The European X-ray Laser is a 3.4-km-long facility which runs essentially underground. The three sites (framed in red) are located in Hamburg (DESY-Bahrenfeld and Osdorfer Born) as well as in the south of the city of Schenefeld (Pinneberg district, Schleswig-Holstein). Aerial views: FHH, Landesbetrieb Geoinf. und Vermessung.
Copyright European XFEL

This concept, known as “diffraction before destruction” would open up an entirely new window on the molecular world. It would, for example, allow scientists to visualise the molecules inside cancer cells as they form in real time. The tricky part is to take the image fast enough to “photograph” the intact molecule and not just catch the debris as it flies apart.

Because of this enormous potential, governments have invested huge amounts of money into these facilities. But what happens if the experiment fails?

After all the effort and political capital expended (not least placating the scores of German citizens under whose houses the 3.4km facility runs), expectations for the European X-ray Laser are understandably high.

How Germans feel about the X-ray Laser

In fact, the question of cost versus reward was the subject of a recent front-page article in the German national news magazine Der Speigel. In it, prominent physicist Holger Stark, director of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, argues that the investment would only be worthwhile if there were no alternatives, and that the approach has disadvantages.

For example, Stark points out that for a comparatively paltry €4 million to €5 million you can buy a transmission electron microscope. This microscope also offers the possibility of being able to image single molecules. However, the key difference is that in the electron microscope the molecules are static, whereas in the European X-ray Laser they are free to move around (at least until they are destroyed).

The scientists supporting the X-ray Laser project say that the ability to make movies of molecules “in action” is a breakthrough that is well worth the investment. They argue that to be able to actually “see” the movements of biologically important molecules will yield essential insights that will benefit all of humanity.

Of course, at this stage we simply don’t know. As a scientist, whether or not the €1.22 billion would have been better spent elsewhere probably largely depends on whether you have some involvement with X-ray research. Our own research group is among the dozens worldwide hoping to get a chance to obtain images of molecules before they explode.

Eyes on the prize

However, with only a few experiments possible at any one time, competition for access to the European X-ray Laser is fierce. This has been another argument against investing so much money into one facility: only a comparatively small number of scientists may actually get the chance to use it.

But whichever side of the fence you are on, there is undeniably a huge sense of excitement among scientists to see what the first experiments at the European X-ray Laser will yield come September.

Finally, there is the argument that the creation of the world’s first atomic-scale molecular movies would only be the beginning. The observation of the Higgs boson essentially helped to validate our current understanding of the fundamental structure of matter. While the Higgs discovery could eventually lead to new theories being developed, the successful outcome of the European X-ray Laser experiments would arguably have more immediate practical applications.

These in turn would spawn many more questions, as scientists race to make the most of the new technology. One of the key questions, which is already in the minds of many of the groups leading this research, is who gets the Nobel Prize if the idea works?

Brian Abbey, Associate Professor of Physics, La Trobe University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.