers, other dry materials into regular trash cans, and wet and food-soiled items into blue-lined cans. Bottles and cans are collected in yellow containers.
To accommodate colored paper recycling, employees will now be asked to put only colored paper into the regular trash cans, and everything else not already being recycled into the blue-lined cans.
The difference, says Facilities' Bob Berninzoni, is that under the old program, anything that wasn't wet or soiled with food could go into the regular office trash cans. Under the new program, these cans will be limited to colored paper, and the rest will go into blue-lined receptacles.
Colored paper includes every non-white paper product from post-its and envelopes to phone books and newspapers. Currents, the Lab's employee newspaper, should continue to be recycled as white paper.
For more information, contact Bob Berninzoni at X5576, or one of the Custodial Services offices at X5129 or X5643.
"We're very excited to have travel information immediately available to our customers," says Lab travel manager Julie Blickle. "We want the web page to be a valuable tool for travelers and support staff. We hope to get comments on what people like and what they would like to see added or changed."
The location for the Friday, Sept. 19, training class Introduction to EH&S at LBNL (EHS 010) has been changed. It will be held in Bldg. 62-203. The class hours will remain the same (9-11:30 a.m.).
All participants will receive a free 20th anniversary T-shirt, and there will be food, music, and an awards ceremony at the cafeteria following the run. Participants are encouraged to wear their oldest Runaround T-shirt during the event.
Volunteers are still needed to help make the event a success. People with spreadsheet skills are especially needed to help process the final results. To volunteer, contact Steve Derenzo at X4097 or SEDerenzo@lbl.gov.
Watch future Currents for more information about the Runaround.
Photo: Runaround Map.
The Berkeley Lab Calendar is published biweekly here on the World Wide Web and in Currents by the Public Information Department. Employees can list a meeting, class, or event in the Calendar by using this submission form. The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. on Monday in the week that Currents is published.In addition to the events listed below, Berkeley Lab's Washington, D.C. Projects office is hosting a Science and Technology Seminars series.
Scientific Conferences
African American Employees Association
General meeting at noon in
Bldg. 90-1099.
Physics Divison Research Progress Meeting
"300 Million Pixels Can't
Be Wrong: B Physics with the New SLD Vertex Detector" will be presented by Glen
Crawford of SLAC at 4 p.m. in Bldg. 50A-5132; refreshments, 3:40 p.m.
Surface Science and Catalysts Science Seminar
"Roughness of Liquid
Surfaces and Chemical Reactivity" will be presented by Ilan Benjamin of UCSC at
1:30 p.m. in the Bldg. 66 auditorium.
Items for the calendars may be sent via e-mail to currents_calendar@lbl.gov, faxed to X6641 or mailed to Bldg. 65B. The deadline for the Sept. 19 issue is 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 15.
'86 FORD pickup F150, 1/2-ton, long bed, 5 liter V8, EFI, 4-spd a/t, dual tanks, p/b, p/s, a/c, insulated shell, AM/FM, bench seat. tlr. hitch, hvy suspension, $3300. Terry, X4803, 558-8388
'86 VOLVO 740GLE wgn, 4 cyl, a/c, a/t, all pwr, 150K, wht ext., tan cloth int., fair shape, looks gd, AAA: clean bill of health, $4500/b.o. Karin, 537-8360 (msg.)
'87 DODGE Aries, 4-dr, a/t, a/c, 74K mi., exc. running cond., over-all gd cond. except one dented fender, $2300. Barbara, 524-7610
'87 FORD Taurus LX, 4-dr sedan, a/t, a/c, loaded, 83K, 3.0 li. V6, newly smogged & registered, new tires, brakes, paint, 10-disc Kenwood stereo w/custom speakers & setup, $2500. Aaron, 704-8248
'88 DODGE Colt, 4-dr, p/b, p/s, a/c, AM/FM, deluxe int., gd cond., $2500. Terry, X4803, 558-8388
'88 OLDMOBILE Cutlass, 6-dr, radio, 1500K mi., runs great, $1300/b.o. Martina, X2934
'89 CHEVY Cavalier, 4-dr, a/t, p/b, p/s, a/c, gray, 99K mi., $3400. Mahesh, X5220, 793-8672
'90 GEO Storm, teal, 5-spd, 4 cyl, a/c, 105 K mi., exc. cond, $3400/b.o. 644-0798 (eve.)
