In the superhard material, rhenium diboride, smaller grain size leads to greater yield strength (i.e., the amount of stress tolerated before permanent deformation). Because such transition-metal borides are extremely hard, metallic, and can be synthesized at ambient pressure, they have exciting potential for use in next-generation cutting tools. Read more »
September 4 Deadline for General User Proposals—New Proposal Writing Guidelines!
Starting August 14, the User Office will accept new General User Proposals (GUPs) from scientists who wish to conduct research at the ALS in the 2025-1 (January–July) cycle. The deadline for submissions is September 4, 2024. We will publish new proposal writing guidelines by August 14, so please read the new guidelines before submitting a proposal. Applicants are reminded that they may request joint access to the Molecular Foundry, a nanoscience user facility at Berkeley Lab, to support their ALS activities. Read more »
Kevin Wilson to Receive 2024 Shirley Award
The ALS Users’ Executive Committee will recognize Berkeley Lab Senior Scientist Kevin Wilson as this year’s Shirley Award recipient. At the 2024 User Meeting he will present a talk on using synchrotron radiation to probe the multiphase chemistry of aerosols. Read more »
Caught in the Actinium
In this work, researchers demonstrated a macromolecular scaffold that combines an 8-coordinate synthetic ligand and a mammalian protein to characterize the solution and solid-state behavior of the longest-lived actinium isotope. The information could help design better cancer treatments. Read more »
Mechanistic Insight into a Viral-Factory Component
Recent protein-structure studies conducted at the ALS provided mechanistic insights into the function of a protein (σNS) involved in viral replication. Understanding these mechanisms will foster the development of therapeutic strategies against viruses that use σNS-like proteins to replicate. Read more »