X-ray imaging and AI-powered analysis at the ALS reveal how heat shield materials degrade microscopically during atmospheric reentry conditions. After a decade of partnership with NASA, research at the ALS offered a new, detailed picture of this hidden process, one that has meaningfully improved how engineers model and design heat shields for space missions such as the recent Artemis missions. Read more »
Hidden State Precedes Superconductivity in Kagome Metal
Experiments at the ALS revealed a hidden electronic phase that breaks time-reversal symmetry before a charge-density wave forms in a kagome metal. Because hidden electronic order can compete with or shape superconductivity, this finding helps guide the search for high-temperature, unconventional superconducting materials. Read more »
Scientists Uncover How Calcite Repairs Cracks in Its Structure
Researchers uncovered how calcite repairs cracks in its structure over time. These findings could improve reservoir management for extracting resources such as geothermal energy from the Earth. Read more »
ALS Fellowship Application Window Opens in September
Applications for fellowships to start in winter or spring 2027 will be accepted from September 8–October 2. Fellows will spend up to a year in residence at the ALS pursuing research projects in teams that include staff and the user community, and will be exposed to current scientific challenges that advanced synchrotron radiation tools can tackle. Read more »
Powering Science: How SYNAPS-I Builds on Meta’s Open Source AI
SYNAPS-I, a DOE initiative led by Berkeley Lab, unites 60 researchers across five labs to speed up X-ray and neutron data analysis using AI. Because prepublication data must stay on secure government systems, open-source models from Meta — SAM 3 and DINOv3 — let the team fine-tune cutting-edge AI entirely in-house. Read more »