How Rodin prepared his sculptures
WhentheRodinmuseumwaspreparingtheexhibi5on«Portrait-making.Rodinandhismodels»,twobustswereinsuchabadstateofconserva5onthatitwasimpossibletohandlethem.
AugusteRodin,1840-1917
TheMuseumcalleduponateamofFrenchscien5ststoiden5fythecomposi5onofthemodellingmaterialsusedbyRodintobeLerunderstandtheoriginsofthedegrada5on.
How Rodin prepared his sculptures
GeorgesClemenceaubustbyAugusteRodin,1911-1913
How Rodin prepared his sculptures
Hanakobust-A.Rodin1908-1912(?)beforeconserva5on
TinyfragmentsofthematerialwereanalysedusingtheESRF’sultrabrightX-raysonID21.ThestudiesrevealedthatRodinusedbothparaffinandfaLymaLerfilledwithcalciumcarbonate.
How Rodin prepared his sculptures
Hanakobustbeforeanda]erconserva5on
Withthisknowledge,theconservatorswereabletorestorethebustsanddevelopcleaningandconserva5onprotocolsfortherestora5onofsuchunusualmaterials.
How Rodin prepared his sculptures
ID21ispar5cularlyusefulforsuchstudies.Itoffersdifferenttechniques,inpar5cularinfraredspectroscopyandX-rayspectroscopywithsubmicrometricresolu5on.
MarineCoLe,scien5stinchargeofID21,workinginsidethebeamlinecontrolcabin.
Tracking how catalysts deteriorate
Cataly5cconvertersarecrucialfortheconversionofharmfulchemicalsincarexhaustsintoharmlesssubstances.However,thecatalystsdeteriorateover5meandbecomelessefficient.
Tracking how catalysts deteriorate
Ateamofscien5stsfromGermany,SwedenandtheESRFusedthehighenergybeamlineID15tomonitorthecatalystsunderreal-lifecondi5onsduringacataly5creac5on.
Tracking how catalysts deteriorate
Thecatalystscontainmetalnanopar5clesofrhodium,pla5numorpalladium.Thescien5stsdiscoveredthatduringtheprocessthepar5clesizeofpla5numincreasesandreducesthesurfaceareaofthecatalyst,makingitlessefficient.
Tracking how catalysts deteriorate
Rhodiumandrhodium-richpar5clesdidnotreactinthesameway,sugges5ngthatrhodiumcouldbeimportantforcatalyststabiliza5on.
Rhodium(Rh)par5cleskepttheirformduringthecatalysisprocess,whereasthepla5num(Pt)par5clesfusedtogetherandgrewsubstan5ally.
Metallic ink revealed in Herculaneum papyri
Scien5stshavediscoveredmetalintheinkoftwoherculaneumpapyrusfragmentsda5ngfromthe1stCentury.Itwaspreviouslythoughtthatmetalwasonlyintroducedintoinksinthe4thCentury
Metallic ink revealed in Herculaneum papyri
Usingacombina5onofsynchrotrontechniquesonbeamlineID21,studiesofthecomposi5onoftheinkshowedittocontainfairlyhighlevelsoflead.
Thescrollsdatefromthe1stCenturyandwerecarbonisedduringtheerup5onofMountVesuviusin79AD.ManyaLemptstodecipherthecontentofthescrollshavebeenmadesincetheirdiscoveryin1754.
Metallic ink revealed in Herculaneum papyri
Metallic ink revealed in Herculaneum papyri
In2015,usinginnova5veimagingtechniquesattheESRF,scien5stswereabletodecipherforthefirst5methecontentsofthebadlydamagedandrolledpapyrusscrolls.Theyrecons5tutedalmostallleLersoftheGreekalphabet.
Itwasduringfurtherexperimentsonthesescrollsthatthescien5stsdeterminedthecomposi5onoftheinkanddiscoveredthepresenceoflead.Whatwilltheyfindnext?
Metallic ink revealed in Herculaneum papyri
Asec5onoftherolledpapyrus
Getting to the heart of fossils
Forthefirst5me,afossilisedhearthasbeenfoundinafishda5ngfrom119millionyearsago.Thisbreakthroughishelpingtoprovidecluesaboutcardiacevolu5on.
Getting to the heart of fossils
Howthechamberedheartevolvedisakeypointinthehistoryofvertebrates.However,nocardiacstructurehaseverbeendescribedduetoalackoffossilevidencetostudy.
Getting to the heart of fossils
Theheartismadefromso]muscle5ssuewhichdecaysfasta]erdeath.Itishardlyeverpreserved,unlikehard5ssuesuchasbone.Thediscoveryofa3Dfossilisedhearttotallypreservedisamajorbreakthrough.
Getting to the heart of fossils
Thescien5stsfromBrazil,SwedenandtheESRFtestedaround60fossilsfromthefishRhacolepsisbuccaliswhichlivedduringtheCretaceousperiodintheregionoftheworldthatistodayBrazil.
Getting to the heart of fossils
Twoofthesamplescontainedfossilisedhearts.Observa5onoftheheartarchitectureshowedmul5plevalverowsintheex5nctray-finnedfishcomparedtoasinglevalverowinlivingfishofthislineage.
Tuna:anexampleofaray-finnedfish.