98% of the potassium ions in our body are inside our cells. Neurons use this gradient to generate electric currents by allowing potassium to rapidly flow down the gradient, causing, in turn, a voltage pulse to travel along their membranes. Researchers have used electric-field-stimulated time resolved X-ray crystallography (EFX) to capture potassium ions hopping down the channel’s electrochemical gradient in real time. 

Two objects of opposite chirality appear the same as each other in a mirror, but no amount of geometrical manipulation will cause them to occupy the identical space and shape. Achiral crystals should not exhibit behavior that arises from chiral symmetry. Recent work by a team of international collaborators investigated 150-year-old scientific assumptions about symmetry and demonstrated how a particular material produces a chiral charge density wave despite its apparently achiral lattice.

The ability to store and convert thermal energy in various ways makes phase-change materials very handy for everything from heating pads to medical applications to heating and cooling equipment.

One example is germanium telluride (GeTe), a semiconductor which also has potential for thermoelectric and phase-change memory applications. Researchers used GeTe as a research model to gain deeper insight into phonon dynamics and thermal conductivity in phase-change materials.

Many organisms have developed sophisticated systems to detect light and then convey signals to sensory systems that respond. However, these reactions work on very fast timescales and not much is known about the structural intermediates that are involved. In a recent publication, a collaborative team reported on results that provide new structural and mechanistic insights to further illuminate this process.

In the 3D printing process, a highly focused laser beam scans rapidly across a bed of metallic powder to melt it but tends to leave behind pores that weaken the material. Now scientists using the Advanced Photon Source have identified new pore formation mechanisms and shown that applying the right magnetic force can significantly reduce the problem.