Volume 18, No. 9, October 2026

Hi Crystallographer,

The 2026 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine, Physics and Chemistry have now been announced. By the time you read this, the announcements may be old news, but the work being recognized is worth noting.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel for discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. The Nobel Prize in Physics went to Francis Halzen for his contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos from astrophysical sources. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai for their discoveries involving nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.

One Crystallography in the News item is too important to relegate to a later section. An essay by Alistair Sponsel of the Science History Institute and Brian Sutton of King’s College London argues that Rosalind Franklin took Photograph 51 as a publication-quality follow-up to Photograph 49, not as the experiment through which she first recognized DNA’s helical structure.

Franklin’s notes associated with Photograph 49 show that she had already identified the 3.4 Å spacing between bases and the 34 Å helical repeat. This challenges the familiar account that she failed to understand the significance of her own diffraction data.

Our Product in the Spotlight is MaterialsExplorer for XtaLAB Synergy. In the Tip of the Month, Emilia demonstrates how templates can be used to process datasets with low completeness or other indications of lower data quality.

Finally, Jeanette reviews Fast Track: The Extraordinary Story of High Speed Rail by Christian Wolmar.

Rigaku TOPIQ Webinars

Rigaku has developed a series of  20–30 minute webinars that cover a broad range of topics in the fields of X-ray and electron diffraction, X-ray fluorescence and X-ray imaging. You can watch recordings of our past sessions here.

Join Us on LinkedIn

Our LinkedIn group shares information and fosters discussion about X-ray crystallography and SAXS topics. Connect with other research groups and receive updates on how they use these techniques in their own laboratories. You can also catch up on the latest newsletter or Rigaku Journal issue. We also hope that you will share information about your own research and laboratory groups.

Rigaku X-ray Forum

Product in the Spotlight

MaterialsExplorer for XtaLAB Synergy: Extending MultiModal Diffractometry

A motorized x,y,z sample stage that expands the range of samples, experiments, and workflows your XtaLAB Synergy can handle—with unattended, automated data collection built in.

MaterialsExplorer for XtaLAB Synergy is a goniometer-mounted motorized x,y,z stage that expands what your diffractometer can do. Powders, fibers, capillaries, multi-sample arrays, and application-specific sample environments can all be positioned precisely in the focused X-ray beam, alongside the single crystals you measure today. Once mounted, integration with CrysAlis^Pro allows measurement positions to be defined, queued, and collected without an operator present.

What is MultiModal Diffractometry?

Multiple samples and sample types in. Multiple datasets and data types out. MultiModal diffractometry uses one instrument to combine complementary diffraction experiments—single-crystal structures, powder patterns, pair distribution function (PDF) analysis, fiber diffraction, mapping and serial measurements—into a fuller picture of the chemistry or material function you are targeting.

No single dataset tells the whole story. A crystal structure reveals molecular geometry; a powder pattern confirms phase identity across the bulk; PDF analysis probes local structure even where long-range order breaks down; a map exposes spatial variation. Bringing these together on one platform turns isolated measurements into joined-up understanding.

XtaLAB Synergy already provides the foundation: a high-flux focused source, precision goniometer, and movable area detector. MaterialsExplorer supplies the missing element—a universal, motorized sample stage that lets every one of those experiments physically take place.

MaterialsExplorer overview

Real-world materials arrive as powders, polycrystalline solids, fibers, capillaries, and custom sample environments—not only as single crystals on a loop. MaterialsExplorer accepts standard, custom, and multi-sample holders, so each of these formats can take its place in the beam.

One instrument, more sample formats, more experiments, more answers.

Expand your sample range

With 50 mm x 20 mm x 10 mm of motorized travel, MaterialsExplorer goes beyond the goniometer head. Hold a fiber under tension, present a capillary array, position a polycrystalline solid, or install an application-specific sample environment—then drive the exact region of interest into the focused beam. The instrument adapts to the sample, so more of your materials questions can be answered in-house.

Custom holders for new applications

An open holder concept makes adaptation practical. Locally 3D-printed holders let laboratories prototype mounts for new sample requirements in hours rather than waiting for dedicated hardware, and an adapter for DicifferX holders provides an existing ecosystem of ready-to-use options for common experiments.

Unattended, automated data collection

Multiple datasets need efficient collection. Because sample positions are motorized and software-defined, measurements can run without an operator present. Define regions or queue multiple samples, start the run, and return to completed datasets. Combined with AI-assisted sample detection and automated centering in CrysAlis^Pro, MaterialsExplorer takes over the repetitive work of positioning and setup—you retain full control of experimental strategy and interpretation.

