Researchers used optical and X-ray techniques at the Advanced Photon Source to reveal a previously unknown photoinduced phase transition in materials. Their results reveal a previously unreported mechanism by which light can induce long-lived metastable structural states in double perovskites, with lifetimes extending into the multi-millisecond regime.

In 2019, antimicrobial resistance was responsible for an estimated 5 million deaths, and about 30% of these were due to two pathogens, Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp) and Acinetobacter baumannii (Ab). Recent research advanced work on identifying and optimizing new antibiotics to treat Kp and Ab infections.

Nickel-based superalloys, which remain strong and corrosion-resistant at high temperatures, are popular for making aerospace components such as turbine engines. New research has shown how in-situ X-ray diffraction can explain thermomechanical behaviors in such alloys during laser processing.

Both nonclassical and classical pathways can produce crystals with structural defects and lattice strain, as well as impurities in the solution, but how these preserved defects and strain affect crystal growth and their overall reactivity has been unclear. To answer this question, researchers compared the formation of two different types of crystal grown from supersaturated solutions. Their findings shed light on crystal nucleation and growth mechanisms. 

Recent studies have shown that bacterial protein synthesis is not completely blocked in the presence of macrolides. This interesting discovery that, rather than being indiscriminate blockers of protein synthesis, macrolides act in a context-specific fashion, has been recently built upon by researchers who sought to elucidate the structural basis for this new understanding of the mechanism of action of macrolides.