The CHESS Lending Library is a scientific equipment loan program hosted by the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source that provides free hands-on experiment kits for empowering teachers and engaging students in high quality labs. Kits are designed for specific scientific fields such as biology, chemistry, and physics as well as different age groups including elementary, middle, and high school grade levels. Learn more by downloading our 2023 brochure!
Scientists are especially interested in nanotextures that are distributed non-uniformly throughout a thin film because they can give the material novel properties. The most effective way to study the nanotextures is to visualize them directly, a challenge that typically requires complex electron microscopy and does not preserve the sample.
Just as space holds infinite mysteries, when we zoom in at the level of biomolecules (one trillion times smaller than a meter), there is still so much to learn.
Summer Engineering Research for Community College Students (SERCCS) selects 4-5 students from (2-year) community colleges for eight-week internships in accelerator and x-ray sciences research, during which students also attend/lead formal seminars, tour research facilities, and enjoy social and recreational events.
In 2019, the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) completed its most significant upgrade in nearly 40 years of operation. This upgrade included removal of the three-story-tall particle physics detector, replacement of one-sixth of the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR), and a complete remodel of the experimental floor, including installation of six new undulator-fed beamlines.
Cornell University's High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) recently hosted a multi-day workshop on High Energy X-ray Techniques (HEXT) from May 16 to 17, 2023. The workshop was funded by the National Science Foundation and aimed to introduce students from the Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) program to synchrotron methods, emphasizing their applications to a wide variety of research questions.
PyMOL is a popular molecular visualization software used by scientists and researchers to visualize and analyze molecular structures. It is designed to work with a variety of file formats, including PDB (Protein Data Bank) files, and can display a range of molecular properties, such as protein linkage, electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding.
The development, outlined in a paper published March 3 in Nature Communications, provides researchers with the tools to interpret the once-discarded data from X-ray crystallography experiments – an essential method used to study the structures of proteins. This work, which builds on a study released in 2020, could lead to a better understanding of a protein’s movement, structure and overall function.
Updates from Joel Brock, CHESS Director, included a “thank you” to CHESS’s partner funding agencies. CHESS user operations are fully funded for the fiscal year beginning April 1st, and CHESS is looking forward to welcoming users at all beamlines for a fully-packed beamtime schedule.