A new study has found that an x-ray dye intended to reduce stress on the kidneys did not prevent renal injury during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients who already had compromised kidney function.

Anyone trying to build sandcastles on the beach will need some degree of skill and imagination, but not an instruction manual. The water content is actually relatively unimportant to the mechanical properties of the sand. This observation, which is borne out by precise measurements in the laboratory, puzzles researchers. Even with water content of just 3%, the fluid inside represents a highly-complex structure.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and the EPFL in Switzerland have developed a novel method for producing dark-field x-ray images at wavelengths used in typical medical and industrial imaging equipment.

Astronomers studying a nearby galaxy have spied a rare type of star system -- one that contains a black hole that suddenly began glowing brightly with X-rays.

By means of X-ray interferometers, lengths down to the mm range can be measured with a resolution of less than one nm. The low translation velocity of the interferometers, which made their use in practice more difficult, could now be increased by a factor of 100 by exploiting the temporal correlation of singly interfering X-ray photons.

Spectacular images and data from the Hinode mission have shed new light on the Sun's magnetic field and the origins of solar wind, which can disrupt power grids, satellites and communications on Earth.

A team of researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have overcome a major obstacle for using refractive lenses to focus x-rays.

Tektronix, Inc. (NYSE: TEK), a leading worldwide provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation, announced that the Tektronix RSA6114A Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer has been adopted by the X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) Project in Japan. XFEL is a joint project between Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) and RIKEN. XFEL has received national recognition as a key technology of national importance from the Japanese government.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have cast new light on why the giant insects that lived millions of years ago disappeared.

Most people think of Sir Isaac Newton as the father of gravity. But for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory physicist Henry Chapman and his colleagues, Newton's “dusty mirror” experiment served as a launching pad for them to keenly watch the X-ray induced explosion of microscopic objects.

Eta Carinae is a mysterious, extremely bright and unstable star located a mere stone's throw - astronomically speaking - from Earth at a distance of only about 7,500 light years. The star is thought to be consuming its nuclear fuel at an incredible rate, while quickly drawing closer to its ultimate explosive demise.

Taking x-rays of the semi-flexed knee is the most accurate way of evaluating structural damage in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) according to results presented today at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain.