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Ancient Ocean Temperatures Recorded in Mother-of-Pearl

Researchers have shown that the thickness of the nacre, or mother-of-pearl, that lines the insides of mollusk shells can be used to estimate ocean temperatures as far back as the early Jurassic period. X-ray studies of modern and ancient shells help establish the method’s feasibility. Read more »

7th International Conferences on Hard X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

The International Conferences on Hard X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy will be held September 11-15, 2017 in Berkeley, CA. They will bring together researchers from a wide variety of fields, from fundamental condensed matter and atomic and molecular physics to more applied surface and interface studies of catalysis, energy and IT device- and process- development, and environmental research. The abstract deadline is June 15, 2017. Read more »

Call for Abstracts: Novel Trends in Synchrotron and FEL-Based Analysis

Abstracts are requested for the AVS 64th International Symposium and Exhibition, to be held October 29 – November 3, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. The Novel Trends in Synchrotron and FEL-Based Analysis session will provide a forum for communicating the most recent achievements in surface and interface research using SR and FEL radiation from IR to hard x-rays. The abstract deadline is May 1, 2017. Read more »

UEC Update from March 2017 Meeting

The ALS Users’ Executive Committee met in mid-March. Topics of discussion included this year’s User Meeting and possible combined projects with the Molecular Foundry UEC. Users should mark their calendars for the next User Forum, to be held June 1 at 3:30 p.m. User Forums are an opportunity for users to learn about UEC activities and to bring up questions and concerns. Read more »

Mapping Catalytic Reactions on Single Nanoparticles

A new study confirms that structural defects and jagged surfaces at the edges of platinum and gold nanoparticles are key hot spots for chemical reactivity. The experiments should help researchers customize the structural properties of catalysts to make them more effective in fostering chemical reactions. Read more »PPT-icon-35 PDF-icon-35

ARPES Overturns V2O3 Metal-to-Insulator Theory

Researchers report on angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements performed on the transition-metal oxide V2O3. The results overturn a decade-old theory about metal-to-insulator transitions in this material and provide a spectroscopic benchmark test for future models. Read more »PPT-icon-35 PDF-icon-35

NCAA Drives Formation of Designed Proteins

A noncanonical amino-acid (NCAA) complex has been found to drive the self-assembly of a computationally designed protein. Bpy-ala, which is “noncanonical” because it’s not among the 20 amino acids that occur naturally, has useful properties that could be used to generate novel photoactive proteins. Read more »

Grad Student Benefits from ALS, Brookhaven Collaboration

Stony Brook grad student Tiffany Victor flies to California several times a year to use infrared beams at the Advanced Light Source. Unlike the infrared microscope at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the extremely bright infrared light from the ALS’s synchrotron beamlines improves the image quality and resolution in order to study the interface between the plant and fungus. Read more »

Ptychography of a Bacterium’s Inner Compass

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) synthesize chains of magnetic nanocrystals (magnetosomes) that interact with the Earth’s magnetic field like an inner compass needle, simplifying their search for optimum environments. Ptychographic spectra of magnetosomes from a marine MTB provides insight into how these inner compasses form. Read more »