MAX IV’s first artist in residence, Jennifer Rainsford has revealed her plans for a science-inspired artwork crafted with X-rays and experiences from the experimental halls of MAX IV. With insights from ForMAX, NanoMAX and other beamlines and the laser lab, her new exhibit and film will offer the public a fresh perspective and closer look at research conducted at Sweden’s large-scale research infrastructure, MAX IV.
The Artist in Residence programme is designed to highlight activities at MAX IV, while also spotlighting Lund University as Sweden’s leading cultural university by offering new contexts for artistic exploration and exposition. Thanks to generous funding by the Gyllenstiernska Krapperup Foundation, a chosen artist is offered an onsite residency to learn about the science and the 4th generation synchrotron in order to develop an artistic project which reflects current research or techniques in X-ray science.
“This programme offers a rare chance for talented professionals in vastly different fields to collaborate. Artists and scientists are both curious and creative, and it is those qualities that lead to new ways of thinking and new discoveries,” said Heidi LaGrasta, MAX IV Outreach Officer and co-coordinator for the Artist in Residence programme. “I am eager to see what happens when we dissolve the boundaries between these two fields and allow for a more expansive understanding and investigation of research here at MAX IV.”
Researchers from the Food Science Research Institute (CIAL, CSIC-UAM), in collaboration with the ALBA Synchrotron, have characterized the composition and nanoscale architecture of the cell walls of two edible seaweeds: Ulva lacinulata (sea lettuce) and Porphyra dioica (nori). By combining different techniques, including Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) at the ALBA synchrotron, they revealed how their molecular organization dictates how nutrients are stored and released.
Seaweeds are gaining attention as a sustainable food source, especially as demand grows for alternatives to animal protein. They are rich in nutrients such as essential amino acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. However, accessing these nutrients remains a challenge, as they are trapped inside complex cell walls, making them harder for our bodies to absorb.
Understanding the nanostructure of these barriers and how it influences their mechanical properties is essential for designing food processing strategies that facilitate the release of these compounds for human nutrition.
A group of early career scientists participating in two established training schools have received Lightsources.org awards recognising the work they presented during the 2026 editions of the schools.
Ana Belén Martínez, Head of Communications and Outreach at ALBA and Chair of Lightsources.org, comments, “An important goal for Lightsources.org is to support early career STEM professionals and highlight both the career opportunities and experimental capabilities of the facilities within our global membership. Partnering with HERCULES 2026 and the FASEM school has enabled us to recognise outstanding contributions during these two schools, both of which provide incredible experiences for those looking to build their knowledge and experience within a range of world class European facilities. Our congratulations go to all the winners and everyone who took part in these training schools.”
The HERCULES EUROPEAN SCHOOL, which celebrates its 35th Anniversary this year, runs over five weeks and provides training for students, postdoctoral and senior scientists from European and non-European universities and laboratories, in the field of Neutrons, X-ray Synchrotron Radiation, and Free Electron Laser for condensed matter studies.
It’s coordinated by the Université Grenoble Alpes in collaboration with the ESRF, ILL and counts with the support of other European facilities (ALBA, DESY, Elettra, KIT, MAX IV, SLS, SOLEIL, European XFEL, ESS and FERMI). Each year, four of these partner large scale facilities give participants the opportunity to gain practical experience.
For HERCULES 2026, they were ALBA in Spain, KIT in Germany, MAX IV and the ESS in Sweden and SOLEIL in France. The students who spent time at the ALBA synchrotron near Barcelona could learn from the scientists about different techniques, sample preparation and data collection process, combining talks and practical sessions at the beamlines. They worked in teams and presented their experimental reports in groups of four on the last day of the school. Lightsources.org awards were presented to the group who the local jury selected as having given the best presentation.
The winning group at ALBA with members of the local jury
As a complementary educative initiative, the French-Swedish Academy for Scattering Experiments and Modeling (FASEM) is a one-week, biennial advanced-school, that rotate across three key thematic areas: Scattering Techniques for Environment & Materials, Life Sciences, and Energy Applications. The third version was coordinated by ESS, ILL and the French Embassy with support from ESRF. “Its goals are to prepare the future generation of users of large-scale facilities for synchrotron and neutron scattering; to develop and strengthen sustainable scientific exchanges driven by the French and Swedish communities on the use of large-scale facilities, in connection with the forthcoming ESS operation; to reinforce links between research infrastructures, academia and industry; and to strengthen collaboration between institutes in France (ILL, ESRF, SOLEIL) and in Sweden (ESS, MAX-IV),” explains Christine Darve FASEM coordinator. “The 3rd edition organized at ILL, was held in a hybrid format, bringing 30 in-person participants and more than 55 online students to learn scattering techniques (small-angle, diffraction, spectroscopy, etc) applied to energy materials ,” adds Peter Fouquet, ILL local organizer.
