http://www.esrf.eu News items, Press Releases, Spotlight on Science, Time Out Interviews. daily 1 2006-03-24T12:28:19Z http://www.esrf.eu/news/spotlight/spotlight150/index_html With dimensions close to a nanometre and the ability to store one bit of information, molecules that possess bistable magnetic states could represent the ultimate evolution of digital memory. Experiments at the ESRF have unravelled how such tiny metal-organic complexes interact with macroscopic ferromagnetic substrates, providing clues on how to stabilise their magnetic core and how to couple it to the outside world. These observations raise our hopes that one day it will be possible to incorporate single molecule magnetic elements into hybrid molecular–metal circuits. 2012-01-25 16:45:32 No publisher admans 2012-01-27T08:22:17Z News Item http://www.esrf.eu/news/general/MoU-ESRF-SINP The ESRF and the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) in Kolkata (India) have agreed to strengthen their scientific and technical collaboration in all fields of synchrotron radiation science. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 16 January 2012 by Francesco Sette, ESRF Director General, and Milan K. Sanyal, Director of the SINP, at a ceremony held at the SINP Headquarters in Kolkata. 2012-01-17 09:07:47 No publisher habfast 2012-01-17T08:57:54Z News Item http://www.esrf.eu/news/spotlight/spotlight149/index_html “Don’t change a winning team” is a widely known sport paradigm on short-term success. However, it is also evident that success on the long-term is no longer guaranteed when teams do not further develop. In this respect, a coach must sooner or later answer the question how to integrate a new “high potential” player into a winning team, guaranteeing the optimal use of his high performance while conserving simultaneously the enthusiastic team spirit. Certainly, this is only possible when both sides – team & candidate – respect each other and face each other in a flexible way. 2012-01-09 14:39:29 No publisher admans 2012-01-10T07:46:06Z News Item http://www.esrf.eu/news/spotlight/spotlight148/index_html Since graphene was first isolated in a controlled way, it has been an optimal playground to test the most exciting ideas in condensed matter. Its curvature and elastic deformations can be modelled by means of fictitious gauge fields as if the system were in the presence of a magnetic field [1]. These fields have become an experimental reality after the observation of strain-induced Landau levels in graphene with effective fields up to 300 T [2]. We have theoretically explored the opposite (low-field) geometrical limit, where the electronic excitations can still be described in terms of plane waves rather than Landau levels. In particular, we have discussed a realisation of the Aharonov-Bohm effect due to mechanical deformations in graphene that can be used to detect stresses at the nanometre scale. 2011-12-27 08:00:00 No publisher admans 2012-01-16T10:39:23Z News Item http://www.esrf.eu/news/general/magnetite/index_html A fundamental problem that has puzzled generations of scientists has finally been solved after more than 70 years. An international team discovered how a subtle electronic effect in magnetite – the most magnetic of all naturally occurring minerals – causes a dramatic change to how this material conducts electricity at very low temperatures. The discovery gives new insight into the very mineral in which mankind discovered magnetism, and it may enable magnetite and similar materials to be exploited in new ways. The results are published today in Nature. 2011-12-21 19:00:00 No publisher admans 2011-12-22T08:21:02Z News Item http://www.esrf.eu/news/spotlight/spotlight147/index_html Metal/metal oxides supported on porous catalyst bodies represent the cornerstone of the heterogeneous catalysis industry. However, little is known about the process by which an active phase forms from an impregnation precursor and how this influences the final properties of the catalyst. Using dynamic X-ray diffraction computed tomography at beamline ID15, real time insight into both the catalyst evolutionary process and the stability of the catalyst under reaction conditions has been obtained for the first time in both two and three dimensions. 2011-12-19 11:19:25 No publisher admans 2011-12-19T15:44:45Z News Item http://www.esrf.eu/news/general/hidden-rembrandt/index_html Studies at the ESRF and at Brookhaven National Laboratory have helped to reveal a hidden painting, thought to be a self-portrait by Rembrandt, below an unknown painting entitled Old Man with a Beard. 2011-12-02 12:00:00 No publisher admans 2011-12-02T09:27:15Z News Item http://www.esrf.eu/news/general/groundbreaking/index_html On 29 November 2011, a ground-breaking ceremony in Grenoble, France, marked the start of the civil construction works for several major building extensions of the ESRF. Thanks to these new buildings to be inaugurated in June 2013, the ESRF will be able to operate eight new beamlines with performances unique in the world. 2011-11-29 18:10:21 No publisher admans 2011-12-01T08:19:45Z News Item http://www.esrf.eu/news/general/ptychography/index_html An international team of scientists led by the Fresnel Institute (CNRS/University of Central Aix-Marseille/Ecole Marseille) and the ESRF has developed a new technique to make visible nanometre-sized structures in crystalline materials. This technique combines two pioneering approaches in nanocharacterisation: lensless microscopy and scanning X-ray diffraction microscopy. The image of the nano-structured object is quantitative, three-dimensional and of high-resolution. The technique could revolutionise research in various disciplines where complex crystal structures are studied, such as the life sciences and microelectronics. The work is published in the journal Nature Communications dated 29 November 2011. 2011-11-29 17:00:00 No publisher admans 2011-11-29T15:46:55Z News Item