Nanoparticles are essential electrocatalysts in chemical production, water treatment and energy conversion, but engineering efficient and specific catalysts requires understanding complex structure–reactivity relations. Recent experiments have shown that Bragg coherent diffraction imaging might be a powerful tool in this regard. The technique provides three-dimensional lattice strain fields from which surface reactivity maps can be inferred. However, all experiments published so far have investigated particles an order of magnitude larger than those used in practical applications. Studying smaller particles quickly becomes demanding as the diffracted intensity falls. Here, in situ nanodiffraction data from 60 nm Au nanoparticles under electrochemical control collected at the hard X-ray nanoprobe beamline of MAX IV, NanoMAX, are presented. Two-dimensional image reconstructions of these particles are produced, and it is estimated that NanoMAX, which is now open for general users, has the requisites for three-dimensional imaging of particles of a size relevant for catalytic applications. This represents the first demonstration of coherent X-ray diffraction experiments performed at a diffraction-limited storage ring, and illustrates the importance of these new sources for experiments where coherence properties become crucial.

X-ray double-crystal monochromators face a shift of the exit beam when the Bragg angle and thus the transmitted photon energy changes. This can be compensated for by moving one or both crystals accordingly. In the case of monolithic channel-cut crystals, which exhibit utmost stability, the shift of the monochromated beam is inevitable. Here we report performance tests of novel, asymmetrically cut, channel-cut crystals which reduce the beam movements by more than a factor of 20 relative to the symmetric case over the typical energy range of an EXAFS spectrum at the Cu K-edge. In addition, the presented formulas for the beam offset including the asymmetry angle directly indicate the importance of this value, which has been commonly neglected so far in the operation of double-crystal monochromators.

An alternative approach to hard-X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) has been established. The instrumental key feature is an increase of the dimensionality of the recording scheme from 2D to 3D. A high-energy momentum microscope detects electrons with initial kinetic energies up to 8 keV with a k-resolution of 0.025 Å−1, equivalent to an angular resolution of 0.034°. A special objective lens with k-space acceptance up to 25 Å−1 allows for simultaneous full-field imaging of many Brillouin zones. Combined with time-of-flight (ToF) parallel energy recording this yields maximum parallelization. Thanks to the high brilliance (1013 hν s−1 in a spot of <20 µm diameter) of beamline P22 at PETRA III (Hamburg, Germany), the microscope set a benchmark in HAXPES recording speed, i.e. several million counts per second for core-level signals and one million for d-bands of transition metals. The concept of tomographic k-space mapping established using soft X-rays works equally well in the hard X-ray range. Sharp valence band k-patterns of Re, collected at an excitation energy of 6 keV, correspond to direct transitions to the 28th repeated Brillouin zone. Measured total energy resolutions (photon bandwidth plus ToF-resolution) are 62 meV and 180 meV FWHM at 5.977 keV for monochromator crystals Si(333) and Si(311) and 450 meV at 4.0 keV for Si(111). Hard X-ray photoelectron diffraction (hXPD) patterns with rich fine structure are recorded within minutes. The short photoelectron wavelength (10% of the interatomic distance) `amplifies' phase differences, making full-field hXPD a sensitive structural tool.

The transmission of the optical components of the Bernina branch of the Aramis beamline at SwissFEL has been measured with an X-ray gas monitor from DESY and compared with a PSI gas detector upstream of the optical components. The transmission efficiencies of the Mo, Si and SiC mirror coatings of the Aramis beamline and the various other in-beam components were evaluated and compared with theoretical calculations, showing an agreement of 6% or better in all cases. The experiment has also shown the efficacy of the high-harmonic rejection mirrors at the Bernina branch of the Aramis beamline at SwissFEL, and characterized the transmission efficiency of the on-line spectrometer in the Aramis beamline. The theoretical transmission of the mirror coatings match the experimental data to within 7%. The accuracy of these measurements was checked against a radiative bolometer from a Japanese collaboration and found to agree to a level of 4% or better. Further comparisons with a diamond detector from a US-based inter-institute collaboration demonstrated a good agreement for the attenuator settings of the beamline.

