Electrons! High speeds! Intense beams of light! Claire Concannon takes a tour of our nearest particle accelerator – the Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne. Designed to create high-energy x-ray light useful for science, the synchrotron enables an incredible diversity of research. And, because of long-standing funding support, New Zealand scientists can also use it. Claire finds out what interesting research questions some visiting New Zealanders are shining a light on.

Travel to Australia for reporting on this story was supported by the New Zealand Synchrotron Group Ltd.

Guests:

• Dr Emily Finch, Australian Synchrotron
• Dr Helen Brand, Australian Synchrotron
• Dr Rosie Young, Australian Synchrotron
• Ben Krinkel, University of Auckland
• Shayhan Chunkath, University of Auckland

Learn more:

• Read the article that accompanies this episode - The 'science donut' across the ditch
• Physicist Suzie Sheehy spoke to Nine to Noon about synchrotrons as part of the conversation about the 12 physics experiments that changed our world.
• For more on the Australian Synchrotron, you can visit their website, read this piece on The Conversation, or learn about the New Zealand Synchrotron group.
• Jamie Morton of the NZ Herald wrote a piece about the New Zealand research aimed at the life on Mars question.
• The scientific report about the Degas painting is available here. While the writing is quite technical, the images are pretty neat. One of the synchrotron scientists wrote this piece for The Conversation that’s an easier read.

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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details