During FASEM 2026, students participated in a Student Clips challenge where they were invited to present their research to camera. Lightsources.org sponsored this challenge and prizes were awarded to the students who produced the top three clips.
Maimunah Fa Izun Haji Abdul Rahman, a PhD student at the ESRF in Grenoble, won 1st prize in the FASEM 2026 Lightsources.org Student Clips challenge. 2nd and 3rd prizes went to Sagar Jathar, Uppsala University, and Marcus Liljenberg, Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, respectively.
Maimunah Fa Izun Haji Abdul Rahman receiving 1st prize certificate at FASEM 2026
Reflecting on the week at FASEM, Maimunah comments, “What I valued most was the exchange with people working on very different fields but facing similar questions involving X-ray and neutron-based analyses. It really broadened how I think about my own work. At the same time, the school filled in a lot of gaps, from new characterization approaches to practical things like writing beamtime proposals. It also made concepts I’d seen before feel much more concrete and usable.”
Sagar adds, “I gained deeper insight into advanced scattering techniques such as XANES and EXAFS, particularly for probing the local atomic structure in complex or amorphous materials. In my own research, I now plan to apply synchrotron-based X-ray and neutron scattering techniques to better understand local structure and bonding in my Cr–Nb–N coatings, helping to establish stronger structure–property relationships for nuclear applications.”
Read full interviews with Maimunah, Sagar and Marcus here
How do radicals form in aqueous solutions when exposed to UV light? This question is important for health research and environmental protection, for example with regard to the overfertilisation of water bodies by intensive agriculture. A team at BESSY II has now developed a new method of investigating hydroxyl radicals in solution. By using a clever trick, the scientists gained surprising insights into the reaction pathway.
Hydroxyl radicals (OH·) are found everywhere, from the troposphere to the cells of the human body. There, they cause oxidative stress and accelerate the ageing process. They are also increasingly present in rivers and lakes, where they are formed by the photolysis of nitrogen oxides that have entered the water from over-fertilised soils. When UV radiation from sunlight strikes nitrogen oxides, hydroxyl radicals and a range of other radicals are generated. The chemistry of these radicals is extremely difficult to characterise accurately, as they react very quickly
A team led by Professor Alexander Föhlisch of the HZB has investigated the chemistry of hydroxyl radicals formed from nitrogen oxides in water using X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the BESSY II X-ray source.
Image: How the radical scavenger TEMPO traps a hydroxyl radical OH·. The proton of the hydroxyl radical reacts with TEMPO first. Colour coding: grey for C (carbon), white for H (hydrogen), red for O (oxygen) and blue for N (nitrogen)
Scientists from the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa) and the ESRF discover the first-ever egg of a mammal ancestor, a 250-million year-old proto-mammal embryo, with the help of the ESRF. The results are out now in PLoS ONE.
A new discovery is shedding light on one of the greatest survival stories in Earth’s history, and answering a decades-old scientific mystery. Lystrosaurus, a hardy, plant-eating mammal ancestor, rose to prominence in the wake of the End-Permian Mass Extinction some 252 million years ago, the most devastating extinction event our planet has ever experienced. While countless species vanished, Lystrosaurus not only survived, but thrived in a world marked by extreme environmental instability, intense heat, and prolonged droughts.
Now, new research published in PLoS ONE reveals a discovery that sheds new light on our understanding of this iconic survivor. An international team led by Julien Benoit, Jennifer Botha (Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa), and Vincent Fernandez (ESRF ) has identified, for the first time, an egg containing an embryo of Lystrosaurus, dating back approximately 250 million years. This rare fossil represents the first-ever egg discovered from a mammal ancestor, finally answering a long-standing question: Did the ancestors of mammals lay eggs?
The answer is yes.
The researchers suggest these eggs were likely soft-shelled, explaining why they have remained elusive for so long. Unlike the hard, mineralized eggs of dinosaurs, which fossilize readily, soft-shelled eggs rarely preserve, making this find exceptionally rare. But the implications go far beyond reproduction.