A simple and robust tool for spatio-temporal overlap of THz and XUV pulses in in-vacuum pump–probe experiments is presented. The technique exploits ultrafast changes of the optical properties in semiconductors (i.e. silicon) driven by ultrashort XUV pulses that are probed by THz pulses. This work demonstrates that this tool can be used for a large range of XUV fluences that are significantly lower than when probing by visible and near-infrared pulses. This tool is mainly targeted at emerging X-ray free-electron laser facilities, but can be utilized also at table-top high-harmonics sources.

Multilayer monochromator devices are commonly used at (imaging) beamlines of synchrotron facilities to shape the X-ray beam to relatively small bandwidth and high intensity. However, stripe artefacts are often observed and can deteriorate the image quality. Although the intensity distribution of these artefacts has been described in the literature, their spectral distribution is currently unknown. To assess the spatio-spectral properties of the monochromated X-ray beam, the direct beam has been measured for the first time using a hyperspectral X-ray detector. The results show a large number of spectral features with different spatial distributions for a [Ru, B4C] strip monochromator, associated primarily with the higher-order harmonics of the undulator and monochromator. It is found that their relative contributions are sufficiently low to avoid an influence on the imaging data. The [V, B4C] strip suppresses these high-order harmonics even more than the former, yet at the cost of reduced efficiency.

A new setup for picosecond pump–probe X-ray scattering at the Austrian SAXS beamline at Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste is presented. A high-power/high-repetion-rate laser has been installed on-site, delivering UV/VIS/IR femto­second-pulses in-sync with the storage ring. Data acquisition is achieved by gating a multi-panel detector, capable of discriminating the single X-ray pulse in the dark-gap of the Elettra hybrid filling mode. Specific aspects of laser- and detection-synchronization, on-line beam steering as well protocols for spatial and temporal overlap of laser and X-ray beam are also described. The capabilities of the setup are demonstrated by studying transient heat-transfer in an In/Al/GaAs superlattice structure and results are confirmed by theoretical calculations.

Detection of heavy elements, such as metals, in macromolecular crystallography (MX) samples by X-ray fluorescence is a function traditionally covered at synchrotron MX beamlines by silicon drift detectors, which cannot be used at X-ray free-electron lasers because of the very short duration of the X-ray pulses. Here it is shown that the hybrid pixel charge-integrating detector JUNGFRAU can fulfill this function when operating in a low-flux regime. The feasibility of precise position determination of micrometre-sized metal marks is also demonstrated, to be used as fiducials for offline prelocation in serial crystallography experiments, based on the specific fluorescence signal measured with JUNGFRAU, both at the synchrotron and at SwissFEL. Finally, the measurement of elemental absorption edges at a synchrotron beamline using JUNGFRAU is also demonstrated.

Beamline 8A (BL 8A) is an undulator-based soft X-ray beamline at Pohang Accelerator Laboratory. This beamline is aimed at high-resolution ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS), soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (soft-XAS) and scanning photoemission microscopy (SPEM) experiments. BL 8A has two branches, 8A1 SPEM and 8A2 AP-XPS, that share a plane undulator, the first mirror (M1) and the monochromator. The photon beam is switched between the two branches by changing the refocusing mirrors after the monochromator. The acceptance angle of M1 is kept glancing at 1.2°, and Pt is coated onto the mirrors to achieve high reflectance, which ensures a wide photon energy range (100–2000 eV) with high resolution at a photon flux of ∼1013 photons s−1. In this article, the main properties and performance of the beamline are reported, together with selected experiments performed on the new beamline and experimental system.

A new diamond-anvil cell apparatus for in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements of liquids and glasses, at pressures from ambient to 5 GPa and temperatures from ambient to 1300 K, is reported. This portable setup enables in situ monitoring of the melting of complex compounds and the determination of the structure and properties of melts under moderately high pressure and high temperature conditions relevant to industrial processes and magmatic processes in the Earth's crust and shallow mantle. The device was constructed according to a modified Bassett-type hydro­thermal diamond-anvil cell design with a large angular opening (θ = 95°). This paper reports the successful application of this device to record in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction of liquid Ga and synthetic PbSiO3 glass to 1100 K and 3 GPa.

