{
  "id": 98103,
  "title": "Ultrafast X-ray flashes partially reverse the damage they cause, enabling brighter, more accurate imaging",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/03/ultrafast-x-ray-flashes-partially-reverse-the-damage-they-cause",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-03T18:00:05.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ultrafast-ray-partially-reverse-enabling.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "An international research team, led by the University of Hamburg and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, has discovered that ultrafast X-ray pulses can partially reverse the damage they cause during imaging, resulting in brighter and more accurate images. Published in Nature Communications, the study demonstrates that X-ray pulses lasting only a few hundred attoseconds—100 to 1,000 times shorter than those used in previous experiments—can both outrun the damage and actively reverse part of it as the irradiation occurs. This phenomenon occurs because the pulses push some electrons back toward their original states, a process called stimulated emission, which reduces electronic bleaching—a previously considered unavoidable limitation of high-resolution X-ray imaging. The breakthrough has significant implications for imaging chemical reactions in individual molecules and nanoparticles, as it allows researchers to use a larger number of X-ray photons in extremely short bursts while maintaining image quality and detail. The new method could potentially lead to advanced X-ray imaging techniques that actively control the interaction between X-rays and matter, ultimately influencing how X-rays are absorbed, scattered, and propagated through materials.",
  "summary": "The interaction between X-rays and matter can be actively controlled, according to an international research team led by the University of Hamburg and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory that has succeeded in producing bright X-ray images with significantly less damage. In an article published in Nature Communications, the researchers report using ultrafast pulses that partially reverse the…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}