“This fossil was discovered during a field excursion I led in 2008, nearly 17 years ago. My preparator and exceptional fossil finder, John Nyaphuli, identified a small nodule that at first revealed only tiny flecks of bone. As he carefully prepared the specimen, it became clear that it was a perfectly curled-up Lystrosaurus hatchling. I suspected even then that it had died within the egg, but at the time, we simply didn’t have the technology to confirm it,” says Botha.
The new discovery will aid in the development of more efficient and sustainable technologies for bioenergy generation
A study led by researchers from the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), located in Campinas (SP), has identified a novel molecular mechanism that explains how enzymes degrade beta-glucans, a class of carbohydrates found in fungi, algae, and plants, with great relevance for industrial and energy applications. The research involved approximately 18 collaborators from the LNBR (Brazilian Biorenewables National Laboratory) and the LNLS (Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory), both part of CNPEM, in addition to external researchers from Unicamp and universities in Spain and Canada.
Published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, the work describes, for the first time, a process called processive catalysis applied to the breakdown of these compounds. In this mechanism, the enzyme acts continuously on the same molecular chain, without detaching itself after each stage of the reaction, which makes the process more efficient.
According to researcher Mariana Morais, one of the study coordinators, the work utilized various techniques and equipment at CNPEM, including directed mutagenesis techniques and kinetic analyses. The research also included high-resolution X-ray crystallography experiments conducted at Sirius, CNPEM’s particle accelerator, as well as computer simulations carried out on the Santos Dumont supercomputer, at the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC).
“This integration allowed for the observation, at the atomic level, of all stages of the enzymatic process, from substrate recognition to product release and the restart of the catalytic cycle”, says Morais.
Researchers used X-ray lasers, including SLAC’s LCLS, to control a modified cardiovascular drug with light and captured snapshots showing how it binds to proteins.
Key takeaways:
Beta blockers bind to protein receptors that are key to fight-or-flight responses, leading to effects such as lowered heart rate and blood pressure.
Using X-ray free-electron lasers at SLAC and in Switzerland, an international team of researchers investigated a beta blocker modified with a light-sensitive bond.
They controlled the drug’s interaction using light and reconstructed X-ray images of the reaction, demonstrating how light could be used to improve medications.
Researchers are illuminating a new route for drug delivery – literally, by controlling drugs with light. Recently, an international team led by the Swiss Paul Scherrer Institute and including researchers from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory used light to control a modified beta blocker and took X-ray laser snapshots of its interaction with a protein receptor.
Not only did the team demonstrate they could control the beta blocker medicine with light, but they also captured 3D images of the interaction at multiple time points. The images revealed that light can switch the beta blocker between different positions on the receptor, which suggests it may be possible to fine tune the drug’s potency while it’s in the body. The findings, published in the journal Angewandte Chemie, also demonstrate how X-ray lasers like the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) can be harnessed to study medicines at the atomic level. This can aid the design of drugs that precisely target protein receptors and therefore have fewer side effects.
Researchers from Concordia University find way to slow formation of dendrites, currently an obstacle to battery’s use in grid storage
As the demand for more reliable power systems grows in the renewable energy sector, the race is on to develop batteries that cost less but have a longer lifespan.
While zinc-based batteries are safer and more cost-effective than lithium-ion batteries, a major obstacle to their use in large-scale, grid storage is their shorter lifespan. They fail sooner because they develop tiny, tree-shaped metal structures on the anode called dendrites, which cause the battery to short circuit.
Now researchers from Concordia University have found a way to slow dendrite formation. Using the ultrabright X-rays of the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan, they found that “sprinkling” a small amount of gold nanoparticles on a battery’s inner surface can cut dendrite growth by up to 50 times compared to regular zinc batteries. Their gold-treated batteries went on to work for more than 6,000 hours in lab settings.
“Coating the electrode is known to improve battery performance, but the small quantity of particles needed for our technique and how they are arranged on the battery surface is a very new, exciting finding,” says Seungil Lee, a PhD student at Concordia and lead author of the team’s paper, published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A.
On March 23, the Ministry of Education (MOE) held the award ceremony for the 2025 National Chair Professorships, National Award for Distinguished Contribution to Industry-Academia Cooperation, and Academic Awards. Five NSRRC users were among the recipients.
