EcoGreenU

Carbon smackdown: visualizing clean energy

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:45:37 GMT

The final Carbon Smackdown match took place Aug. 9, 2010. Juan Meza of the Computational Research Division revealed how scientists use computer visualizations to accelerate climate research and discuss the development of next-generation clean energy technologies such as wind turbines and solar cells.

Carbon smackdown: smart windows

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:45:12 GMT

August 3, 2010 Berkeley Lab talk: In the fourth of five Carbon Smackdown matches, Berkeley Lab researchers Delia Milliron of the Materials Sciences Division and Stephen Selkowitz of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division talk about their work on energy-saving smart windows.

Carbon smackdown: wind warriors

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:44:50 GMT

July 16. 2010 carbon smackdown summer lecture: learn how Berkeley Lab scientists are developing wind turbines to be used in an urban setting, as well as analyzing what it will take to increase the adoption of wind energy in the U.S. Glen Dahlbacka of the Accelerator & Fusion Research Division and Ryan Wiser of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division are the speakers.

Carbon Smackdown: Carbon Capture

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:44:31 GMT

In this July 9, 2010 Berkeley Lab summer lecture, Lab scientists Jeff Long of the Materials Sciences and Nancy Brown of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division discuss their efforts to fight climate change by capturing carbon from the flue gas of power plants, as well as directly from the air

Carbon Smackdown: Cookstoves for the developing world

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:44:12 GMT

In this June 30, 2010 Berkeley Lab summer lecture, learn how efficient cookstoves for the developing world — from Darfur to Ethiopia and beyond — are reducing carbon dioxide emissions, saving forests, and improving health. Berkeley Lab's Ashok Gadgil, Kayje Booker, and Adam Rausch discuss why they got started in this great challenge and what's next.

Genome Science and Personalized Cancer Treatment

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:43:44 GMT

August 4, 2009 Berkeley Lab lecture: Results from the Human Genome Project are enabling scientists to understand how individual cancers form and progress. This information, when combined with newly developed drugs, can optimize the treatment of individual cancers. Joe Gray, director of Berkeley Labs Life Sciences Division and Associate Laboratory Director for Life and Environmental Sciences, will focus on this approach, its promise, and its current roadblocks — particularly with regard to breast cancer.

What is Gravitational Lensing?

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:43:21 GMT

July 28, 2009 Berkeley Lab summer lecture: Gravitational lensing is explained by Einstein's general theory of relativity: galaxies and clusters of galaxies, which are very massive objects, act on spacetime by causing it to become curved. Alexie Leauthaud and Reiko Nakajima, astrophysicists with the Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, will discuss how scientists use gravitational lensing to investigate the nature of dark energy and dark matter in the universe.

Geologic Carbon Sequestration: Mitigating Climate Change by Injecting CO2 Underground

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:42:59 GMT

July 21, 2009 Berkeley Lab summer lecture: Climate change provides strong motivation to reduce CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide capture and storage involves the capture, compression, and transport of CO2 to geologically favorable areas, where its injected into porous rock more than one kilometer underground for permanent storage. Oldenburg, who heads Berkeley Labs Geologic Carbon Sequestration Program, will focus on the challenges, opportunities, and research needs of this innovative technology.

Using Lasers and X-rays to Reveal the Motion of Atoms and Electrons

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:42:20 GMT

July 7, 2009 Berkeley Lab summer lecture: The ultrafast motion of atoms and electrons lies at the heart of chemical reactions, advanced materials with exotic properties, and biological processes such as the first event in vision. Bob Schoenlein, Deputy Director for Science at the Advanced Light Source, will discuss how such processes are revealed by using laser pulses spanning a millionth of a billionth of a second, and how a new generation of light sources will bring the penetrating power of x-rays to the world of ultrafast science.

Global Energy: Supply, Demand, Consequences, Opportunities

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:41:22 GMT

July 29, 2008 Berkeley Lab lecture: Arun Majumdar, Director of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division, discusses current and future projections of economic growth, population, and global energy demand and supply, and explores the implications of these trends for the environment.

Multicore: Fallout From a Computing Evolution

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:40:57 GMT

July 22, 2008 Berkeley Lab lecture: Parallel computing used to be reserved for big science and engineering projects, but in two years that's all changed. Even laptops and hand-helds use parallel processors. Unfortunately, the software hasn't kept pace. Kathy Yelick, Director of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at Berkeley Lab, describes the resulting chaos and the computing community's efforts to develop exciting applications that take advantage of tens or hundreds of processors on a single chip.

New Directions in X-Ray Light Sources

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:40:38 GMT

July 15, 2008 Berkeley Lab lecture: Molecular movies of chemical reactions and material phase transformations need a strobe of x-rays, the penetrating light that reveals how atoms and molecules assemble in chemical and biological systems and complex materials. Roger Falcone, Director of the Advanced Light Source,will discuss a new generation of x ray sources that will enable a new science of atomic dynamics on ultrafast timescales.

