SLAC Today is available online at:
http://today.slac.stanford.edu

In this issue:
SLAC Researchers Develop Flight Software
Safety Today: Being Safe with Cars, Bikes and People
Photo: Final Focus Test Beam Removal Underway
WIS Seminar: Age Management Medicine in the 21st Century
Electrical Safety Tip: Get The Right Training

SLAC Today

Tuesday - May 23, 2006
(Photo - LAT testbed)
The LAT flight software test bed.  Each square simulates one of the LAT's 16 towers. (Click on image for larger version.)

SLAC Researchers Develop Flight Software

by Chandra Shekhar

Nearly 350 miles above the Earth's surface, a perpetual storm of particles bombards an instrument that records the path and strength of each particle that strikes it. This hail of particle collisions creates 10 megabytes of data every second.

Running on a processor about a tenth as powerful as a consumer laptop, a computer program shrinks this data down to less than 150 kilobytes per second.

The instrument in this scenario is the Large Area Telescope (LAT) assembled at SLAC as part of the NASA-led Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) project, slated to launch in 2007. The LAT's flight software sifts through the millions of "events" registered on the instrument's detectors, keeping only those potentially caused by gamma rays.  Read more...

(Column - Safety Today)

Being Safe with Cars, Bikes and People

by Larissa Williams

(Photo - Bike)
The weather is great and everybody wants to be out in it—walking, biking, and driving.

Here at SLAC, we share our roads and pathways; bicycles and cars on the roads, and pedestrians and cyclists on the pathways. To be safe, we have to be alert for others on our route.

One of SLAC's problem areas is the Sand Hill Road and Saga Lane intersection at the main gate. It's common to drive on autopilot when arriving and leaving work, as drivers' minds are elsewhere, thinking about home or the job. Yet this is the time when we most need to be alert. Drivers should be especially attentive for pedestrians and cyclists at the following intersections.

When arriving at SLAC from the direction of I-280 and making a right-hand turn into SLAC from Sand Hill Road:
- Watch for bicycles when moving into the bike lane to turn right.
- Stop at the red light and watch for bicycles entering SLAC from other lanes.
- Watch for pedestrians crossing the road.

When leaving SLAC and turning left onto Sand Hill Road towards I-280:
- Watch for pedestrians and bicyclists crossing the road. Please be particularly attentive as the drivers in front of you might be turning before the pedestrians get to the mid-way point.
- At lunch time, many pedestrians cross the road for exercise and lunch—be careful when leaving the site in a car.
- When leaving at twilight, pay extra attention as the sun can cause glare and make pedestrians and cyclists hard to see.

When approaching SLAC from the Stanford area:
- Drivers should avoid making 3-point U-turns (a right turn onto Saga Lane to cross into SLAC) instead of simply making a left turn. The timing of the lights was set up for bicycle safety.  Read more...

Final Focus Test Beam Removal Underway

(Photo - FFTB) Sixty-foot long concrete blocks each weighing 38 tons are currently being loaded onto trucks and removed from the research yard. As a result, the south side of the gallery will be closed from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. through May 26. (Click on image for larger version.)

WIS Seminar: Age Management Medicine in the 21st Century

Harvey S. Bartnof, M.D., will present the Women's Interchange at SLAC (WIS) lecture "Age Management Medicine in the 21st Century" at noon today in Panofsky Auditorium.

Dr. Bartnof is founder and Medical Director of the California Longevity & Vitality Medical Institute in San Francisco. Dr. Bartnof also hosts a internet radio show every Wednesday.

At the Institute, half of Dr. Bartnof's patients are women who are looking for safer alternatives to conventional replacement hormones. In this afternoon's lecture, Bartnof will present the latest information on hormone therapies. More information...

Electrical Safety Tip:
Get The Right Training

by The Electrical Safety Committee

Training requirements follow directly from the Job Hazard Analysis Mitigation (JHAM) process. As part of hazard mitigation, training is assigned through the worker Safety Training Assessment (STA). A supervisor is responsible for making sure that the STA is complete and correct.

There are several electrical training courses offered at SLAC. The number and kind of courses that are required vary widely depending on the exposure to the level of electronics work hazards. There are supplemental courses, like CPR and LOTO, required for people working on or around other working on more hazardous systems.

Review your training with your supervisor and get signed up now! For more information, go to the Electrical Safety Support Group (ESSG) online Electrical Training Guide.

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