Prof. Hsin-Lung Chen, Distinguished Chair in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tsing Hua University (NTHU), received the National Chair Professorship in Engineering and Applied Sciences. A leading scholar in polymer physics, he has long contributed to theoretical development, textbook writing, and industry-academia collaboration. His research has been widely applied in critical materials and industrial technologies, enhancing the international impact of Taiwan’s materials research.
Prof. Bing-Joe Hwang, Chair Professor in the Department Chemical Engineering at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, founder and director of the Sustainable Electrochemical Energy Development Center, and NSRRC board member and adjunct scientist, received the National Award for Distinguished Contribution to Industry-Academic Cooperation in Engineering. He pioneered the “anode-free lithium battery,” developed high-energy-density and high-safety technologies, and promoted high-value hydrogen electrolysis, with extensive industrial applications and patents.
Two NSRRC users were awarded the Academic Award in Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Prof. Chen-Wei Liu, Chair Professor in the Department of Chemistry at National Dong Hwa University, is an international pioneer in metal cluster chemistry. His research combines fundamental innovation with practical application, offering forwarded-looking contributions to catalysis and carbon-reduction technologies. Prof. Ying-Hao Chu, Chair Professor and Department Chair of Materials Science and Engineering at NTHU, specializes in oxide heterostructures and flexible mica-based electronic components, with highly cited work that lays a critical foundation for next-generation electronic devices. In Engineering and Applied Sciences, Prof. Chih-Huang Lai, Chair Professor and Vice Dean of the Institute of Semiconductor at NTHU, was recognized for his research in spintronics and magnetic materials, including advanced memory devices and thin-film solar technologies, as well as Taiwan’s first 12-inch MRAM production line.
Environmental nano- and microplastics (N/MPs) are increasingly detected in human tissues, raising growing concerns about their potential impact on human health. Despite their pervasive presence, their biological effects at the cellular level remain poorly understood. A new multidisciplinary study provides important insights into how polyethylene (PE) N/MPs interact with human vaginal epithelial cells, revealing the induction of oxidative stress, metabolic disruption, and modulation of immune responses.
In this work, researchers exposed VK2 E6/E7 vaginal keratinocytes to a range of environmentally relevant PE N/MPs, spanning from 200 nm to 9 µm. Fluorescently labeled nanoparticles were also employed to enable precise tracking of particle uptake and intracellular localization. By combining advanced transcriptomic profiling with high-resolution imaging, the study offers a comprehensive view of how these particles affect cellular physiology.
Gene expression analysis revealed a significant dysregulation of lipid metabolism and cholesterol biosynthesis pathways, alongside the activation of oxidative stress responses. At the same time, modulation of immune-related genes suggested the onset of an adaptive, potentially tolerogenic response, indicating that cells may attempt to mitigate or adapt to the presence of nanoplastics rather than mounting a purely pro-inflammatory reaction. These findings highlight the complex and multifaceted nature of cellular responses to environmental contaminants.
Crucially, the study employed synchrotron-based soft X-ray imaging at the TwinMic beamline of Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste. Through Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy (STXM), researchers were able to directly visualize the internalization and intracellular distribution of nanoplastics at subcellular resolution, providing spatial information that is not accessible with conventional optical or electron microscopy alone, see Figure 1. Complementary Low-Energy X-ray Fluorescence (LEXRF) analysis enabled the mapping of elemental composition within exposed cells, revealing significant alterations in key elements such as carbon, oxygen, sodium, and magnesium. These elemental shifts point to metabolic stress, possible membrane perturbations, and broader changes in cellular homeostasis.
Researchers have revealed a mechanism by which cancer cells can avoid programmed cell death. The team, from ISIS, the European Spallation Source (ESS), Lund University, the University of Umeå, the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) and Diamond Light Source, used an integrated combination of techniques to investigate how the Bax and Bcl-2 proteins involved in regulating programmed cell death, or apoptosis, interact at the surface of the mitochondrial outer membrane.
Apoptosis is one of the processes our body uses to control cell growth and proliferation. It plays a vital role in embryo development, in removing old or damaged cells, and in our immune systems. However, when it goes wrong, as in many cancers, those cells can escape their apoptotic removal and rapidly multiply to form tumours. Many cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, treat cancers by causing DNA damage or stressing cells, which leads to apoptosis. However, many tumours can also become treatment resistant by escaping even treatment-induced apoptotic death.
