This Sunday, 26 October, the Australian Synchrotron is holding its first open day since its official opening in July last year. 3,000 visitors have been booked online and the day is now fully booked.

Visitors will receive a unique perspective on work at a facility recently rated in the top 5 synchrotrons in the world. 

South Australian PhD student Audrey Beaussart is the 1000th person to conduct her experiments at the Australian Synchrotron.

Audrey is using the synchrotron to develop a substitute for the lubricants in joint fluid that, like oil in a car, protect our joints from friction and damage. 

An immensely powerful laser is being tested at the Elettra synchrotron in Trieste, Italy. Its intense pulses of light will last 100 femtoseconds - 1 ten thousand billionth of a second. It will allow 'time lapse photography' of the details of chemical reactions, and will explore strange forms of matter such as that thought to be at the heart of giant planets like Jupiter. 

Ten young Australian researchers have just returned from an intensive ten-day training course at the SPring-8 synchrotron facility in Hyogo, Japan.

The Cheiron Synchrotron School provided the researchers with a comprehensive and practical background in the basics of synchrotron science, says Anand Chandra, a PhD student from the University of South Australia's Applied Centre for Structural and Synchrotron Studies. 

Australian researchers have developed a new way of determining the maturity of eggs. The technique, which has been trialled on mouse eggs using the infrared beamline at the Australian Synchrotron, was published recently in the international journal Analytical Chemistry. 

Asia Oceania Week (A-O Week) promises to be a big week for the Australian Synchrotron as it hosts the third Asia Oceania Forum on Synchrotron Radiation Research (AOFSRR) as part of a full week of activities that includes the annual Australian Synchrotron Users Meeting.

Good news for users and other visitors

The 2009 Federal Budget had good news for the Australian Synchrotron and its users: $36.78 million for key onsite infrastructure additions and improvements, including onsite accommodation for users.

Boost for medical and imaging facility

The Australian Synchrotron's medical and imaging facility will be upgraded to become the most advanced instrument of its type in the world. The facility has been awarded $13.2 million from the NH&MRC and $1.5 million from the Victorian Government for a major expansion that will position Australia at the forefront of this field.

Australian researchers are developing better ways to gather accurate information about greenhouse gases in the upper atmosphere with the help of synchrotron infrared light.