Latest Synchrotron Stories

It might seem at first glance to be one of the simpler techniques performed at the Australian Synchrotron, but X-ray absorption spectroscopy requires a beamline that is very finely tuned. The technique measures the amount of X-rays absorbed by a sample while scanning a selected range of X-ray energies. The result is information on what elements are present and in what chemical form, what their local environment is and how they are bonded. The technique is only available at synchrotrons. The...

The world was in shock when in 2001 the Talibans destroyed two ancient colossal Buddha statues in the Afghan region of Bamiyan. Behind those statues, there are caves decorated with precious paintings from 5th to 9th century A.D. The caves also suffered from Taliban destruction, as well as from a severe natural environment, but today they have become the source of a major discovery. Scientists have proved, thanks to experiments performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF),...

Researchers at the National Museum of Natural History, Paris were thrilled to finally confirm that a slab of Lebanese limestone depicts the body of a snake with two legs.Researchers at the European Light Source (ESRF) in Grenoble, France used a high-powered super camera to validate their suspicions about the fossilized reptile.Alexandra Houssaye, from the National Museum of Natural History, Paris, said that the X-ray technique is useful because it allows researchers to get an in-depth glimpse...

A world class science project in Britain, dubbed "˜Alice', is in jeopardy of being moved to the U.S. or Russia due to cuts in Britain's science budget.  The project, conducted at Daresbury labs in Cheshire, is the first particle accelerator of its kind in Europe. The cuts could take effect as early as July, shutting down the project after six years of design and construction and before it has a chance to produce results.Alice, short for Accelerators and Lasers in Combined Experiments, was...

Paleontologists' vision of the past is becoming remarkably clearer thanks to a revolutionary new "supercamera." Located in Grenoble, France, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) uses an intense light capable of piercing almost any material. Synchrotron technology has benefitted the efforts of French paleontologists such as Paul Tafforeau and Malvina Lak at the University of Rennes who have used the camera to study 640 blocks of opaque amber from the Charentes region in...