Controlling apoptosis
One of the key proteins that controls apoptosis is called Bax. Bax works by creating pores in mitochondrial membranes to start a biochemical cascade that results in cell death. Bax is usually tightly controlled by Bcl-2 proteins, which bind Bax and prevents it forming pores. The gene for Bcl-2 is involved in almost 50% of human cancers; these cancerous cells often produce more Bcl-2, leading to tumour development and protecting the cancerous cells from therapies.
To understand precisely how Bcl-2 and Bax interact, the researchers used a combination of neutron reflectometry on the Surf and Offspec instruments at ISIS and on Figaro at the Institut Laue Langevin, electron microscopy at eBIC, and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). They created a supported lipid bilayer resembling the mitochondrial outer membrane and which contained Bcl-2 proteins.
A two-step process in avoiding apoptosis
Kinetics of Bax sequestration by Bcl-2 at membrane level: from initial contact to oligomerization
The team found that, without Bcl-2, introducing Bax disrupted the membrane. When the membrane contained Bcl-2 the researchers initially saw a direct correlation between the amount of Bcl-2 in the membrane and the amount of Bax on the membrane surface, suggesting the Bcl-2 was binding directly to the Bax and preventing it from forming pores. Over time, however, they saw a second, slower process. The Bax proteins formed clusters, or oligomers, standing vertically upwards from the membrane surface, which sequestered Bax, prevented pore formation.
How to visualize electric fields in situ to boost the performance of tomorrow’s LEDs
2D materials are excellent candidates for light emission in LED-type components. Furthermore, combining several of these materials with different properties (metal, insulator, semiconductor) theoretically makes it possible to obtain complex components that combine these properties. To function, these components must be connected to electrodes. But where exactly should the electrical voltage be applied? To answer this question, a team from the Paris Institute of NanoSciences used the ANTARES beamline to probe operando the distribution of the electric field within a heterostructure composed of two semiconductors.
Two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) (e.g., MoS₂, WSe₂, and their derivatives), exhibit strongly enhanced excitonic effects due to the robust Coulomb coupling between electron-hole pairs. This makes them outstanding candidates for light emission in devices such as LEDs. A second key advantage of this materials platform is the ability to assemble these materials without epitaxial constraints. In theory, this allows for the combination of materials with diverse properties—metals, insulators, and semiconductors with tunable bandgaps—to fabricate complex devices. The entire structure is ultimately connected to electrodes, which serve to inject charges or modulate the potential profile. However, a critical challenge remains: the voltage must be applied in the right location! In these structures, the energy landscape is influenced by edge effects, doping, flake thickness, defects, and above all interfaces. In this study, a team from INSP uses the ANTARES beamline to operando probe the electric field distribution within a heterostructure composed of two semiconductors.
In optoelectronic devices, electrodes are used to inject the current/energy necessary for device operation. In the context of LEDs, applying a bias is essential to inject holes into the valence band while electrons are resonantly injected into the conduction band. When these energy conservation rules are fulfilled, charges can be injected into the optically active semiconductor, enabling light emission. However, the turn-on voltage for an LED can be significantly larger than the material’s bandgap if an electric field is also applied to the intermediate material between the electrode and the optically active layer. This results in power efficiency losses, which must be mitigated. Therefore, the localization of the electric field is critical, and tools to measure the field distribution operando are essential.
Copper nanoparticles could lead to less polluted soils in vineyards, according to a study published in Environmental Science: Nano. The researchers came to the ESRF’s ID21 to track how copper behaved in grapevines plants inoculated with a fungus.
Copper-based pesticides have been used around the world vineyards to keep fungal diseases at bay for more than a century in the form of Bordeaux mixture. Whilst it has proven to be extremely effective, copper is a metal and accumulates over time. Bordeaux mixture has a low affinity to plant leaves. When it rains, it washes it off the plants onto the soil, where it can harm earthworms, beneficial microbes and long-term soil health, which can lead to less productive soil in the long run.
Winemakers, particularly in the organic sector, where copper remains one of the few approved fungicides, face a difficult question: how can they protect their vines without poisoning their soils? With the aim of pushing more environmentally friendly practices, European regulators are increasingly limiting the amount of copper to be used in grapevines.
“We wanted to test whether copper nanoparticles (copper oxide) could be as reactive as the traditional sprays but using much less quantity”, explains Astrid Avellan, CNRS researcher and corresponding author of the publication.
