Recent News

News Archive: 2008 | 07 | 06 | 05 | 04 | 03 | 02

NSLS Hosts 2nd Annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities Workshop
Expanded in both attendance and duration, the 2nd annual NSLS Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Workshop focused on strengthening existing research ties between Brookhaven and minority-serving schools as well as establishing new relationships. Held July 23-25, the workshop attracted 17 participants from nine institutions to learn how to transform themselves and their students into successful synchrotron users. Also participating were representatives from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program.

NSLS Summer Sunday Draws Record Number of Visitors
More than 800 community members attended the NSLS Summer Sunday for scientific demos, tours, and freebies on July 20 – a record high for the facility. The NSLS was the first of five facilities to be showcased in the lab-wide program, during which the public is invited to explore some of Brookhaven’s most exciting science.

BioCD-2008: Synchrotron Radiation Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy of Proteins and other Biomolecules
A weeklong workshop focusing on circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy using both conventional and synchrotron sources (SRCD) was presented at the NSLS from June 23-27, 2008. CD is the difference in the absorption of left- and right-circularly polarized light. In the far and vacuum ultraviolet spectrum, CD is particularly useful for studying the structure of proteins, DNA, RNA and other biopolymers in solution, and this was a major focus of the workshop. Synchrotron radiation sources provide higher intensity and hence superior performance in these spectral regions compared to the xenon-arc sources used in conventional dichrometers. The workshop also included lectures on practical aspects of CD spectroscopy and laboratory exercises on data collection and computational methods for analyzing the CD spectra of proteins.

Annual Crystallization Course Draws More Than 40 Participants
Forty-five researchers from across the country and the world gathered at the NSLS to discuss and learn about membrane protein crystallization from leaders in the field at the annual “Crystallization: Focus on Membrane Proteins” workshop, held from June 18-22, 2008. Organized by Vivian Stojanoff (NSLS), and carried out by about 20 crystallization experts and volunteers, the sixth annual course included 10 hands-on tutorials for participants to choose from.

Gabriella Carini Wins IEEE Young Engineer Award
NSLS researcher Gabriella Carini has won the 2008 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Long Island Section’s Outstanding Young Engineer Award for “outstanding contributions to the advancement of semiconductor detectors for x-ray spectroscopy.” The award is given to IEEE members who have made important technical contributions prior to age 35. The IEEE Long Island Section has about 3,000 members.

X18A Outfitted with New Equipment
Beamline X18A, originally a scattering and diffraction participating research team (PRT) beamline, is undergoing its first major upgrade in 20 years, with a new energy-scanning monochromator, a new control system and a replacement for its focusing mirror. It is also becoming a facility beamline. This upgrade was done, in part, to satisfy the needs of a new contributing user group from the Synchrotron Catalysis Consortium. X18A will have the ability to perform x-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements, as well as the ability to perform absorption and diffraction on the same samples. It will maintain its full scattering and diffraction capabilities. The ability to perform absorption spectroscopy will help with the oversubscription of general users on X18B.