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NEWS

December 2022 ESRFnews

French ministers praise EBS imaging resolution; the ability to film the microsecond dynamics of biological and synthetic systems across vastly disparate length scales; the ability to capture three-dimensional, microtomographic images of huge objects such as dinosaur skulls and car engines; the ability to capture the crystallographic structures of even the tiniest biological macromolecules; the ability to study the electronic and magnetic behaviour of materials at previously unseen temperatures and pressures; and the ability generally to study samples faster and with more detail than ever before. The ministers visited two

beamlines: the refurbished ID27

for studies at extreme conditions, and the brand new BM18 for large- scale, high-detail, high-throughput phase-contrast tomography. They also received a presentation on one of BM18 s applications, the Human Organ Atlas project (see March 2021, p14). Finally, they performed a symbolic ribbon-cutting to inaugurate the ESRF EBS on the Experimental Hall footbridge. The ESRF is an extraordinary

example among large-scale research infrastructures, said Retailleau in a statement. It paves the way for multidisciplinary work for researchers around the world, in key fields such as health, energy and the environment.

On 2 September, Sylvie Retailleau, French Minister of Research and Higher Education, and Olivier Veran, French Government Spokesperson and Minister for democratic renewal, visited the ESRF to mark two years of successful operation of the ESRF EBS. The world s first fourth-generation

high-energy synchrotron light-source, the ESRF EBS delivers X-rays so brilliant that users are still coming to terms with its potential. Retailleau and Veran were given a tour of the facility, and reminded of some of the known experimental possibilities it is opening up: the ability to characterise human organs with sub-cellular

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The ESRF is an extraordinary example among large- scale research infrastructures