iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Most AI tools for science are big general models behind an API. With BoneGraph we went the other way, a small, locally run model for bone science, grounded in the literature and physical laws, with image analysis and strain prediction built in. Led by Jon Valijonov. bonegraph.org

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bioRxiv Bioengineering @biorxiv-bioeng.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

BoneGraph: A Domain-Specialised, Self-Correcting Reasoning System for Bone Science Retrieval, Grounded Inference, and Image Mechanics www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

New preprint! Can quantum kernels classify micro-CT bone data as well as classical ML? Yes, but only if you preprocess with UMAP. Every linear reduction method (PCA, PLS, random projections) wiped out competitiveness. Manifold-preserving prep isn't optional for near-term QML. tinyurl.com/hpm9ctjn

tinyurl.com

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Turns out you can just predict strain directly from XCT scans and skip the noisy displacement math entirely. Our new preprint on D2IM-Strain shows a 75% drop in false positives with way cleaner data. Great work Jon! #Biomechanics #DVC #XCT #MachineLearning www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A four-panel diagram of the D2IM-Strain framework. (A) Contrast between ground-truth generation using DVC/differentiation and the CNN's direct strain prediction from XCT images. (B) Greyscale XCT scan of a bone lesion. (C) Corresponding binary mask. (D) Line graph tracking training performance across epochs.

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Enceladus (Saturn's 6th largest moon) vents its subsurface ocean into space. In our latest preprint, we used synchrotron X-ray CT and diffraction to map the rapid freezing of Enceladean brines as they are ejected through tectonic plumes. doi.org/10.21203/rs.... 1/4

$Gemini said A six-panel figure illustrating the real-time freezing of an Na-Cl-CO₃ solution. It features a diagram of the dual-beam experimental setup , a summed diffraction pattern identifying ice, hydrohalite, and natron , and time-lapsed tomography slices alongside corresponding 2D diffraction patterns showing microstructural growth as the temperature drops from 269 K to 205 K. The figure concludes with 3D volume renderings of the final ice, eutectic, and natron phases, plus a line graph tracking the volume evolution of each phase as the temperature decreases.$

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

The STFC financial situation is worrying. There's a risk we start seeing facilities vs. strategy as a choice. But you can't build digital twins or AI models if you can't see the physics happening. Synchrotrons and neutron sources are the ground truth for Net Zero. #BatterySky #MaterialScience

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Alchemy @aichemyhub.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

🌟 Applications are now open for the Next Generation of AI Chemists Programme, a funded opportunity for penultimate-year undergraduates from backgrounds under-represented in chemistry. 📍 Imperial London | 📅 6–7 July 2026 (in person) 👉 Apply here: buff.ly/MLfs9Zg

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arXiv physics.ins-det Instrumentation and Detectors @physicsinsdet-bot.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

James Le Houx: Benchmarking Autonomy in Scientific Experiments: A Hierarchical Taxonomy for Autonomous Large-Scale Facilities arxiv.org/abs/2601.06978 arxiv.org/pdf/2601.06978 arxiv.org/html/2601.06978

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Autonomous is a catch-all term that means everything and nothing right now. I'm curious: if you work at a beamline or a shared facility, what is the #1 thing stopping you from letting an AI agent drive your motors? Is it the latency, the safety, or the lack of trust?

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Why do solid-state batteries fail? We used operando X-ray tomography to find out. 🧪 Bare Cu creates localized islands that trigger cracks, but a 50nm Ag nanolayer keeps things uniform and stable, even at high current. 📷🔋 #chemsky #batterysky #sciencesky

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

We need to stop measuring experimental success by data volume (TB/hour) and start measuring it by scientific insight. In our new arXiv preprint, we propose Heuristic Operando experimentation: a framework to teach beamlines how to think. arxiv.org/abs/2601.00851 #ScienceSky #AI #BatteryResearch

arxiv.org

Autonomous battery research: Principles of heuristic operando experimentation

Unravelling the complex processes governing battery degradation is critical to the energy transition, yet the efficacy of operando characterisation is severely constrained by a lack of Reliability, Re...

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Some news! I’m starting a new chapter as a Senior Lecturer at Greenwich and launching the BASE Lab. We are teaching beamlines how to think, building a Self-Driving Microscope to hunt for battery failure. I'm also hiring our founding PhD student. Come build with us! #SciSky #AIforScience

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

In the wake of the Airbus A320 groundings, it's worth remembering that the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source has a facility dedicated to replicating this kind of cosmic bombardment. It’s called ChipIR. It allows engineers to test the degradation of avionics before they ever leave the ground.

