Natural Sciences

California should take the lead in establishing a sustainable policy towards chemical production and use – or risk being left behind in the global economy, according to a new UC Berkeley report. The report establishes a state framework for a move towards "green chemistry," in which products are less toxic, do not accumulate in the body and break down more readily in the environment.

Cataloging an entire ecosystem on CNR’s island research station

New light has been shed on proteorhodopsin, the light-sensitive protein found in many marine bacteria. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley have demonstrated that when the ability to respire oxygen is impaired, bacterium equipped with proteorhodopsin will switch to solar power to carry out vital life processes. Liphardt said that the solar power option represents a potentially significant boost for efforts to develop alternatives to fossil fuel energy sources.

Paul Alivisatos, a chemist and materials scientist, has been named one of eight winners of this year's E. O. Lawrence Award of the U.S. Dept. of Energy. Alivisatos is one of the pioneers of nanotechnology, working with nanocrystals, nanorods and aggregates of nanorods that have promise as inexpensive and flexible solar panels.