Shipping of biomacromolecules to synchrotrons, cryoEM and sample-preparation facilities is often overlooked and has the potential to erase months and years of hard work. Here, guidelines and procedures are provided to ensure that samples arrive intact and safely at their destination.

Samples for single-particle cryo-electron microscopy can be routinely vitrified using only liquid nitro­gen at its boiling temperature, allowing sample handling workflows to be simplified and sample stresses that contribute to beam-induced motion to be reduced.

Quasielastic neutron scattering is applied to analyse the atomic scale hydrogen transport processes occurring within the crystal lattices of hydrous minerals. Two types of transport processes were observed in Mg(OH)₂, which has a prototypical layered hydrogen lattice structure.

A spectroelectrochemical setup has been developed to investigate radioactive elements in small (0.7 to 2 ml) volumes under oxidation–reduction (redox) controlled conditions by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The cell design is presented together with in situ XAS measurements performed during neptunium redox reactions.

AlN single crystals grown by physical vapor transport have been analyzed by X-ray methods to evaluate dislocation types, densities and spatial distribution within the crystal. Potential changes of the AlN crystal quality during growth, both within the axial growth direction and within lateral expansion areas, have been investigated.

Structures of the yeast Sec14-like phosphatidylinositol transfer protein Sfh2 in complex with phosphatidylinositol and squalene reveal structural determinants for ligand recognition.

The problems associated with cooling powder samples below 1 K are discussed. Two strategies for mounting neutron powder diffraction samples are described and evaluated.

An apparatus enabling routine preparation of sensitive crystalline samples under inert conditions is presented. The device is tailored for use with single-crystal diffractometers, but is flexible enough to adapt to other potential applications.

This article provides a description and validation of a detailed Monte Carlo X-ray transport simulation technique that utilizes user-provided cross sections to describe X-ray interaction in virtual samples and to explore small-angle X-ray scattering instrument design choices for in vivo molecular imaging applications.

Finding out about sample preparation and transportation of structural biology samples in Acta Crystallographica F, Structural Biology Communications.