The invisible is made visible by the microscopes. Moreover, in comparison with the traditional light microscopes, transmission X-ray microscopes (TXM) can view through samples with considerably higher resolution, exhibiting extraordinary details. TXM is used by scientists across an extensive range of scientific domains to view the structural and chemical makeup of their samples ranging from biological cells to energy storage materials.
Currently, researchers at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)—a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory—have created a TXM with the ability to image samples 10 times faster than was possible earlier. The study has been reported in Applied Physics Letters.
“We have significantly improved the speed of X-ray microscopy experiments,” stated Wah-Keat Lee, lead scientist at NSLS-II’s Full Field X-ray Imaging (FXI) beamline, where the microscope was developed. At FXI, Lee and his team members decreased the time taken by a TXM to image samples in 3D from more than 10 minutes to just 1 minute, while still forming images with excellent 3D resolution below 50 nm, or 50 billionths of a meter. “This breakthrough will enable scientists to visualize their samples much faster at FXI than at similar instruments around the world,” stated Lee. A faster TXM can not only decrease the time it takes to complete an experiment but can also gather more valuable data from samples.
The holy grail of almost all imaging techniques is to be able to see a sample in 3D and in real time. The speed of these experiments is relevant because we want to observe changes that happen quickly. There are many structural and chemical changes that happen on different time scales, so a faster instrument can see a lot more. For example, we have the ability to track how corrosion happens in a material, or how well various parts of a battery are performing.
Wah-Keat Lee, Lead Scientist, Full Field X-ray Imaging (FXI) beamline, NSLS-II
Image Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory
News This Week
Video: Amplifying the impact of scientific innovations
From Frontiers Forum: How can research translate to R&D? Or a whole new business venture? In a panel session at Science Unlimited 2019, Holtzbrinck Publishing Group CEO Stefan von Holtzbrinck, Life Biosciences CEO [...]
Once hailed as unhackable, blockchains are now getting hacked
More and more security holes are appearing in cryptocurrency and smart contract platforms, and some are fundamental to the way they were built. Early last month, the security team at Coinbase noticed something strange [...]
Supercapacitor nano-architecture: designing a plant-powered future
“The most crucial result of this work is the correlation between form and function in supercapacitor materials,” states first author Dina Ibrahim Abouelamaiem. She elaborates that “our research is driven by the need for [...]
Updated – Worldwide Press for “Human Brain/Cloud Interface”
“We’ll have nanobots that… connect our neocortex to a synthetic neocortex in the cloud. Our thinking will be a…. biological and non-biological hybrid.” Ray Kurzweil, TED 2014 UPDATE - June 18 2019 Since [...]
Research reveals liquid gold on the nanoscale
Swansea University researchers have discovered what liquid gold looks like on the nanoscale – and in doing so have mapped the way in which nanoparticles melt, which is relevant to the manufacturing and performance [...]
The Potential for Nanomedicine to Clean up our Bodies
A new study by the Environmental Working Group reveals that: “Major food companies like General Mills continue to sell popular children’s breakfast cereals and other foods contaminated with troubling levels of glyphosate, the cancer-causing [...]
Nanotechnology treatment reverses multiple sclerosis in mice
A nanotechnology treatment derived from bone marrow stem cells has reversed multiple sclerosis symptoms in mice and could eventually be used to help humans, according to a new study led by University of California, [...]
Scientists create new class of two-dimensional materials
In a paper published this week in Nature ("Freestanding crystalline oxide perovskites down to the monolayer limit"), materials science researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions unveil a new process for [...]
Understanding the (ultra-small) structure of silicon nanocrystals
New research provides insight into the structure of silicon nanocrystals, a substance that promises to provide efficient lithium ion batteries that power your phone to medical imaging on the nanoscale. The research was conducted [...]
Small particles can have big consequences for electronics in space missions
Several space missions, planned by both the European Space Agency and NASA, have their target set on Jupiter and its moons. The extraordinarily harsh radiation environments in the Jovian system will set some strict [...]
Video – What is Neuralink? Neural Lace Explained
The text of the video commentary: Elon Musk’s new project Neuralink has been making headlines recently, but very little is known about this mysterious company so far. We’re going to answer [...]
‘I wash all my food like crazy’ Scientists voice concern about nanoparticles
rance is clamping down on a common food additive that has been shown to be carcinogenic in animal studies. The ban of titanium dioxide, announced by the French government last month, follows a review [...]
Cyber defense for nanoelectronics
Today’s societies critically depend on electronic systems. Past spectacular cyber-attacks have clearly demonstrated the vulnerability of existing systems and the need to prevent such attacks in the future. The majority of available cyber-defenses concentrate [...]
Researchers discover how a nanocatalyst works at the atomic level
Researchers of the Nanoscience Center (NSC) at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and in the Xiamen University, China, have discovered how copper particles at the nanometre scale operate in modifying a carbon–oxygen bond when [...]
Scientists discover signalling circuit boards inside body’s cells
Cells in the body are wired like computer chips to direct signals that instruct how they function, research suggests (Nature Communications, “The cell-wide web coordinates cellular processes by directing site-specific Ca2+ flux across cytoplasmic [...]
Nanotechnology vs. cancer – How tiny particles sniff out the deadly disease
We may be able to detect cancer soon by simply peeing on a stick. - Cancer is an aberrant function of a normal cell, where the regulators of that cell's dividing are broken [...]
Leave A Comment