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Science highlights

A diverse mix of research takes place at our facility, generating impact on a local, national and global scale. Find out more by reading some of the highlights below.

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Two Indonesian men smiling at the camera

05 February 2026

Studying Indonesian peat as it smoulders

Burning peatland in Indonesia releases large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere and can lead to acute respiratory diseases. In a unique and complex experiment, teams across ISIS worked together to enable neutron imaging of peat as it smouldered.

A muon spectrogram, showing where the muonium sits in the structure at different points along the curve

05 February 2026

Muons as a tool for studying molecular motion

Diagram showing light and dark grey pyramids representing molybdenum oxide arranged in rows, separated by coloured circles representing water molecules. The arrangement changes when the water is removed

03 February 2026

Combined approach reveals secrets of catalyst and energy storage materials

Graphic showing a BBB endotheliocyte undergoing permeability assessment, FIB-SEM and neutron scattering

03 February 2026

Neutrons help to explain the relationship between air pollution and brain health through an interdisciplinary Harwell-based collaboration.

Diagram showing red cubosomes and hexosomes interacting with a blue and red lipid bilayer

26 January 2026

How do complex lipid nanoparticles interact with lipid membranes?

20 January 2026

Neutrons provide a unique view of the synthesis of a potential hydrogen storage material

Two men holding sample cells stood in front of a large cylindrical machine

19 January 2026

A record-breaking user cycle for the FLYNN facility

Six charts, showing complex blue and orange geometric patterns

19 January 2026

Unusual material properties herald the future of quantum computing

Graphical abstract showing INS spectra alongside bone specimens

13 January 2026

Using neutron spectroscopy to study the effects of fire on ancient Egyptian mummies

A green cylinder, with small bubbles in the shape of a triangle

03 December 2025

Levitating droplets to study pollution and disease transmission

Two men stood in front of a beam on sign

02 December 2025

Neutrons prove critical for cocrystal characterisation

A crystal structure, alongside experimental and calculated INS spectra.

25 November 2025

Neutrons reveal unexpected modes in magnetostrictive material

A graphic showing the crystal structure of the material at x=0 and x=1, and the pair distribution functions at different x values.

21 November 2025

Localised areas with different compositions could lead to better performance of thermoelectric materials

A group of people stood in front of ISIS TS1

04 November 2025

Teamwork enables the study of the toxic gas, phosgene

15 October 2025

Improving the environmental sustainability of particle accelerators

A man loading a sample onto the EMU beamline

15 October 2025

Battery research collaboration leads to ISIS’ first Chilean co-investigator

Diagram showing a bilayer, with green heads at the top and bottom and yellow tails between. The gp41 peptide is shown in purple, embedded in the membrane

07 October 2025

Dehydration at the membrane interface drives HIV fusion

Three charts showing 1) an orange outline of silver flakes. 2) a green outline of just a few of those flakes 3) a green outline highlighting the other flakes

29 September 2025

Mapping isotopes with epithermal neutrons

Two researchers leaning over a long foil-wrapped sample standing vertically in a steel clamp

23 September 2025

Correlative imaging aids conservation of archaeological bones

19 September 2025

Studying the effect of DNA damage using muons

Mazin Nazralla and Harrison Laurent by Nimrod instrument

03 September 2025

Decoding Saturn’s icy moon

Artistic impression of the formation of a polyplex

01 September 2025

BioNTech and EMBL use neutrons and X-rays to progress mRNA vaccine research

01 September 2025

Want tastier gluten-free spaghetti? Small angle scattering shows you need to follow the instructions

Two diagrams showing the experimental setup and some photographs of how the samples were loaded onto the instrument.

28 August 2025

Knowledge exchange for the muon instruments of the future

A man leaning over, with purple gloves on, holding some equipment near the floor.

14 August 2025

Neutrons show how the lifetime of steel components could be extended using novel heat treatments

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