The US Department of Energy (DOE) has given the okay to begin construction of a $912 million light source that will breathe new life into Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and establish the Long Island facility as a powerhouse for nanotechnology. The second National Synchrotron Light Source, scheduled for completion in 2015, will produce 3-GeV beams that are 10 000 times brighter than the 27-year-old BNL machine it will replace. Using that bright, tightly focused light, researchers hope to achieve the nanometer-scale spatial resolution they need to reveal the structures of highly complex proteins and other biological molecules, develop new and more efficient catalysts, and invent the next generation of computer chips.
The nod to NSLS-II came two months after the announcement of a seven-year, €178 million ($230 million) upgrade program for the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France. That project is aimed at maintaining the ESRF’s status among the...
