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Electronic News - December 14, 2005
In this issue:
- NSLS-II Gets CD-0!
- Science Highlight: A Catalyst Uncovered
- New Grant for Catalysis Research at the NSLS
- Protein Rush at the NSLS
- NSLS Users Recognized
- Meet the NSLS Summer Students of 2005
- The NSLS Remembers Bill Oosterhuis
- Crystallization Workshop Gets Top Marks from Participants
- BioCD-2005 Course is a Resounding Success
- Highlights from the Synchrotron Environmental Science III (SES-III) Meeting
- Highlights from the 2005 NSLS Summer Sunday
- The 2005 NSLS Barbeque Wraps Up the Fiscal Year
- Mark Your Calendars for the 2006 NSLS Users' Meeting: May 16-18, 2006
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| NSLS-II Gets CD-0! |
| Brookhaven National Laboratory received fantastic news in early September: The Department of Energy granted "Critical Decision Zero" (CD-0) status to National Synchrotron Light Source-II, the planned world-leading NSLS successor. This is the key first step in the long process to make NSLS-II a reality at Brookhaven. |
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| A Catalyst Uncovered |
| To many, the phrase "synthetic organic chemistry" probably sounds a bit dull. But this scientific field - the making of carbon-based (i.e. organic) chemical compounds - has produced many, many products that we use every day. One such study was recently completed at the NSLS. Led by chemist Simon Bare, a user scientist from the corporation UOP LLC, the group used x-rays to investigate a new, safe catalyst for an important type of reaction called Baeyer-Villiger (B-V) oxidation. Their results, reported in the September 21, 2005 edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, add a link to the long chain of discoveries that lead, eventually, to better consumer and industrial products. |
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| New Grant for Catalysis Research at the NSLS |
| A group of scientists has recently been awarded a $900,000 grant by the Department of Energy to create dedicated facilities for catalysis research at NSLS beamlines X18B and X19A. The two facilities will be operated by the Synchrotron Catalysis Consortium, charged with improving and expanding catalysis research by taking advantage of the unique investigation tools available at the NSLS. |
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| Protein Rush at the NSLS |
| Recently, the Protein Structure Initiative (PSI) launched the second phase of its national effort to find the three-dimensional shapes of a wide range of proteins. This is good news for the NSLS, since many of those structures will be determined here. But more importantly, the structural information will help reveal the roles that proteins play in health and disease and will help point the way to designing new medicines. |
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| NSLS Users Recognized |
| Each year, a number of NSLS users win prestigious awards in their fields of scientific research. This year, the International Balzan Foundation Prize for Mineral Physics was awarded to Russell Hemley and David Mao, both scientists at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Philip Coppens (SUNY Buffalo) has been awarded the prestigious Ewald Prize by the International Union of Crystallography. Barbara Illman (University of Wisconsin, Madison) received the USDA Forest Service's 2005 Chief's Honor Award for Distinguished Science. The 2006 American Physical Society Oliver E. Buckley Prize was awarded to Noel Clark, physicist at the University of Colorado. |
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| Meet the NSLS Summer Students of 2005 |
| Each summer, a number of high school and college students perform research projects at the NSLS. Most of the students work at the NSLS as part of Laboratory-sponsored research internship programs. The students work with scientists and engineers from the department in a wide range of research fields: medical sciences, geology and environmental sciences, chemistry, materials science, physics, and electrical and mechanical engineering. The students also attend scientific lectures, tour BNL research facilities, and participate in numerous social activities. This past summer, the NSLS hosted 10 students. |
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| The NSLS Remembers Bill Oosterhuis |
| Bill Oosterhuis, Team Leader for Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Chemistry in the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences, passed away on November 16. Bill was a true friend of synchrotron radiation science. Before joining the DOE in 1991, Oosterhuis worked for 17 years at the National Science Foundation, where he was a section head for its Division of Materials Research. During this time, he became a driving force for progress during the U.S. transition from first-generation to second-generation synchrotrons. Similarly, while at DOE, he provided support and guidance as third-generation synchrotrons were developed. Upon his death, he leaves behind this important legacy. |
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| Crystallization Workshop Gets Top Marks from Participants |
| The "Crystallization: Focus on Optimization Techniques, Soluble and Membrane Proteins" course organized by Naomi Chayen (Imperial College of London) and Vivian Stojanoff (NSLS) took place at the NSLS from June 6 through June 8. During those three days, 55 researchers from the U.S. and abroad discussed and experienced hands-on the complexity of the protein-crystal growth process. |
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| BioCD-2005 Course is a Resounding Success |
| An intensive weeklong course on Circular Dichroism (CD) was given at the NSLS from June 20-24, 2005. The objective of BioCD-2005 was to acquaint the participants with the theory of ultraviolet CD spectroscopy, techniques, and instrumentation for acquiring CD data with laboratory and synchrotron-source instruments, as well as computational tools for analyzing CD spectra, with special emphasis on determinations of the net secondary structure of proteins. This year, approximately 15 students participated, and the next course is planned for the spring of 2006. |
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| Highlights from the Synchrotron Environmental Science III (SES-III) Meeting |
| On September 19-21, the Synchrotron Environmental Sciences III (SES-III) conference was held at BNL. Continuing the tradition established by previous SES conferences held at Argonne National Lab, SES-III brought together the diverse community of scientists who apply synchrotron-based radiation techniques to study the biological and geochemical aspects of both local and global environmental issues. The conference included two days of topical sessions that addressed the application of innovative synchrotron methods in environmental science along with applications in bioavailability and remediation science. The third day included a workshop on microbeam methods. Attendees reported on environmental science activities conducted at synchrotron facilities worldwide. |
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| Highlights from the 2005 NSLS Summer Sunday |
| An enthusiastic crowd of 700-plus visitors came to the National Synchrotron Light Source on August 7 as part of Brookhaven Lab's Summer Sunday program, crowding the lobby, seminar room, and front patio to see what the NSLS had in store for them. The program welcomes the public to the Lab on several consecutive Sundays in the summer, highlighting a different facility each week. |
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| The 2005 NSLS Barbeque Wraps Up the Fiscal Year |
| The unusually warm, sunny weather of September 23 did not hint at the cool autumn days to come, but did make for an enjoyable 2005 NSLS Barbeque. However, it was the NSLS staff members in attendance, particularly the service and spotlight-award winners, that made the event memorable. |
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| Mark Your Calendars for the 2006 NSLS Users' Meeting: May 16-18, 2006 |
| The 2006 Users' Meeting will be held May 16-18. The coming year at the NSLS promises to be exciting, particularly now that we can look forward in earnest to the likely upgrade to NSLS-II. This will have a transforming effect on our community for years to come, and we hope that this year's annual Users' Meeting will provide an early forum for contemplating these changes. |
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NSLS e-News is an electronic newsletter from the Information and Outreach Office at the National
Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory. Feel free to forward this e-News to a colleague.
To subscribe or unsubscribe to this list, see: http://www.nsls.bnl.gov/newsroom/publications/listservers.asp#nsls-news
If you would like to suggest a news item, please send a message to NSLSinfo@bnl.gov.
The current and past issues of the NSLS e-News are available on the web at: http://www.nsls.bnl.gov/newsroom/enews/
Editor: Lisa Miller
This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Division of Materials Sciences and Division of
Chemical Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886
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