Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource

Anthropologists learn about ancient cultures through the objects left behind. Ritualistic artifacts give glimpses into the religious and belief systems of nonextant societies. Application of new techniques of chemical and structural analysis to the study of ancient objects can give more insight into how they were made and used.

X-ray microscopy is a useful tool for visualizing functional materials on the nanoscale.  X-ray holography replaces the lens with a computer and obtains an image by Fourier inversion of the interference pattern. While in principle the resolution limit is given by the x-ray wavelength, in practice, the resolution is limited by the size of the reference being used.

Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, or NSF, is a relatively new disease in which the skin becomes hardened, joint movement becomes difficult and, in extreme cases, an excessive and sometimes fatal fibrosis tissue forms around organs. So far, NSF has only been observed in patients with kidney dysfunction who have undergone an MRI that required the injection of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs). Researchers speculate that the patient's kidneys cannot break down the gadolinium, causing NSF, but until now there has been no direct evidence for such a link.

As cell phones, computers, and other electronic equipment have become part of our daily lives, so too have integrated circuits.  Also known as microchips, these semiconductors patterned with trace elements serve as the brains of electronic devices, controlling processes, storing data, and converting information from digital to analog, to name only a few applications.  With their increasing prevalence, however, comes the increasing prevalence of malicious attacks.  Integrated circuits are susceptible to "hardware Trojans" that can be inserted during production, testing, or distribution to cause failure or compromise the circuit.

A common problem in orthodontics is the narrowing of the space taken up by tissue connecting the root of a tooth to its bony socket ("periodontal ligament space") around teeth that are forced to change position with braces or other orthopedic fixation devices.  Healthy periodontal ligament space is generally considered to be between 150 and 380 µm; yet as teeth are forced to move (and as patients age), this space can be narrowed too far, potentially causing a failure of the fibrous joint between the bone and tooth.