Acetylene Selfie
A depiction of the laser-induced electron diffraction imaging of a molecular bond break-up in acetylene. “In our experiment, we took one electron, steered it along a specific path with the laser and scattered it off an isolated molecule to record its diffraction pattern,” says Jens Biegert, co-author of the published paper (1). “Our method has finally achieved the required space and time resolution to take snapshots of molecular dynamics without missing any of its events. We were able to have the first direct visualization of bond cleavage and observation of the proton during its departure from the [C2H2]2+ ion, something that has never seen before.”
Reference 1. B Wolter et al, “Ultrafast electron diffraction imaging of bond breaking in di-ionized acetylene,” Science, 354, 308-312 (2016)
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Rich Whitworth completed his studies in medical biochemistry at the University of Leicester, UK, in 1998. To cut a long story short, he escaped to Tokyo to spend five years working for the largest English language publisher in Japan. "Carving out a career in the megalopolis that is Tokyo changed my outlook forever. When seeing life through such a kaleidoscopic lens, it's hard not to get truly caught up in the moment." On returning to the UK, after a few false starts with grey, corporate publishers, Rich was snapped up by Texere Publishing, where he spearheaded the editorial development of The Analytical Scientist. "I feel honored to be part of the close-knit team that forged The Analytical Scientist – we've created a very fresh and forward-thinking publication." Rich is now also Content Director of Texere Publishing, the company behind The Analytical Scientist.
