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New Evidence for a Water-Rich History on Mars

Mars may have been a wetter place than previously thought, according to experiments on lab-synthesized mineral samples serving as proxies for Martian meteorites. Shock experiments followed by x-ray diffraction studies showed how changes in the minerals could indicate a more water-rich history for the Red Planet. Read more »PPT-icon-35 PDF-icon-35

A Seaweed Derivative Could Be Just What Lithium-Sulfur Batteries Need

Lithium-sulfur batteries have great potential as a low-cost, high-energy, energy source for both vehicle and grid applications. However, they suffer from significant capacity fading. Now, scientists have found that carrageenan, a seaweed derivative, acts as a stabilizer, allowing for more cycling and an extended lifetime. Read more »

A Systematic Approach to Customizing Cyclic Proteins

Proteins consisting of identical subunits arranged symmetrically around a central axis (cyclic homo-oligomers) play key roles in many biological processes. Researchers have now developed a systematic approach to their design and demonstrated its accuracy using protein crystallography and small-angle x-ray scattering. Read more »

New Open Access Requirements

To comply with DOE’s Public Access Plan, Berkeley Lab must ensure that open-access versions of publications co-authored by Lab employees are included in DOE’s open-access system. If you co-author work with a Lab scientist, please note that the scientist may ask you for an open-access version of the manuscript. We request that you cooperate with our scientists in a timely fashion and provide manuscripts to satisfy this DOE requirement when asked. Read more »

2017 ALS User Meeting Award Nominations Due July 14

Nominations for the 2017 ALS User Meeting awards will open soon and are due on July 14. Consider preparing a nomination for a deserving colleague or group of individuals for one of the three awards. In addition to the award plaque, there will be a cash prize associated with each award. Read more »

Bacterial Symbiont Sequesters Arsenic and Barium in Sponges

Researchers used x-ray fluorescence, spectroscopy, and diffraction to study how populations of symbiotic bacteria can act as a detox organ in a host with no organs. The bacteria, members of the species Entotheonella, accumulate and mineralize large quantities of arsenic and barium in sponges. Read more »

APXPS Finds Carbonate Reversal at Liquid Interfaces

Aqueous carbonate systems are central to many processes essential to life, from the blood buffer system to the global carbon cycle. Using APXPS, researchers probed the concentration of carbonates near an interface, finding a surprising reversal in the expected abundances as a function of depth. Read more »PPT-icon-35 PDF-icon-35

Monika Blum, Assistant Research Professor and UEC Chair

Moni Blum has been coming to the ALS since she was a young graduate student. She’s now an assistant research professor at UNLV in Clemens Heske’s group and oversees their synchrotron activities at the ALS. The group uses ALS Beamlines 8.3.2 and 9.3.1 to study materials for energy conversion. Blum also serves as chair of the UEC. Read more »

ALS Doctoral Fellowship Applications Due June 30

ALS Doctoral Fellowships allow early-career researchers to spend a year in residence at Berkeley Lab working at the frontier of synchrotron radiation research and helping advance state-of-the-art techniques and applications. Starting in 2017, a new fellowship track has been created to leverage the complementary capabilities of the ALS and Molecular Foundry. Applications are due June 30. Read more »