Recent News
Recent NewsMay 2006
Gerson Goldhaber and his wife, Judith, were honored with an IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Award) for their book "Sonnets From Aesop," a collection of poems by Judy, illustrated by Gerson. The book was selected as one of the ten "Outstanding Books of the Year" published by an independent press in 2005. They, and other IPPY winners, were honored in Washington D.C. Go here to read a book review that ran in The View.April 2006
Stuart Freedman was elected a Fellow of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). He was one of 175 new Fellows elected this year and one of three from LBNL.June 2005
Alan Poon wrote an article about his experiences as a volunteer for the Community Resources for Science a non-profit organization that promotes science and provides additional science resources for elementary school teachers in Alameda county. The article appears in the organization's spring newsletter and can be downloaded from http://www.crscience.org/pdf/Alan_newsletter.pdfMay 2005
INPA hosted a group of 44 eighth graders from Redwood Day School. The students heard talks on solar neutrinos from the SNO group, watched a spark chamber detecting cosmic rays, and toured the ALS. The Particle Data Group provided educational materials for the event.May 2005
SNO has begun the third phase of its physics program, in which strings of neutron counters have been installed (by a submarine!) for making more precise measurement of the total solar neutrino flux. The second phase, in which table salt was added to the heavy water at the heart of the detector, confirmed results established in the first phase. The first SNO paper (Phys.Rev.Lett.87:071301,2001), published during the first phase and showing a deficit of electron-type neutrinos from the Sun, has reached over 1000 citations on the SPIRES preprint database. This is the most cited paper on solar neutrino measurement ever. Meanwhile, the second SNO paper (Phys.Rev.Lett.89:011301,2002), which showed that electron-type neutrinos transform into another type, is getting close to 1000 citations.May 2005
An April talk at the Tampa APS meeting by Jeffrey Newman, INPA's Hubble Fellow, is cited in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle on the debate over whether the fine structure constant is indeed constant. In light coming from galaxies up to 7 billion light years away, Jeff has detected no evidence for a shift in the value.May 2005
Bruce Grossan and George Smoot have been looking at the Cosmic far-IR Background, as seen in large maps of the sky taken with the Spitzer Space Telescope 160 µm camera. In their power spectrum anaylsis of the maps they have found that their results are consistent with the signature for clustering of IR emitting galaxies. This is the first observation of its kind, as the previous far-IR space observatory, ISO, with smaller and less sensitive maps, failed to find this signature. Further analysis of these data will shed light on the formation and evolution of starburst galaxies.April 2005
The April issue of Popular Science listed the ten Next Big Things in aviation and space. IceCube and SNAP were both on the list. Click here to read the article.March 2005
The IceCube Collaboration met at UCB and LBNL from March 19-23. 150 scientists and engineers attended and reviewed the activities at the South Pole during the austral summer and made plans for the next season.January 2005
The IceCube Collaboration successfully deployed a string of 60 optical modules down to 2400 meter depth in the Antarctic ice sheet at the South Pole. This marks the start of the construction of the IceCube neutrino telescope.October 2004
Bill Nye The Science Guy spent a few hours with Saul Perlmutter in preparation for an hour-long program on the Discovery Science Channel that will focus on significant discoveries in astronomy. The program will air between December and February, as part of an 8-segment series on science.September 2004
Michael Levi and Saul Perlmutter are PI's on a $2.38 million grant awarded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to support the Nearby Supernova Factory. The grant will further dark energy research through the study of nearby Type Ia supernovae.August 2004
UC INPAC and LBNL INPA jointly hosted a Deep Underground Science and Engineering (DUSEL) workshop at the Marina Doubletree Inn on August 11-14. About 100 people attended.July 2004
Eric Norman accepted a position as leader of the Nuclear Experiments Group in the Physics and Applied Technology Division at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. INPA had a special tea on July 22 to say goodbye. He will continue collaborating with his LBNL colleagues as a participating guest.February 2004
UC Berkeley and LBNL celebrate Gerson Goldhaber's 80th birthday and 50th year in Berkeley at an all-day symposium on February 21st in Perseverance Hall. Details are at Gersonfest .