Overnight and weekend runs, serial measurements, and shared instruments serving more users all follow naturally.

One stage. Many sample formats.

MaterialsExplorer is designed around an open sample-holder concept. Compatible formats include powders, polycrystalline solids, capillaries, fibers, mapping samples, multi-sample arrays for serial measurement, and application-specific sample environments.

Tip of the Month

Using Structure Templates in AutoChem for Challenging Diffraction Data 

How can you refine a crystal structure when incomplete or low-quality diffraction data prevents successful structure solution?

Emilia Buchsteiner demonstrates how to use structure templates in AutoChem within CrysAlis^Pro to process challenging electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction datasets. Using an example with only about 40% data completeness, this tutorial demonstrates how an existing crystal structure can serve as a starting point for successful refinement.

The video explains how to prepare a structure template from an existing RES or CIF file, apply appropriate restraints and constraints using Olex2, and configure AutoChem to use the template instead of attempting a new structure solution.

Structure templates can be especially useful when working with incomplete or low-resolution data, as well as when processing multiple datasets of complex structures where manual element assignment or hydrogen placement would be time-consuming.

Discover how this approach can streamline structure refinement and help you get more from challenging diffraction datasets.

Crystals in the News

October 1, 2026
Researchers from Germany, Czechia, and Germany used electron diffraction to determine the crystal structure of eveslogite, a titanosilicate mineral with structurally and compositionally distinct nanoscopic tubular units.

October 2, 2026
Scientists from Germany and the UK have synthesized and characterized a Fischer-type uranium carbyne compound.

October 7, 2026
Researchers from Austria, Czechia, and Germany used a heavily doped Th:CaF₂ single crystal to realize a thorium-229 nuclear clock with an optical feedback loop.

Book Review

Christian Wolmar’s Fast Track: The Extraordinary Story of High Speed Rail is a rapid-paced history of high-speed rail around the world. From East Asia to the Mediterranean to North America, Wolmar details the trials and tribulations each region’s countries have endured developing high-speed rail networks, with some reaching greater levels of success than others.

Wolmar starts with the history of railroad development in the 1800s, with the first publicly accessible steam engine railway opening in 1825 in England. Despite the steam engines being faster than horse-drawn carriages, the technology was not readily adopted. For the better part of the next decade, most passenger railcars in the United Kingdom were pulled by horses, not steam engines. Although reaching speeds of 250 mph was not an initial goal of railroad entrepreneurs, the critical appeal of rail travel has always been its speed. It is faster than any other land transportation. Throughout the 1800s, across all of Europe, competition arose between railway companies to provide the fastest possible rail service.

This continued into the 20th century, with countries like Japan and China developing rail services, working as always towards the fastest possible speeds. Japan won the high-speed rail race, opening the first high-speed rail network in 1964. The Shinkansen (often called the “bullet train”) opened in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics and still runs today. For a train line to be considered high-speed rail, it must run at least 125 mph on older track and at least 155 mph on newer tracks. In 1964, the Shinkansen ran at about 130 mph; today, it reaches speeds of 200 mph on the fastest services.

Europe’s first high-speed rail network, the Direttissima, opened in Italy in 1977. It ran between Florence and Rome with a top speed of 160 mph. This was quickly followed by France’s TGV (train à grande vitesse, “high-speed train”), in 1981, which topped out at a speed of 224 mph. Throughout the latter half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, high-speed rail spread across Europe and Asia, with countries like Spain and China developing their own high-speed rail lines. Today, countries across the globe plan to make high-speed trainlines more expansive and even faster.

Much of Fast Track is about the success of high-speed rail around the world. But in Chapter 10, “A Tale of Two Failures,” Wolmar details two instances where initiatives to develop high-speed rail have failed. Efforts to develop high speed rail networks to rival those of Asia or mainland Europe have repeatedly failed in in the United States and in the United Kingdom . Despite being highly developed, each country only has limited high-speed rail services. The United Kingdom’s highest-speed rail line is the one that runs through the Channel Tunnel, connecting the island nation with mainland Europe and thus requiring compatibility with high-speed rail lines on the continent. It’s an intriguing conundrum.

Wolmar, a broadcast journalist specializing in transport, has a clear passion for railways that transcends the text. His enthusiasm is contagious, making Fast Track all the more engrossing to read.

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