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Scientists Discover How Dense, Extraterrestrial Ice can Form in Just Billionths of a Second
A flash of green laser followed by pulses of X-rays, and mere nanoseconds later an extraterrestrial form of ice has formed.
Scientists See Molecules ‘Breathe’ in Remarkable Detail
The research team was able to watch energy from light flow through atomic ripples in a molecule. Such insights may provide new ways to develop a class of materials that improve efficiency and reduce the size of applications like solar cells and memory storage devices.
Scientists Get First Direct Look at How Electrons ‘Dance’ with Vibrating Atoms
Extraordinarily precise measurements -- within millionths of a billionth of a second and a billionth of a hair's breadth -- show this ‘electron-phonon coupling’ can be far stronger than predicted, and could potentially play a role in unconventional superconductivity.
How a Single Chemical Bond Balances Cells Between Life and Death
With SLAC’s X-ray laser and synchrotron, scientists measured exactly how much energy goes into keeping this crucial bond from triggering a cell's death spiral.
SLAC Experiment is First to Decipher Atomic Structure of an Intact Virus with an X-ray Laser
The method dramatically reduces the amount of virus material required and allows scientists to get results several times faster.
The World’s Most Powerful X-ray Laser Beam Creates ‘Molecular Black Hole’
When scientists at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory focused the full intensity of the world’s most powerful X-ray laser on a small molecule, they got a surprise: A single laser pulse stripped all but a few electrons out of the molecule’s biggest atom from the inside out, leaving a void that started pulling in electrons from the rest of the molecule, like a black hole gobbling a spiraling disk of matter.
Shunned by Microbes, Organic Carbon Can Resist Breakdown in Underground Environments
A new study reveals that organic matter whose breakdown would yield only minimal energy for hungry microorganisms preferentially builds up in floodplains, illuminating a new mechanism of carbon sequestration.
Special Delivery: First Shipment of Magnetic Devices for Next-Gen X-Ray Laser
Berkeley Lab is overseeing development of specialized undulators that will produce X-ray light at LCLS-II by wiggling electrons.
Where Scientist Meets Machine: A Fresh Approach to Experimental Design at SLAC X-Ray Laser
Paul Fuoss, the new head of experimental design at LCLS, aims to make experiments at light sources here and around the world more productive and user-friendly.
Femtosecond Week Chat with the Director of SLAC's X-ray Laser
Mike Dunne answers questions about ultrafast science.
