China’s High Energy Photon Source. Image Credit: Institute of High Energy Physics/Chinese Academy of Sciences

Technology13. January 2025

Ultra Advanced X-Ray to Help Scientists Study Viruses, Materials and Much More

China has activated the world’s most powerful X-ray light, enabling researchers to examine proteins, viruses, materials, chemical reactions, and other tiny biological structures.

“It’s like getting a major new telescope. You can see things that were not observable before,” says Mingda Li, chair of the users’ executive committee for the Advanced Photon Source, a United States Department of Energy synchrotron.

The $657 million facility – entitled the High Energy Photon Source (HEPS) – generates x-ray light by accelerating electrons to high energies and directing them along a circular track, allowing scientists to analyze image structures and chemical processes at atomic and nanometre scales. It is set to significantly advance research in the realm of structural biology. HEPS will also position China as a world leader in advanced light source technology, being Asia’s first fourth-generation synchrotron. Additional beamlines will be added over the next five years, adding Dong Yuhui, Deputy Director at the Institute of High Energy Physics.

Source:
Gadgets 360Science

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