With the introduction of the multi-bend achromats in the new fourth-generation storage rings the emittance has decreased by an order of magnitude resulting in increased brightness. However, the higher brightness comes with smaller beam sizes and narrower radiation cones. As a consequence, the requirements on mechanical stability regarding the beamline components increases. Here an innovative five-axis parallel kinematic mirror unit for use with soft X-ray beamlines using off-axis grazing-incidence optics is presented. Using simulations and measurements from the HIPPIE beamline at the MAX IV Laboratory it is shown that it has no Eigen frequencies below 90 Hz. Its positioning accuracy is better than 25 nm linearly and 17–35 µrad angularly depending on the mirror chamber dimensions.

The high temporal resolution in data acquisition, possible in the quick-scanning EXAFS (QEXAFS) mode of operation, provides new challenges in efficient data processing methods. Here a new approach is developed that combines an easy to use interactive graphical interface with highly optimized and fully parallelized Python-based routines for extracting, normalizing and interpolating oversampled time-resolved XAS spectra from a raw binary stream of data acquired during operando QEXAFS studies. The programs developed are freely available via a Github repository.

Wavefront sensing at X-ray free-electron lasers is important for quantitatively understanding the fundamental properties of the laser, for aligning X-ray instruments and for conducting scientific experimental analysis. A fractional Talbot wavefront sensor has been developed. This wavefront sensor enables measurements over a wide range of energies, as is common on X-ray instruments, with simplified mechanical requirements and is compatible with the high average power pulses expected in upcoming X-ray free-electron laser upgrades. Single-shot measurements were performed at 500 eV, 1000 eV and 1500 eV at the Linac Coherent Light Source. These measurements were applied to study both mirror alignment and the effects of undulator tapering schemes on source properties. The beamline focal plane position was tracked to an uncertainty of 0.12 mm, and the source location for various undulator tapering schemes to an uncertainty of 1 m, demonstrating excellent sensitivity. These findings pave the way to use the fractional Talbot wavefront sensor as a routine, robust and sensitive tool at X-ray free-electron lasers as well as other high-brightness X-ray sources.

A new resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) instrument has been constructed at beamline P01 of the PETRA III synchrotron. This instrument has been named IRIXS (intermediate X-ray energy RIXS) and is dedicated to X-rays in the tender-energy regime (2.5–3.5 keV). The range covers the L2,3 absorption edges of many of the 4d elements (Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd and Ag), offering a unique opportunity to study their low-energy magnetic and charge excitations. The IRIXS instrument is currently operating at the Ru L3-edge (2840 eV) but can be extended to the other 4d elements using the existing concept. The incoming photons are monochromated with a four-bounce Si(111) monochromator, while the energy analysis of the outgoing photons is performed by a diced spherical crystal analyzer featuring (102) lattice planes of quartz (SiO2). A total resolution of 100 meV (full width at half-maximum) has been achieved at the Ru L3-edge, a number that is in excellent agreement with ray-tracing simulations.

Possibilities in auxiliary technique combinations with small- and wide-angle X ray scattering are described, as well as more complicated sample environments used in X-ray and neutron scattering.

Melting of the semicrystalline structure of native tapioca starch granules is correlated to solution viscosity for elucidating gelatinization and gelation processes.

It has been revealed that in cylindrical nano-confinement, the hydrogen-bonding direction of nylon-12 crystals in the rod could self-assemble to be parallel to the long axis of the rod. The dominant growth direction and hydrogen-bonding direction of the γ-form crystal in the long axis of the rod has been revealed by TEM–SAED and WAXD.

Rietveld/MEM analysis applied to synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction data of dehydrated CHA zeolites with catalytically active Cu2+ reveals Cu2+ in both the six- and eight-membered rings in the CHA framework, providing the first complete structural model that accounts for all Cu2+. Density functional theory calculations are used to corroborate the experimental structure and to discuss the Cu2+ coordination in terms of the Al distribution in the framework.

A novel sample cell with control of temperature and relative humidity permitted collection of data of excellent quality, enabling unrestrained refinement of all atomic parameters. One of the K atoms in the structure is disordered; very strong anisotropy in three of the four water O atoms indicates partial static disorder, which does not involve the bonded H atoms.

This topical review highlights progress made recently in the development and application of precession electron diffraction (PED) and its scanning variant for the determination of unknown crystal structures and the mapping of orientations at the nanoscale.

