Monthly Newsletter of the Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
A Designed Protein Maps Brain Activity
Scientists designed and validated via crystallographic studies a fluorescent protein that allows the permanent marking of active brain cells. The protein was then used to study live changes via fluorescence in the active nerve cells in brains of fruit flies, zebrafish, and mice. Read more…
X-Ray Microscopy Reveals How Crystal Mechanics Drive Battery Performance
Recent findings at the ALS show that small crystal size is key to maintaining a battery’s performance and establish soft x-ray ptychography as an essential tool for studying chemical states in nanoparticles. Read more…
Often the full impact of a scientific discovery takes decades to realize, during which the research is developed further and adopted by other scientists. Such was the case for the work of biochemist Paul Modrich, one of three recipients of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source was a core resource Modrich used to build on his earlier work. Read more…
Ringleader: Ashley White, ALS Director of Communications
After many years as a researcher followed by a few in government and policy, Ashley White sees her new position as ALS Director of Communications as the perfect blend of it all. Read more…
2015 ALS User Meeting Highlights
The 2015 User Meeting brought together 405 ALS users from around the world, many of whom shared insights and sparked discussion with presentations of their ALS research highlights. Read more…
The LBNL publication reporting system allows you to report your journal articles with just a DOI or PubMed number. We invite you to test the system and provide your feedback. Read more…
Congratulations to ALS user Ming Yi, a postdoctoral scientist in condensed matter physics at the University of California, Berkeley. She recently won a L’Oréal USA “2015 For Women in Science Fellowship.” Yi’s work focuses on high-temperature superconductivity, a phenomenon in which electrons coherently pair up to travel without resistance in a material at a relatively high temperature. Read more…
Peidong Yang, an ALS user from the LBNL Materials Sciences Division, has been named one of 24 new 2015 MacArthur “genius” Fellows. Yang’s research is focused on techniques for capturing carbon dioxide and turning it into a sustainable transportation fuel. Read more…
ALS Beamline Scientist Tolek Tyliszczak was recently elected as an American Physical Society Fellow. Tyliszczak was chosen based on his “groundbreaking development and technical implementations of the highest performance soft x-ray scanning transmission microscope (STXM) and its applications, and investigation of extraterrestrial particles.”
Operations Update
For the user runs from September 22 to October 19, 2015, the beam reliability [(time scheduled – time lost)/time scheduled)] was 96.9%. For this period, the mean time between failures (MTBF) was 39.2 hours, and the mean time to recovery (MTTR) was 83 minutes. There were no significant interruptions. The ALS began a scheduled shutdown this week and will resume user operations January 13. All beamlines will be offline until then.
Detailed information on reliability is available on the ALS reliability bulletin board, which is located in the hallway between the ALS and the control room in Building 80. Questions about beam reliability should be directed to Dave Richardson (DBRichardson@lbl.gov, x4376).
ALS in the News
