Jim Wilson/The New York Times - Dr. Wim Leemans has been able to revitalize his research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with stimulus money.
By MIGUEL HELFT
and MAGGIE FAZELI FARD
Dr. Wim Leemans, a physicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, shows a touch of parental pride for the hulking machine he affectionately calls T-Rex — a high-intensity laser that pushes electrons around. But a new machine called Bella — formally, the Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator — is uppermost on his mind these days.
Bella will be twice as large and 20 times more powerful, and Dr. Leemans just got the $20.7 million in federal stimulus money that he needs to build it. “Bella is T-Rex on steroids,” said Dr. Leemans, a slight man of 46. Bella has the potential, he said, to help restore the nation’s prowess in particle physics.
Less certain, however, is whether Bella represents smart economics. Read More »
- Published:
- October 18, 2009 – 7:02 AM
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(Justin Maxon/The New York Times -- A scene in front of a halal food cart on the corner of 53rd Street and Avenue of the Americas.)
By MAGGIE FAZELI FARD
The New York Times
They make their approach from the south – a steady stream of yellow taxicabs, black town cars and vehicles distinguished only by their New Jersey license plates, weaving their way past the lights of Times Square and into the relative dark of an emptier Midtown. Their destination is a floodlit corner of Avenue of the Americas, where a line of glittering short skirts and dark designer jeans trails down 53rd Street under a fog of smoke. It’s 4 a.m. on a Sunday morning, and if their parties are no longer quite in full swing, they are at least ending on a satisfying note. Read More »
- Published:
- August 11, 2009 – 9:30 AM
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(Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times)
This panorama consists of many individual photographs taken over a short period of time and stitched together into a single image.
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Photographed by Fred R. Conrad
Produced by Maggie Fazeli Fard
- Published:
- August 6, 2009 – 11:10 PM
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(Michael Kamber/The New York Times -- On a July night, American soldiers and Afghan security forces raided four homes in Baraki Barak district, detaining seven men, including the man above. The men were released a day later.)
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Produced by Jeffery DelViscio, Amy O’Leary and Maggie Fazeli Fard
- Published:
- August 3, 2009 – 11:01 PM
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