Where earthquakes are most likely to hit in Devon and Cornwall  Cornwall Live

Did you feel earthquake?  Stamford Mercury

Fracking in the UK was doomed a decade ago – Tories have wasted precious time on a fossil fuel fantasy  The Conversation UK

Decision day looms over Ellesmere Port shale gas plan  Cheshire Live

True North to align with Magnetic North at Greenwich for first time in 360 years  Telegraph.co.uk

Two earthquakes felt by residents in Lochaber  Press and Journal

Impacts on groundwater quality from abandoned hydrocarbon wells  GOV.UK

Mum feels the 'earth move' beneath her at Plymouth car park  Plymouth Live

Did the quake shake you? Earth tremor felt in Shropshire  shropshirestar.com

Interview: Michael Stephenson, British Geological Survey head of science & technology  The Engineer

There was an earthquake in Gwynedd yesterday - but you probably didn't feel the earth move  Daily Post

Earth's North Magnetic Pole Keeps Drifting towards Siberia, Latest World Magnetic Model Shows | Geophysics, Geoscience  Sci-News.com

Cornwall earthquake: Homes shake in Helston  BBC News

Earth scientists plan to meld massive databases into a 'geological Google'  Science Magazine

Oil workers in North Sea feel effects of earthquake, with platform 'shaking'  Evening Telegraph

'Several people' feel shaking as 4.2 magnitude earthquake strikes 190 miles from Dundee  The Courier

'Rumbling' felt during Ardnamurchan earthquake  BBC News

Reports of an earthquake felt in Leicestershire | Central - ITV News  ITV News

Ancient underwater landslides help Brit scientists predict tsunamis  Metro.co.uk

British Geological Survey welcomes visit from Rushcliffe MP  Agg-Net

Explained: How coronavirus lockdown reduced Earth’s seismic noise levels  The Indian Express

Ancient underwater landslides help predict tsunami risk  Aberdeen Evening Express

Fossil believed to show squid-like creature attacking fish 200 million years ago  Aberdeen Evening Express

Did the earth move for you? British Geological Survey has asked if Cumbrians felt an earth tremor last week  News & Star

The bacterial type VI secretion system (T6SS) secretes many toxic effectors to gain advantage in interbacterial competition and for eukaryotic host infection. The cognate immunity proteins of these effectors protect bacteria from their own effectors. PldB is a T6SS trans-kingdom effector in Pseudomonas aeruginosa that can infect both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Three proteins, PA5086, PA5087 and PA5088, are employed to suppress the toxicity of PldB-family proteins. The structures of PA5087 and PA5088 have previously been reported, but the identification of further distinctions between these immunity proteins is needed. Here, the crystal structure of PA5086 is reported at 1.90 Å resolution. A structural comparison of the three PldB immunity proteins showed vast divergences in their electrostatic potential surfaces. This interesting phenomenon provides an explanation of the stockpiling mechanism of T6SS immunity proteins.

The transmembrane intracellular lectin ER–Golgi intermediate compartment protein 53 (ERGIC-53) and the soluble EF-hand multiple coagulation factor deficiency protein 2 (MCFD2) form a complex that functions as a cargo receptor, trafficking various glycoproteins between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the Golgi apparatus. It has been demonstrated that the carbohydrate-recognition domain (CRD) of ERGIC-53 (ERGIC-53CRD) interacts with N-linked glycans on cargo glycoproteins, whereas MCFD2 recognizes polypeptide segments of cargo glycoproteins. Crystal structures of ERGIC-53CRD complexed with MCFD2 and mannosyl oligosaccharides have revealed protein–protein and protein–sugar binding modes. In contrast, the polypeptide-recognition mechanism of MCFD2 remains largely unknown. Here, a 1.60 Å resolution crystal structure of the ERGIC-53CRD–MCFD2 complex is reported, along with three other crystal forms. Comparison of these structures with those previously reported reveal that MCFD2, but not ERGIC-53–CRD, exhibits significant conformational plasticity that may be relevant to its accommodation of various polypeptide ligands.

A novel monoclinic phase of human insulin co-crystallized with m-cresol was structurally characterized by means of powder and single-crystal X-ray diffraction.

Key structural biology experiments that have sought to elucidate how potassium ions permeate and pass through the selectivity filter of potassium ion channels are reviewed.

This article presents an overview of the development of two basic software libraries for image manipulation and data visualization in cryo-EM: emcore and emvis.