Accelerating Into the Future: Zero to 1 GeV in a Few Centimeters

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:40:00 GMT

July 8, 2008 Berkeley Lab lecture: By exciting electric fields in plasma-based waveguides, lasers accelerate electrons in a fraction of the distance conventional accelerators require. The Accelerator and Fusion Research Division's LOASIS program, headed by Wim Leemans, has used 40-trillion-watt laser pulses to deliver billion-electron-volt (1 GeV) electron beams within centimeters. Leemans looks ahead to BELLA, 10-GeV accelerating modules that could power a future linear collider.

Climate Change: The Role of Particles and Gases

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:38:49 GMT

July 1, 2008 Berkeley Lab lecture: A member of the Atmospheric Sciences Department in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD), Surabi Menon's work focuses on the human contribution to increasing impacts of climate change. Her talk will focus on what humans can do about the effects of global warming by examining anthropogenic influences on climate and future anticipated impacts, using a climate model and her own observations.

Scientific Visualization: Seeing the Unseeable

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:38:30 GMT

June 24, 2008 Berkeley Lab lecture: Scientific visualization transforms abstract data into readily comprehensible images, provide a vehicle for "seeing the unseeable," and play a central role in both experimental and computational sciences. Wes Bethel, who heads the Scientific Visualization Group in the Computational Research Division, presents an overview of visualization and computer graphics, current research challenges, and future directions for the field.

The Future of the Earth's Climate: Frontiers in Forecasting

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:38:07 GMT

Berkeley Lab's Bill Collins discusses how observations show that the Earth is warming at a rate unprecedented in recent history, and that human-induced changes in atmospheric chemistry are probably the main culprits. He suggests a need for better observations and understanding of the carbon and hydrological cycles. His talk was presented July 11, 2007.

Bioremediation: Hope / Hype for Environmental Cleanup

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:37:43 GMT

Terry Hazen discusses when it's best to resort to engineered bioremediation of contaminated sites, and when it's best to rely on natural attenuation. Recent advances have greatly broadened the potential applications for bioremediation. At the same time, scientists' knowledge of biogeochemical processes has advanced and they can better gauge how quickly and completely contaminants can be degraded without human intervention. His talk was presented July 18, 2007.

Targeted Delivery of Drugs to Brain Tumors

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:36:48 GMT

Trudy Forte of Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division will discuss her work developing nano-sized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles that can be used as a safe and effective means of delivering anticancer drugs to brain tumors, particularly glioblastoma multiforme. This is the most common malignant brain tumor in adults and one of the deadliest forms of cancer. Her research team found that the synthetic LDL particles can target and kill such tumors cells in vitro. The nanoparticles are composed of a lipid core surrounded by a peptide. The peptide contains an amino acid sequence that recognizes the LDL receptor, and the lipid core has the ability to accumulate anti-cancer drugs. Her talk was presented June 27, 2007.

The ATLAS Experiment: Mapping the Secrets of the Universe

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:36:18 GMT

Michael Barnett of Berkeley Lab's Physics Division discusses the ATLAS Experiment at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics' (CERN) Large Hadron Collider. The collider will explore the aftermath of collisions at the highest energy ever produced in the lab, and will recreate the conditions of the universe a billionth of a second after the Big Bang. The ATLAS detector is half the size of the Notre Dame Cathedral and required 2000 physicists and engineers from 35 countries for its construction. Its goals are to examine mini-black holes, identify dark matter, understand antimatter, search for extra dimensions of space, and learn about the fundamental forces that have shaped the universe since the beginning of time and will determine its fate. His talk was presented July 25, 2007.

Development of Cellulosic Biofuels

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:35:51 GMT

Chris Somerville, Director of the Energy Biosciences Institute and an award-winning plant biochemist with Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division, is a leading authority on the structure and function of plant cell walls. He discusses an overview of some of the technical challenges associated with the production of cellulosic biofuels, which will require an improved understanding of a diverse range of topics in fields such as agronomy, chemical engineering, microbiology, structural biology, genomics, environmental sciences, and socioeconomics. His talk was presented June 20, 2007.

Seventy Five Years of Particle Accelerators

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:35:17 GMT

Andy Sessler, Berkeley Lab director from 1973 to 1980, sheds light on the Lab's nearly eight-decade history of inventing and refining particle accelerators, which continue to illuminate the nature of the universe. His talk was presented July 26, 2006.

Energy Efficient Buildings and Appliances

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:34:47 GMT

Art Rosenfeld, an appointee to the California Energy Commission and one of the architects of energy efficiency research at Berkeley Lab in the 1970s, discusses what it takes to shepherd innovative energy efficiency research from the lab to the real world. His talk was presented July 10, 2006.