'90 MITSUBISHI Mirage 4D, 3-spd, a/t, a/c, burgundy, $2795/b.o. Julie, X4583, 232-6919
'90 NISSAN King Cab pickup, pearl charcoal, low mi. (46K), 5-spd manual trans., well-maintained, gd work pickup, $4900. Phyllis, 548-0591
'92 FORD Tempo GL, 4-dr, 3.0 liter, first V6 series, 40K mi., orig. owner, serviced quarterly, mocha w/lt. taupe int., equipped with a/t, a/c, p/s, pwr windows & locks, new front brakes, rear window defogger, elec. trunk release, tilt wheel, cruise control, stereo AM/FM/cass., $7.4K. Virginia, X4383
CAMPER VAN, pop-top, '93 Ford E250, self-contained, slps 4, a/c, AM/FM cass., exc. cond., $23K. Don, 233-5846
MOTORCYCLE, '72 Honda 350, fair cond., gd tires, needs work, $200. Brown, X4929, 540-7489
MOTORCYCLE, '94 Honda CBR 600 F2, blk/purple/yellow, 6K mi., new tires, must sell, $4500. Olaf, X4025, 548-6263
MANIFOLD, Edelbrock "Torker 2" for sm. block Chevy, $50/b.o.; Holley spredbore carb. w/Moroso air filter, $100/b.o.; new-2 still in the box, Crager SS "style" mags, 15x10, 4-1/2 to 43/4 b.c., $100/b.o.; 2-11"x2-1/4" turned brake drums w/new shoes & reconditioned backing plates, fits '72 Ford van w/9" rear end & possibly other vehicles, $60/b.o. Steve, X5537, (209) 832-5042
S.F. OPERA, Elektra, Fri., 10/31, 8 p.m., 2 tickets in front row, center of Grand Tier, $115 ea. Esther, X5306, 843-7678 (eve.)
S.F. OPERA, Pelleas et Melisande, Sat. eve., 11/29, & possibly other Sat. eve. operas, balcony pr., row B center, $94/pr. 526-3519
MATERNITY CLOTHES, used (or new but inexpensive). Anushka, X7780, 486-8153 (eve./wkend)
SINGERS for Madrigal group which meets Sun. eve. in Berkeley, informal, friendly, all welcome. Carol, X6696
BABY CRIB, oak, like new (mattress included), $100. Marilee, X4145 or 531-3500
BOAT, '85 Catalina-22 pop-top, VHF, D/F, KM/Log, 150% Jenny, lazy jacks, Porta-Potty, '90 5 HP Nissan OB, new cockpit cushions, life-lines, swim ladder, trailer w/surge brakes, current reg., much more, very gd cond., $6500/offer. 676-6104
CAMERA, Leica M3 body, 35 mm lens, 90 mm lens, 135 mm lens, orig. case, exc. cond., $2500. Dorothy, 339-6408
CAMERA FLASH for compact or SLR, hardly used, $40 new, asking $20. Steve, X6941
Electric Stove, 30" wide (standard sz.), exc. cond., almond w/black front w/clock/timer, $200/b.o. Nance, x7328
GARAGE SALE, 9/6 & 7, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., 719 Wash. St., Albany, cross st. Pierce. Paul, X5902
GUITARS, Stratocaster, Gibson 12-string acoustic, Harmony Sovereign, Guild Cherry D25Ch, plus Classical guitars; ~1K LPs. David, X7326
HEALTH RIDER, $240/b.o. Carol, 540-0718
HIDE-A-BED, queen sz., muted tropical print, $225/b.o.; modular desk & shelving w/chair, $200/b.o.; propane heater designed for RV use, thermostat control, $50/b.o. Ed, X7310, 237-3894
LITTLE TIKES "Beauty Salon", new in box, $40. Teresa, X6246, 594-1439
MOUNTAIN BIKE, Garry Fisher, Model: Hoo Koo E Koo, Shimano gear shifter & breaks, rock shocks, simply red, 2 mo. old, u-lock and chain, helmet, $570. Dirk, X5192, 548-5489
MOUNTAIN BIKE, Specialized Rockhopper, approx. 8 yr. old, exc. cond. (little used), Shimano Deore components, fits person 5'9" to 5'11", $299. Ron, X4932
MOVING SALE, full sz. bed, $40; full sz. futon w/wood frame, $50; other sm. items. 644-0798 (eve.)
