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South Africa joins the ESRF
On 21st May, South Africa signed a medium-term arrangement with the ESRF at a level of 0.3% and, in doing so, became the 20th country to join the European synchrotron. South Africa’s affiliation is a major milestone in its long-standing determination to reinforce ties wit…
ESRF lays "grey gold" paving in new experimental halls
State-of-the-art technology is commonplace at the ESRF and this rule does not just apply to instrumentation. Today, one of the seemingly most basic and fundamental ingredients of construction, and certainly the most used man-made product in the world, namely concrete, has be…
The Earth’s Centre is 1000 Degrees Hotter than Previously Thought
Scientists have determined the temperature near the Earth’s centre to be 6000 degrees Celsius, 1000 degrees hotter than in a previous experiment run 20 years ago. These measurements confirm geophysical models that the temperature difference between the solid core and the m…
Happy symbiosis between tutor and trainee
Every year the ESRF offers more than 100 traineeships to enthusiastic and committed students pursuing studies at or below the Masters level. Students worldwide are welcomed for periods from several weeks to several years depending on the type of training involved.…
Research with synchrotron X-rays boosts industrial innovation
In February the ESRF carried out a survey of its academic users to ask about their links with industry. Replies have confirmed what we already believed, that research carried out using synchrotron X-rays is becoming increasingly beneficial to industry.…
Scientists probe atomic structure and dynamics of water under deep Earth extreme pressure and temperature conditions
Water is one of the most studied materials on Earth and has been the focus of dedicated research for decades. Despite it being a very simple compound of two common elements, two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, researchers still struggle to describe the unusual structure …
Washing whiter and greener: the Science of Laundry
Industry users from Procter & Gamble explain how the ESRF has helped them to make environmentally friendly washing detergents.…
Europe’s teenagers build bridges between science and the arts
Science inspires art. And art, or creativity, inspires the scientist. Although the arts and sciences are often depicted as separate disciplines, incompatible and conflicting with each other, they are similar in many ways. They both require careful observation, discipline, in…
Synthesising fuels of the future
The ESRF is helping chemists optimise a 90-year-old reaction that turns ordinary solids, liquids and gases into valuable hydrocarbons.…
New technique films the birth of molecules with unprecedented time resolution
For decades, scientists have been studying the reagents and the products of chemical reactions. However, due to a lack of tools fast enough to catch the action, they’ve not been able to observe directly the movements and play of atoms during the making and breaking of bon…
Join in for a summer of science!
Are you a science undergraduate looking for a summer to remember? Then why not join our summer bachelor programme?…
X-rays reveal uptake of nanoparticles by soya bean crops
Metals contained in nanoparticles can enter into the food chain. Scientists have, for the first time, traced the nanoparticles taken up from the soil by crop plants and analysed the chemical states of their metallic elements. Zinc was shown to dissolve and accumulate through…
ESRF announces winner of 2013 Young Scientist Award
Simon A.J. Kimber has been awarded the 2013 Young Scientist of the Year Award for his outstanding work on X-ray pair distribution function techniques (PDF) and their application to nanostructured materials.…
The ESRF expands
Four years after architects were invited to submit their plans, the ESRF upgrade buildings are nearing completion. Major works impacting on the accelerators and beamlines were completed last year as scheduled, and the ID16 satellite building was inaugurated in October.…
Successful installation of the first 7-metre straight section in the ESRF storage ring
The straight section on ID23 is the first at the ESRF to be lengthened from 5 metres to 7 metres as part of the ongoing upgrade of the accelerator complex. …
Scientists reassemble the backbone of life using synchrotron X-rays
Scientists have been able to reconstruct, for the first time, the intricate three-dimensional structure of the backbone of early tetrapods, the earliest four-legged animals. High-energy X-rays and a new data extraction protocol allowed the researchers to reconstruct the back…
LED lights may be bad for Van Gogh paintings
Dozens of masterpieces are susceptible to light induced darkening of yellow areas.…
The Strategic Mission of the ESRF for the forthcoming 20 years
In 2011, the ESRF Council established a “Working Group for the Strategic Mission of the ESRF” (SME-WG) to consider the ESRF’s long-term mission in the European and international context, beyond the current Upgrade Programme and for the next two decades. …
The discussion is open! How do you see the ESRF of the future?
At more than half way through the first phase of the ESRF upgrade programme, the time is ripe to formulate a comprehensive scientific and technical case for the second phase, starting in 2015.…
X-rays help understand how mechanical action can lead to greener chemistry
Solvents are everywhere and a major environmental concern. An experiment at the ESRF opens new opportunities for chemistry without solvents. …
EMBO Practical Course on Exploiting Anomalous Scattering in Macromolecular Structure Determination