The ALS Quick Start Guide provides contact information, maps, and other useful tips to ensure your time at the ALS goes smoothly. Check out the electronic version online or pick up a paper copy from the User Office. Read more »
ALSNews Vol. 407
July 31, 2019
Advanced Light Source Five-Year Strategic Plan
The updated ALS Strategic Plan for the next five years is now available online. It provides an introduction to the ALS, explains strategic priorities for science thrusts and instrumentation, and covers the ALS Upgrade. The document also discusses the user program, workforce development, safety, accelerator projects, and initiatives. Read more »
Last Chance to Register for the 2019 ALS User Meeting (October 1–3)
The last day to register online for the 2019 ALS User Meeting is September 26. The event will feature news from DOE, keynote talks, updates on the ALS-U Project, 11 focused workshops and tutorials, a student poster “slam,” an exhibitor tent, and the presentation of awards at the annual banquet. To register and view the draft agenda and logistical information, visit the User Meeting webpage.
Wanli Yang Receives VUVX Mid-Career Award in Condensed Matter Physics
At the 40th International Conference on Vacuum Ultraviolet and X-Ray Physics, Wanli Yang was awarded the Mid-Career Award in Condensed Matter Physics for extending the applicability of soft x-ray science within the materials science community, especially for the application of ex situ and in situ x-ray spectroscopy to Li-ion batteries. Read more »
July 2019 Message from the Users’ Executive Committee
The Users’ Executive Committee (UEC) serves the interests of scientists who come to the Advanced Light Source to conduct research. Find out more about upcoming events and ways to get involved. Read more »
Elaine DiMasi, ALS-U Beamlines and Optical Systems Lead
Elaine DiMasi joined the ALS-U Project two months ago, bringing her expertise in both beamline science and project management. Find out why she’s known as the BOSS. Read more »
ALS in the News (July 2019)
- Berkeley Lab appoints Polly Arnold as Chemical Sciences Division Director
- Thin film patterns classified by machine learning
- Reversible electro-optical detector for environmental sensing of pollutants
- Berkeley Lab receives DOE support for building to study microbe-ecosystem interactions for energy and environmental research
- New analysis techniques unearth a trove of unusual minerals
- Q&A: The complexities of biominerals
- Frog protein may mitigate dangers posed by toxic marine microbes fueled by climate change
Tuning Material Properties with Laser Light
Researchers demonstrated that coupled electronic and magnetic properties in a material can be repeatably tuned using laser light. The results suggest the possibility of creating microelectronic devices that use a laser beam to erase and rewrite bits of information in materials engineered for random-access memory and data storage. Read more »
Molecular Framework Imparts Stability to Reactive Catalyst
Researchers have shown that a rigid metal–organic framework (MOF) can be used to stabilize core regions of a reactive catalyst that has potential for use in artificial photosynthesis. The framework immobilizes and preserves key reactive intermediates and affords a clearer view of how the catalyst’s structure correlates with function. Read more »
A Bullfrog’s Powerful Defense Against Toxic Red Tides
Working as a “molecular sponge,” a bullfrog protein known as saxiphilin provides powerful, yet little understood, protection against deadly neurotoxins produced in red tides. Crystallography studies at the ALS have clarified saxiphilin’s function, potentially enabling better ways to monitor and combat toxins in our oceans and food supplies. Read more »