PC, 486-66, 17" Hitachi mon., full tower, HP550C printer, Cambridge hi-fi, 32Mb RAM, 650Mb HD, CD, MS Office, etc., $800. X5632, 935-5004
PIANO, Baldwin studio upright, exc. cond., $1900/b.o. 845-9672
PING PONG TABLE & 4 paddles, table folds up, has casters, quality construction, very gd cond., $100; full upright freezer, front door opening, works perfectly, $50. Bob, X4451, 548-2429 (eve.)
ROLL TOP DESK, lg., antique, approx. 80 yr. old from Pennsylvania, recently appraised at $800. Bob or Kathleen, 234-5124
SADDLES (3), western, jr. to adult sz., $100-$150; rattan swivel chairs w/light upholstery, $45 ea.; 10-spd racing bike, Rally, silver, like new, $85; 12-spd m/bike, red, boys, $75. Liona, 210-1119
SAILBOAT, 14' Banshee, multi-colored sail, exc. cond., can be carried on car top, $575. 845-2465
SOFA, oversized, off white tweed, w/ottoman, $125; queen mattress set, firm, w/wood headboard, $65; sm. tent in orig. box, $25; sm. & med. sz. elec. baseboard heaters, $35 & $45; southwest-style dinette set, octagonal table, 4 chairs, $130; cloth-covered foam cushions to form double bed, $10; twin rollaway bed, $15; 1930s oak pedestal desk, needs refinishing, $85; worn but comfy rocker/recliner, $20; lg. square coffee table, $45; sm. pine computer table, $45; changing table, $5; sand box/wading pool, $20; plastic toddler slide, $10; plastic play kitchen, $30. Chris, X5507, 845-3562
TABLE DESK, cherry, Queen Ann style, $100; ladies golf club set, $50; butcher block microwave stand, $75; REI 4-person dome tent, $20; skis, Rossignol 190cm w/Tyrolia 290 bindings, $125; Rossignol poles, $15; Auben, X4796, 245-0343
TURNTABLE, Kenwood, new, 3-spd, cartridge, cover, $80; HAM radio station DRAKE R4, T4X, $300. Bob, 845-3753
VIDEO PLAYER, $40; man's bike, $45; kid's bike, $35; bike rack, $25; u-lock, $15. Mor, X6878, 528-3408
VIOLIN, 1/2 sz., w/bow, case & shoulder rest, $145. Margaret, 637-1892, 443-5399
WASHER, compact portable, Whirlpool, $350; stereo cabinet, wood w/glass doors, $25. Rich, X5896, 524-8897
BERKELEY, nr Ashby & Shattuck, furn. 1-bdrm in-law apt overlooking garden, non-smoking, avail. 10/1, $700+utils. Juditte, 843-2062
BERKELEY, Northside, furn. rm in 4-bdrm house, 5 blks from UCB, nr LBNL shuttle stop, 2 other visiting scholars live here, $500+utils.548-1287, 841-2749
BERKELEY, furn. 1-bdrm apt, sunny, avail. 9-11 mos., $705/mo. 841-5055
BERKELEY, Elmwood area, furn. 1-bdrm + flat, sunny, walk to UCB, split level, hill view from lg. terrace, linen, dishes, hi-fi, TV, VCR, microwave, garage, avail. for 1 yr. +, prefer 1 resp., mature, neat & nonsmoking visiting scholar, $825/mo. 843-6325
