02 February 2026
The amber beamline and the Goethe ant
DESY’s light sources have illuminated quite a lot over the years – from viruses to space rocks to masterworks from Rembrandt and van Gogh. Now there’s another piece of science and cultural history to add to our collection of exotic samples: a piece of amber from the personal collection of German writer and polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, within which a 40-million-year-old ant is trapped.This ...
30 January 2026
Watching atoms dance
An international research team has used PETRA III to show how gas atoms rearrange themselves before they decay. In a decay process triggered by X-rays, they release low-energy electrons. The team observed how the atoms dance around each other for up to a picosecond before the system explodes. This is the first time that researchers have gained detailed insights into the temporal sequence of this decay process which ...23 January 2026
Researchers reveal how harmful bacteria disable a key defence molecule of the body
An international research team including scientists from RWTH Aachen University, TU Berlin, ITQB NOVA University of Lisbon (Portugal), SPring8 (Japan) and PETRA III at DESY have revealed, in atomic detail, how bacteria detoxify the reactive signalling molecule nitric oxide which the human body produces to combat bacterial infection. Their findings may contribute to the development of novel antibiotics and ...