Solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are a promising path toward the “clean” conversion of chemical energy to electrical energy with little or no carbon dioxide emission. With the help of the ALS, researchers from MIT recently found a way to treat SOFC cathode surfaces so that they perform better and last longer.Read more…
Using an array of high-powered x-ray imaging techniques at the ALS, scientists have revealed for the first time the molecular steps that turn on bacteria’s pathogenic genes. The study could open up new avenues in the development of drugs to prevent or treat bacterial infection.Read more…
A beamstop device recently developed at the ALS has successfully combined two essential crystallographic functions–capturing the damaging portion of the beam while simultaneously monitoring its intensity–into a single miniaturized package. The technology has been licensed and launched commercially and is also a finalist for an R&D 100 Award.Read more…
On Thursday, July 28, the power supply to the ALS booster bend magnets failed. Over the course of nearly six days, more than 20 ALS staff worked long hours to resolve the failure and get the ALS back online. Read more…
Andreas Scholl recently became a senior staff scientist, a job title that he sees not necessarily as indicative of a different job, but rather of the gradual change in his responsibilities over his 18 years at the ALS. Read more…
Members of the ALS Brightness Improvement Team have been recognized by the Department of Energy with a prestigious Secretary of Energy Achievement Award. This distinction follows the team’s receipt last December of a Berkeley Lab Director’s Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement. Read more…
Discounted early registration ends Monday, September 19, for the 2016 ALS User Meeting, which will take place October 3–5. To register, view the draft agenda and logistical information, and learn how to nominate colleagues for scientific, technical, and user support awards, visit the User Meeting webpage...
The ALS UEC met last week to discuss the upcoming User Meeting, solicitation of new UEC members, and the pending update for the ALS UEC website. A new development was a User Forum, which allowed the UEC to engage with users present at the ALS. Following on this forum’s success, the UEC will hold a similar event following every regularly scheduled UEC meeting in the upcoming year.Read more…
Postdocs are a significant portion of Berkeley Lab’s workforce, and the same is true at the ALS, where 42 postdocs are currently employed by or receiving a stipend from the ALS. To provide a forum and resources for this large contingent at the Lab, the Berkeley Lab Postdoc Association (BLPA) was recently established by a small group of postdocs.Read more…
To resolve open questions about plant plumbing–how plants transport water from roots through stems and how they respond to stresses such as drought–science teams from around the world met September 1-3 at the ALS for an intensive round of x-ray and other experiments. See photos of the event in our photo essay andread more…
Operations Update
For the user runs from July 26 to August 28, 2016 (a period which included two user weeks of 2-Bunch Mode operations), the beam reliability [(time scheduled – time lost)/time scheduled)] was 92.0%. For this period, the mean time between failures (MTBF) was 43.4 hours, and the mean time to recovery (MTTR) was 127 minutes.The failure of multiple capacitors within the Booster Bend system (which interrupted top-off mode continuous injection from July 28 to July 31) resulted in the loss of the equivalent of 21.8 hours of user beam time.
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).
Using an array of high-powered x-ray imaging techniques at the ALS, scientists have revealed for the first time the molecular steps that turn on bacteria’s pathogenic genes. The study could open up new avenues in the development of drugs to prevent or treat bacterial infection
A beamstop device recently developed at the ALS has successfully combined two essential crystallographic functions–capturing the damaging portion of the beam while simultaneously monitoring its intensity–into a single miniaturized package. The technology has been licensed and launched commercially and is also a finalist for an R&D 100 Award
ALS in the News