The Death of the Dinosaurs: 27 Years Later

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:33:54 GMT

Rich Muller, a Berkeley Lab physicist, discusses Nobel laureate Luis Alvarez and colleagues' 1979 discovery that an asteroid impact killed the dinosaurs. He also discusses what scientists have learned in the subsequent 27 years. Alvarez's team detected unusual amounts of iridium in sedimentary layers. They attributed the excess iridium to an impact from a large asteroid. His talk was presented June 30, 2006.

Nuclear Medicine at Berkeley Lab

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:32:55 GMT

Thomas Budinger, head of Berkeley Lab's Center for Functional Imaging, discusses Berkeley Lab's rich history pioneering the field of nuclear medicine, from radioisotopes to medical imaging. His talk was presented July 5, 2006.

Discovery of the Transuranium Elements

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:32:24 GMT

Darleane Hoffman, a Berkeley Lab nuclear chemist, chronicles the discovery of the heaviest elements — those much heavier than uranium and plutonium. Her talk was presented August 2, 2006.

Invention and History of the Bubble Chamber

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:32:05 GMT

Don Glaser won the 1960 Nobel Prize for Physics for his 1952 invention of the bubble chamber at Berkeley Lab, a type of particle detector that became the mainstay of high-energy physics research throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He discusses how, inspired by bubbles in a glass of beer, he invented the bubble chamber and detected cosmic-ray muons. His talk was presented July 12, 2006.

Seismic Imaging of the Earth's Interior

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:31:46 GMT

Earth scientist Barbara Romanowicz discusses how she explores the deep structure and dynamics of the Earth using seismic tomography. Series: "Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Summer Lecture Series" [2/2006] [Science] [Show ID: 11025]

Physics Meets Biology

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:31:21 GMT

If scientists could take advantage of the awesomely complex and beautiful functioning of biologys natural molecular machines, their potential for application in many disciplines would be incalculable. Nobel Laureate and Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Steve Chu explores Possible solutions to global warming and its consequences. Series: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Summer Lecture Series [2/2006] [Science] [Show ID: 11023]

The World as a Hologram

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:30:53 GMT

UC Berkeley's Raphael Bousso presents a friendly introduction to the ideas behind the holographic principle, which may be very important in the hunt for a theory of quantum gravity. Series: "Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Summer Lecture Series" [3/2006] [Science] [Show ID: 11140]

Imaging the Voices of the Past

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:30:03 GMT

Physicist Carl Haber and colleagues have found a way to digitize century-old recordings believed to be unplayable, and as a result, some of the music and spoken word recordings in the Library of Congress collection may spring back to life. Learn how basic scientific research done at Berkeley Lab may yield results of benefit in other areas of science and culture. Series: "Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Summer Lecture Series" [2/2006] [Science] [Show ID: 11024]

E=mc2

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:29:39 GMT

Go behind the famous equation with Hitoshi Murayama. This famous equation, part of the theory of relativity set forth by Einstein, changed our understanding of nature at the most fundamental level. The fascinating story of energy (E) and mass (m) is still evolving a century since Einstein as we understand more of where they come from, how they shape the universe, and the missing pieces of the universe: Dark Matter and Dark Energy. Series: "Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Summer Lecture Series" [2/2006] [Science] [Show ID: 11026]

ESnet: Large-Scale Science and Data Management

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:24:22 GMT

June 16, 2004 Berkeley Lab lecture: Bill Johnston of Berkeley Lab's Computing Sciences is a distinguished networking and computing researcher. He managed the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), a leading-edge, high-bandwidth network funded by DOE's Office of Science. Used for everything from videoconferencing to climate modeling, and flexible enough to accommodate a wide variety of data-intensive applications and services, ESNet's traffic volume is doubling every year and currently surpasses 200 terabytes per month.

Blasting Rocks and Blasting Cars: Applied Engineering

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:22:52 GMT

June 30, 2004 Berkeley Lab lecture: Deb Hopkins works with industries like automobile, mining and paper to improve their evaluation and measuring techniques. For several years, she has coordinated a program at Berkeley Lab funded under the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, a collaboration between the federal government and the U.S. Council for Automotive Research. Nondestructive evaluation techniques to test a car's structural integrity are being developed for auto assembly lines.

The Energy-Water Connection

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:22:16 GMT

July 14, 2004 Berkeley Lab lecture: Jim McMahon of Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD) is head of the Energy Analysis Department in EETD, which provides technical analysis to the Department of Energy on things like energy efficiency appliance standards. McMahon and his colleagues helped the nation save tens of billions of dollars in energy costs since the standards program began. Now his Water-Energy Technology Team (WETT) is applying its expertise to the linked problem of energy and water. Each of us requires more than 500 gallons per person per day for food production, plus an additional 465 gallons to produce household electricity. WETT hopes to mine some of the numerous opportunities to save energy and water by applying new technologies.

