NSLS-II: Newest World-Class Science Facility at Brookhaven Lab

Rendering of the NSLS-II

The world-leading capabilities of the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) are essential in order to tackle some of the most important scientific challenges of our time. For example, scientific discoveries at NSLS-II will lead to major advances in alternative energy technologies, such as hydrogen and solar. Scientific breakthroughs in developing new materials with advanced properties could pave the way to:

• catalysts that split water with sunlight for hydrogen production
• materials that can reversibly store large quantities of electricity or hydrogen
• high-temperature superconducting materials that carry electricity with no loss for efficient power transmission lines
• materials for solid-state lighting with half of the present power consumption

NSLS-II construction began in 2009 and the facility is scheduled to open in 2015. During its construction and operation, NSLS-II is expected to create more than 1,250 construction jobs and 450 scientific, engineering, and support jobs, plus additional jobs at U.S. material suppliers and service providers.

X-ray Technique Invented at NSLS: Helps Detail Joint Injuries in Children

Using an x-ray technique invented at BNL’s now-operating National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), scientists have learned new information about how children’s knee joints are damaged as the result of a compression injury which could happen during sports or play. Their work could help researchers understand how this type of joint injury can progress to secondary osteoarthritis, a painful condition caused by cartilage loss.

The technique is called diffraction enhanced imaging, or DEI. DEI uses extremely bright beams of x-rays to visualize not only bone, but also soft tissue in a way that is not possible using standard x-rays. In contrast to conventional sources, synchrotron x-ray beams are thousands of times more intense and extremely concentrated into a narrow beam. The result is a lower x-ray dose with a higher image quality.

NSLS Research May Lead to New Antibiotics for Women

E. Coli

New atomic-level “snapshots” reveal how bacteria such as E. coli produce and secrete sticky appendages called pili, which help the microbes attach to and infect human bladder cells.

These molecular-level images — produced at our National Synchrotron Light Source and at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France — unravel a complex choreography of protein-protein interactions that will aid in the design of new antibacterial drugs. Finding ways to interfere with pili formation could help thwart urinary tract infections, which affect millions of women around the world each year.