January 2019 – July 2022
Under the Watershed Function SFA, researchers study changes to the mountain environment from bedrock to canopy. A community testbed is located along the East River watershed near the Upper Colorado River headwaters. The research is a key component of BioEPIC. https://arcg.is/fL1Pb
The Earth Week theme, “Investing in our Planet,” is particularly relevant to Charu Varadharajan’s research in Watershed Function SFA, or Scientific Focus Area. As an environmental data scientist, she studies how natural water resources respond to the changing climate and disturbances like drought. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDdhAkwgPuU
The biopolymer has far-reaching potential from medical therapeutics to replacing synthetic plastics. Armed with a deep understanding of how the enzyme makes acholetin, scientists now have a target for preventing bacterial contamination and the means to produce acholetin for a variety of purposes. https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2022/04/14/bacterial-polymer-enzyme/
On World Quantum Day, the Advanced Quantum Testbed celebrates its collaborative research partnership with industry partner Zurich Instruments. https://aqt.lbl.gov/aqt-zurich-instruments-partnership
The Lab’s new Quantum Information Systems webpage captures the Lab’s contributions to quantum research in a way that is accessible to the research community, funders, partners, and the public. Read about it for World Quantum Day. https://quantum.lbl.gov/
Three early-career researchers at the University of New Mexico, a Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA) partner institution, share their experiences and opinions about Quantum information Science in light of World Quantum Day. https://archive.quantumsystemsaccelerator.org/meet-qsas-early-career-researchers-unm/
The Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA) mentored high school students in the 2021 JSTI summer program for quantum computing. Learn how one of the students continued advancing and earning science awards, thanks to the opportunity to work with a QSA mentor. https://archive.quantumsystemsaccelerator.org/inspiring-high-schoolers/
The Advanced Quantum Testbed at Berkeley Lab has grown into a state-of-the-art collaborative research laboratory funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Advanced Scientific Computing Research program. Read the AQT’s 2021 progress report. https://aqt.lbl.gov/aqt-releases-2021-progress-report/
A Lab-led study shows over 1,300 gigawatts of solar, storage, and wind in interconnection queues (lines) are seeking to connect to the electrical grid, an indicator of a major energy transition underway, even if most proposed projects will not be built. https://emp.lbl.gov/queues
Biosciences Area researchers led an international team that found a microbe that protects fruit flies from an environmental herbicide. This method of rescuing fruit flies from atrazine poisoning with probiotics has been patented as it may be useful for protecting pollinators in agriculture. https://biosciences.lbl.gov/2022/04/04/microbes-to-the-rescue/