From off to on in fractions of a second – researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have investigated a light-switchable drug for high blood pressure: They observed how the molecule transforms from one form to another and how this affects its effectiveness in the body. This could aid in the development of medications whose effects can be precisely controlled, within the body, using light. The study has now been published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
Rendering a drug effective or ineffective in a flash at the appropriate location – this is the focus of research in photopharmacology. The goal is to develop drugs that can be switched on and off with light of a specific wavelength. Orally administered medications could then be selectively activated by irradiating only a specific part of the body with light; the medication would remain ineffective in the rest of the body – thus reducing side-effects. For example, a drug intended to lower blood pressure in the heart could then be activated only there; other organs with identical binding sites for the active ingredient would remain unaffected.
Researchers in the PSI Center for Life Sciences have now observed, at the molecular level, how a light-switchable drug interacts with its corresponding biological receptor. Most important, they have discovered why the drug changes its potency.
“Observing exactly what happens at such receptors when a drug is altered by light is an important step toward making light-switchable drugs a reality in the clinic,” says Jörg Standfuss, a laboratory head in the PSI Center for Life Sciences and co-author of the new study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
Image: Jörg Standfuss (left) and Quentin Bertrand are two of the researchers in the PSI Center for Life Sciences who now have found out, on the molecular level, why a light-controllable drug changes its potency.
Sub-Neptunes, or exoplanets 2–4 times Earth’s radius, are abundant in our galaxy. Models indicate that these exoplanets have rocky cores (the non-volatile interior) blanketed by envelopes of either hydrogen (dry gas dwarfs) or water (water worlds).
In our own solar system, the water worlds of Uranus and Neptune orbit far from the sun, where temperatures are low enough for water to condense. This has led to the idea that water-rich planets form in the outer orbits of planetary systems, beyond what is known as the snow or ice line. They may then migrate inwards, to orbit closer to their star.
In recent years, however, large numbers of potentially water-rich exoplanets have been discovered in very close orbits. This is difficult to reconcile with the idea that such worlds can only form beyond the snow line.
The latest research by scientists from Arizona State University, The University of Chicago and the Open University of Israel suggests that water could be produced through chemical reactions at the boundary between a dry planet’s rocky core and hydrogen-rich atmosphere. This finding calls into question the idea that a planet’s composition is linked to where it formed.
Researchers used the resources of the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory. Their results were published in the journal Nature.
To explore the potential high pressure and temperature interactions between the hydrogen in the envelope and silicate in the core of dry planets at the core-envelope boundary, the team used the unique capabilities of the University of Chicago’s GeoSoilEnviroCARS beamline at 13-ID-D of the APS. This beamline’s high pressure, high temperature diamond anvil cell setup is designed to probe materials in-situ at extreme conditions to answer geochemical and geophysical questions across the pressure and temperature range of Earth and other planets.
Image: The high pressure, high temperature diamond anvil cell experiments suggest that reactions between dense hydrogen fluid and molten silicates on dry planets could generate substantial amounts of water. This hints at a potential way for dry, hydrogen-rich planets to evolve into watery worlds, challenging conventional planetary formation theory.
A technology that began as a simple, open-source acoustic levitator at Diamond will be used in a SpaceX experiment.
The advanced system, known as SuperLev, has been selected for a programme of microgravity experiments that will see it tested in parabolic zero-gravity flights before progressing to longer-duration missions in space. Designed to operate autonomously with onboard imaging and intuitive control software, the compact levitator is being adapted to withstand the rigours of launch and sustained operation in orbit, marking a significant milestone for a technology originally developed to enhance synchrotron science.
In 2019, R&D specialist Dr Pete Docker from the Technical division along with scientists introduced to Diamond TinyLev, a compact, low-cost acoustic levitator built from off-the-shelf components. Designed to suspend droplets and small particles in mid-air using precisely controlled sound waves, the system enabled researchers to study samples without physical contact. This contact-free approach proved valuable for X-ray experiments, where containerless environments reduce contamination and allow samples to be held in the beam.
What began as a proof-of-principle device has since inspired the development of a next-generation platform known as SuperLev.
From lab bench innovation to global adoption
Building on the principles demonstrated at Diamond, SuperLev integrates an onboard high-resolution camera and intuitive, user-friendly software, allowing researchers to monitor and control levitated samples in real time. The system’s enhanced acoustic arrays provide greater stability and flexibility, making it suitable for a wide range of materials science and biological applications.
The impact has been rapid and far-reaching. SuperLev is now being utilised and further developed in 20 laboratories and institutions worldwide. Its modular design and accessibility reflect the same ethos that underpinned TinyLev: making advanced scientific tools more widely available.
