Secrets of the Mona Lisa

French researchers have studied seven Leonardo da Vinci paintings at the Louvre Museum to analyse the master’s use of successive ultra-thin layers of paint and glaze – the technique that gave his works their dreamy quality. The work was done in collaboration with ESRF synchrotron scientists.
http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/2135/Article_2010-07-16-EU-France-Da-Vinci/id-34ba61bf12584d5781c6c500eabd1e4e

Butterfly Wings

The vivid colour of butterfly wings is due to a nanoscale network of ‘photonic’ crystals made of air and chitin – the same material found in crustacean and insect exoskeletons. Yale University researchers used a synchrotron technique called small angle x-ray scattering to study the delicate structures without damaging them.
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/88/i25/8825notw7.html

Amber Lights up at ESRF

Australia’s only know amber, found on remote Cape York beaches in far north Queensland, contains a new species of beetle, a treasure trove of trapped animal and plant remains and air bubbles from millions of years ago. Scientists from the University of New South Wales recently examined their precious samples at the ESRF synchrotron in Grenoble, France.
http://www.science.unsw.edu.au/news/australian-amber/
http://www.physorg.com/news195991232.html

Water-splitting Photocatalyst

Adding a small amount of nitrogen to titanium dioxide photocatalysts means they can be activated by visible light, not just ultraviolet light (which accounts for only five percent of sunlight). Recent work at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) in the US could bring ‘green’ fuel cells a step closer.
http://www.nsls.bnl.gov/newsroom/science/2010/06-418.asp?eid=62010&sid=2

Platinum Standard

Nanoparticle clusters of platinum could potentially out-perform the single crystals of platinum now used in fuel cells and catalytic converters, according to recent synchrotron and scanning tunnelling microscope work at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US. With platinum currently worth about $55 a gram, the new discovery could significantly reduce the cost of fuel cells.
http://www.physorg.com/news196948982.html

National Science Colloquium

The Australian Synchrotron has established a National Science Colloquium (NSC) to complement its scientific advisory and user advisory committees. Colloquium chair Sir Gustav Nossal said in The Australian online that the new body “would advise on a strategy to make the most of the $206 million Melbourne-based facility” and would “hold its first meeting as soon as a newly-appointed facility director was available to attend”.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/big-science-backs-national-synchrotron/story-e6frgcjx-1225880083723