Skip to main content

ALS

Home / News

All News & Updates

Tribute to E.O. Lawrence Moves into ALS Lobby

There’s some new artwork gracing the ALS lobby—a stately portrait of Berkeley Lab founder Ernest Orlando Lawrence. The painting has a deep connection to the Lab, and so does the artist. He was a longtime Berkeley Lab employee and the father of Berkeley Lab Mechanical Technician Jim Dougherty, who frequently works on the undulators at the ALS. Read more »

COSMIC Achieves First Light

On Wednesday, March 29, the COherent Scattering and MICroscopy (COSMIC) Beamline (7.0.1) achieved first light, a significant milestone in the ALS’s plans to capitalize on recent gains in soft x-ray coherence provided by modern storage-ring light sources. Read more »

3D Visualization of Leaves during Drought

The veins of living leaves at increasing levels of drought stress were visualized using x-ray microtomography. The results expand our view of leaf drought responses, beyond the traditional embolism-centric view, to a broader focus on the role of the surrounding living tissues in water movement during drought. Read more »

Bending the (β-Sheet) Curve to Shape Protein Cavities

Curved β sheets are basic building blocks of many protein cavities that, by serving as binding sites for other molecules, are essential to protein function. β-sheet curvature can now be controlled with atomic-level accuracy, opening the door to custom-designed sites capable of entirely new functions. Read more »PPT-icon-35 PDF-icon-35

How Berkelium Stands Out in a Heavy Metal Crowd

Using several spectroscopic techniques, scientists found that the element berkelium breaks form with its heavy-element peers by taking on an extra positive charge when bound to a synthetic organic molecule. This property could help scientists develop better methods for handling and purifying nuclear materials. Read more »

Could This Enzyme Help Turn Biofuel Waste into Something Useful?

A protein used by common soil bacteria is providing new clues in the effort to convert aryl compounds, a common waste product from industrial and agricultural practices, into something of value. This Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) study, which involved ALS Beamline 8.2.2, targets LigM for its role in breaking down aromatic pollutants. Read more »

2017 ALS Shutdown Recap

The last few months were quieter than usual for ALS users but not for staff tasked with maintaining and improving the ALS. The recent ALS shutdown was one of the longest on record, spanning almost three months. Those involved say it was also one of the most successful, with everything on the to-do list crossed off. The work accomplished paves the way for new beamlines, better water-cooling capacity, and ALS-U. Read more »