Thank you everyone who responded to my little poll. To summarize and
paraphrase, most common response was:
"I haven't really thought about it."
A distant second place was:
"I don't collect data at APS, so I'll be fine. (aka I'm not worried
about all those APS users out-competing me for time at my favorite beamline)
and 3rd/4th place:
"I will go 'somewhere else' "
and/or
"we have an old rotating anode we can dust off."
Noteworthy responses I did NOT get were:
"I will just use cryoEM instead for a year or two"
nor
"I will just use AlphaFold "
With all due respect to the amazing recent advances in those fields, it
would appear X-rays still play an important role in structural science,
and a year of no data doesn't seem to be an option for most labs.
However, it would appear there is not much concern in the community.
Personally, I wonder if that is justified. From what I can tell looking
at public-facing calendars, most MX beamlines are being used about 80%
of the time, and the APS represents at least half of total capacity in
the USA. So, in April, I expect demand will rise to ~160% of supply.
That means ~60% of beam time request proposals will get turned down.
To try and help illustrate, we at ALS have been pasting together a
master calendar we call the "fly chromosome chart" here:
https://als-enable.lbl.gov/wordpress/2022/05/19/dark-period/
The width of the bars is proportional to the number of beamlines
available. Yes, they vary widely in flux and other capabilities, but
assignment of beam time is usually done in "shifts". Now, try to
picture next year when the "APS" bar is all black. Also, what kind of
pins and pucks do you use? For many beamlines you may have to buy
different ones.
Looking forward to the June 21 APS/U town hall discussions, as well as
the ACA's "Bridging the APS dark period" session. We will definitely be
discussing this at the Diffraction Methods GRC, which is July 24-29,
2022. Space is still available!
-James Holton
MAD Scientist
On 5/9/2022 3:12 PM, James Holton wrote:
Greetings all,
I was just thinking of taking a little poll. When the Advanced Photon
Source at Argonne shuts down for the APS-U upgrade on April 17, 2023,
it will take with it about 90,000 hours of X-ray beam time until well
into 2024. So, if you are a routine user of APS, what are your plans?
Will you just stop collecting X-ray data for 12 months or so? Do you
have a proposal lined up at another synchrotron? Is it in the USA?
Europe? Asia? Or are you, like me, a big procrastinator and haven't
really thought much about it?
Whatever it is, I'd like to hear from you. Either on- or off-list is
fine. I expect this community will be interested in the digest.
-James Holton
MAD Scientist
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