NO. BERKELEY, furn. rm avail. 9/21-12/15, light kitchen privs., walk to UCB, nr bus lines, prefer quiet, mature, non-smoker, $375/mo. 526-0888
LAFAYETTE, roommate(s) wanted for lg., furn. 4-bdrm, 2-bth house, nr fwy exit, w/pool, hot tub & dog, avail. 9/10, $400-$725/mo.+utils. 210-1119
OAKLAND, 2 rooms & adjoining bathroom avail. in lg. home, share main living area, lg. yd & hot tub, $500/mo., incl. utils. Renee, 532-1935
WANTED: 2 or 3 bedroom house for 6 mo. to 1 yr. rental, within El Cerrito/Albany/Kensington/Berk/Oak/Emeryville area. Mary, 642-5205, mpezzuto@socrates.berkeley.edu
WANTED: 3-bdrm, 2-bth house to rent for 18-24 mo., for couple w/combined life experience exceeding 100 yr., in Oakland, Berkeley, El Cerrito hills. Warren, 524-4194, Arline, 938-3149
WANTED: mature, quiet, non-smoking male scientist, no pets, seeks furn/unfurn. rm, studio or home share, quiet neighborhood nr LBNL/UCB, start late Sept., under $600. Deane, X5063, 849-2675, dwmerrill@lbl.gov
WANTED: 3-3+ bdrm house/apt Berkeley, Albany, or nearby area (up to 30 mi. distance) for UCB & LBNL scientist & spouse, looking for nice, safe & quiet place. Masoud or Laura, X7728, 528-4494 (home), MNikravesh@lbl.gov
WANTED: 3 bdrm house/apt in Berkeley or surrounding areas for scientist w/wife & 3 children (3, 6 & 8), coming from France 8/12, would like to rent for 1-2 yr., max. rent $1500/mo. Philippe, X7030
HERCULES, 3-bdrm, 2.5-bth townhouse, no money down, motivated seller, must sell. Dan, X7275, 799-0818
SONOMA COAST, 2.16 acres, Timbercove, Ft. Ross area, all utils. Nick, 527-1965
HAWAII, 20 mi. below Hilo on rainy side of Big Island, convenient to Univ. of Hawaii & orchid plantation, 2-bdrm, 2-bth house, nr schools, shopping & rec. center, 1 mi. to ocean bluff, $450/mo., possible lease-option to buy for $60K. X6005
INCLINE VILLAGE, 7 nights at Tahoe Resort, 12/12-19/97, 2-bdrm, loft, slps 6, full kitchen, $350. Keith, X6212
Please note also:
Published once a month by the Communications Department for the employees and retirees of Berkeley Lab.
Reid Edwards, Public Affairs Department head
Ron Kolb, Communications Department headEDITOR
Pamela Patterson, 486-4045, pjpatterson@lbl.gov
Associate editor
Lyn Hunter, 486-4698, lhunter@lbl.govSTAFF WRITERS
Dan Krotz, 486-4019
Paul Preuss, 486-6249
Lynn Yarris, 486-5375CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Ucilia Wang, 495-2402
Allan Chen, 486-4210
David Gilbert, (925) 296-5643DESIGN
Caitlin Youngquist, 486-4020
Creative Services OfficeBerkeley Lab
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Fax: (510) 486-6641Berkeley Lab is managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy.
Flea Market is now online at www.lbl.gov/fleamarket