Space Radiation and Cataracts

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:21:49 GMT

Eleanor Blakely, radiation biologist of the Life Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has been a scientist at Berkeley Lab since 1975. She is studying the effect of radiation on cataracts which concerns not only cancer patients, but also astronauts. As astronauts spend increasingly longer time in space, the effects of cosmic radiation exposure will become an increasingly important health issue- yet there is little human data on these effects. Blakely reviews this emerging field and the contributions made at Berkeley Lab. Series: "Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Summer Lecture Series" [2/2005] [Science] [Show ID: 8757]

Next Generation Lighting Technologies

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:20:49 GMT

For the past several years, Michael Siminovittch, a researcher in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has worked to package efficient lighting in an easy-to-use and good-looking lamp. His immensely popular "Berkeley Lamp" has redefined how America lights its offices. Series: "Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Summer Lecture Series" [2/2005] [Science] [Show ID: 8756]

Beyond The Human Genome: What's Next?

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:17:31 GMT

UC Berkeley's Daniel Rokhsar and his colleagues were instrumental in contributing the sequences for three of the human body's chromosomes in the effort to decipher the blueprint of life- the completion of the DNA sequencing of the human genome. Now he is turning to the structure and function of genes in other organisms, some of them no less important to the planet's future than the human map. Hear the latest in this lecture from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Series: "Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Summer Lecture Series" [1/2005] [Science] [Show ID: 8754]

If Only We Could Account For Every Atom

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:16:38 GMT

Christian Kisielowski, an expert in electron microscopy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, investigates ways to allow studies of single atoms using so...

Toward An Affordable Commercial Fuel Cell

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:16:03 GMT

Steve Visco, a materials scientist, has come up with a solid oxide fuel cell that promises to generate electricity as cheaply as the most efficient gas turbine engine. But there's a lot more work to do before commercially viable fuel cells and pollution-free power generators become reality. Series: "Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Summer Lecture Series" [12/2004] [Science] [Show ID: 8755]

Making better batteries with metal oxide & graphene composites

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 03:12:14 GMT

This paper was one of the top cited articles in the journal ACS Nano in 2010. Learn how PNNL and Princeton scientists create better materials for batteries, materials that assemble on their own into durable nanocomposites.

DigitalAnts™ for Cyber-Defense

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 03:10:05 GMT

More info: http://i4.pnl.gov/news/digitalants.stm Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed DigitalAnts™, a cyber-defense tool that was inspired by ant colonies. Real ants use "swarm intelligence" to identify areas of interest, laying down pheromone paths to attract other ants to the same areas. In DigitalAnts, sensor "ants" constantly look for system operations that could indicate an attack, quickly alerting each computer's sentinel. Scientific American named digital ants in its Ten World Changing Ideas of 2010.

Linac Coherent Light Source Overview

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 02:13:46 GMT

Take an animated tour of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). Follow the laser pulse from the injector gun all the way through to the Far Experimental Hall.

Energy 101: Concentrating Solar Power

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:41:42 GMT

From towers to dishes to linear mirrors to troughs, concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies reflect and collect solar heat to generate electricity. A single CSP plant can generate enough power for about 90,000 homes. This video explains what CSP is, how it works, and how systems like parabolic troughs produce renewable power. For more information on the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's CSP research, see the Solar Energy Technology Program's Concentrating Solar Power Web page at http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/csp_program.html.

Energy 101: Solar PV

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:02:29 GMT

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems can generate clean, cost-effective power anywhere the sun shines. This video shows how a PV panel converts the energy of the sun into renewable electricity to power homes and businesses.

Energy 101: Wind Turbines

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:01:36 GMT

See how wind turbines generate clean electricity from the power of the wind. Highlighted are the various parts and mechanisms of a modern wind turbine.

Energy 101: Cool Roofs

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:42:16 GMT

This edition of Energy 101 takes a look at how switching to a cool roof can save you money and benefit the environment.

Energy 101: Geothermal Heat Pumps

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:40:53 GMT

An energy-efficient heating and cooling alternative, the geothermal heat pump system moves heat from the ground to a building (or from a building to the ground) through a series of flexible pipe "loops" containing water. This edition of Energy 101 explores the benefits Geothermal and the science behind how it all comes together.

Energy 101: Home Energy Assessment

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 18:14:00 GMT

A home energy checkup helps owners determine where their house is losing energy and money - and how such problems can be corrected to make the home more energy efficient. A professional technician - often called an energy auditor - can give your home a checkup. You can also do some of the steps yourself. Items shown here include checking for leaks, examining insulation, inspecting the furnace and ductwork, performing a blower door test and using an infrared camera.