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Diving into the new UK AI for Science Strategy. They’ve made a definitive call, prioritise generating new data over optimising existing archives. As a materials scientist, I think this is absolutely the right call. Here is why. 🧵1/3 #AIforScience #MaterialsScience

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Played around with Meta's new SAM 3 on our X-ray data today. Top: Our manually trained U-Net (accurate but slow). Bottom: SAM 3 out-of-the-box ("white objects"). It misses some outliers, but getting 90% of the way there with zero training is a win for high-throughput workflows. #Science #AI

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Huge congrats to Harriet Jones for winning best poster at #IBSim-4i! She's leading our project adapting #code_saturne for on-the-fly simulation from CT data enabling autonomous workflows. Thx judges & sponsor #3Dmagination! #IBSim4i #Simulation #Physics #CFD #AutonomousScience #chemsky #BattChat

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

At PorTo, ILL's new beamline, tackling Li-ion failure: electrolyte consumption, interlayer buckling, & overcharge. Running high-res neutron imaging + multi-modal (X-ray/Neutron) correlation & unsupervised AI. Thx Bratislav Lukić! #Liion #ILL #CorrelativeImaging #DataScience #chemsky #BattChat

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

ACS Spring 2026 abstract deadline: September 29th! We're chairing a new session in Atlanta. If you use large-scale facilities to study energy storage materials with photons, neutrons, muons, or lasers, we want to hear from you. Submit here: tinyurl.com/4e3envar #chemsky #research #ACSSpring2026

callforabstracts.acs.org

ACS Spring 2026 - American Chemical Society

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Dr Liam Perera @pereralj.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

EIS ice baby New ideas can be found in the intersection between battery science and planetary science. Myself and @thebeamline.bsky.social are exploring how ice microstructure will impact radar measurements on Europa using tomography and EIS. #Europa #icymoons #planetaryscience #tomography 🧪

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

In-situ dark field X-ray microscopy of solid state batteries this week. Seriously challenging experiment, thank you to the whole team at ID03 @esrf.fr

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

The classic problem with the weakest link is that when you fix it, you just create a new one. We saw this happen in real-time with solid-state batteries. Our new preprint shows how fixing one interface just moves the failure to the next weakest spot. 1/6 Paper link: doi.org/10.26434/che...

doi.org

Operando X-ray Computed Tomography Reveals the Role of Interfacial Nucleation Nanolayers in Suppressing Mechanical Failure in Zero-Excess Lithium All-Solid-State Batteries

Lithium metal (LM) and zero-excess lithium (ZE) anodes offer pathways to increase the energy density of all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs). We employ operando X-ray computed tomography (XCT) combined w...

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

What do solid-state batteries & plant roots have in common? Excited to share our new article in @theconversation.com written with my collaborator Siul Ruiz. We dive into the powerful mechanics roots use to navigate tough soils, vital for our food security. 1/4 theconversation.com/natures-unde...

theconversation.com

Nature’s underground engineers: how plant roots could save harvests from drought

Plant roots don’t just take from soil; they shape it.

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Pocket coffee for those 4am beamtimes

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Pretty exciting beamtime at @diamondlightsource.bsky.social I13-2 this week. We're going from manual sample centering to a fully automated process with a Yasakawa arm, hitting 150 battery samples a day and swapping optics from nm to µm resolution.

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Well that's incredibly satisfying, new refactored code building and running a CI/CD pipeline in Github Actions. Only took 165 trys.....

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Signs of life again....Watch this space

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Harwell, home of the endangered bee orchid. Always impressed by the work of the conservationist team on site led by Bill Temple, looking forward to seeing them flower

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Want a summer internship at Rutherford Appleton Lab? 🇬🇧 UK undergrads: learn battery characterisation, work with large science facilities & get hands-on exp with Gabriel Pérez & me! 🚨 Deadline April 14th (1 week left!) Apply: tinyurl.com/3trmeahp #STEMcareers #Internship #RAL #UKStudents

tinyurl.com

FUSE Summer Placement in Didcot, Oxfordshire, England

To apply for this placement, we are looking for the following: Essential:

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

NEW PAPER ALERT! Ahem sorry for shouting. 5 XCT, 2 XRD-CT datasets, all from the same 13X Zeolite pellet. Designed to train: super resolution models (SR-GANs), DNNs for reconstruction, CNNs for image segmentation and data fusion of heterogeneous datasets. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #AI #ML

nature.com

Three-dimensional, multimodal synchrotron data for machine learning applications - Scientific Data

Scientific Data - Three-dimensional, multimodal synchrotron data for machine learning applications

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Structured Li-ion NMC electrodes this week. Mapping the charge state throughout the charging cycle #chemsky

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

Need to figure out a less muddy cycle to RAL....

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Impressed by the ambition and scope of the Clean Energy 2030 Action Plan. One thing I noticed missing is the energy capacity for LDES and batteries. A number of technologies decouple power and energy (flow batteries, pumped hydro, compressed air) and so just giving power isn't enough detail.

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Rietveld! GNNs! PDF! GANs! If these things mean something to you (or if you'd like to learn more) tune in on Wednesday (2pm GMT) for the next Faraday masterclass. Led by Andy Sode Anker, we'll be delving into how to use AI/ML methods to analyse scattering and spectroscopic data. lnkd.in/e8qFJvD5

lnkd.in

Faraday Masterclass: Machine Learning/AI analysis methods for scattering/ | LinkedIn

Faraday Masterclass series with expert presenters from the field of battery technology and energy storage. Join our 45th Faraday Masterclass on Machine Learning/AI analysis methods for scattering/spec...

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Important question I've been thinking about for a long time... Which synchrotron has the best canteen? #chemsky

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Prashant Kamat @kamat.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Want to know which energy researchers have migrated to @bsky.app ? go.bsky.app/3v7yzoj

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

A whole lot of equipment for such a small sample. Looking at all-solid-state battery designs this week with the LEC lab of @psich.bsky.social. Correlated XCT and depth profiled diffraction at #DIAD of #DiamondLightSource #MaterialsScience #netzero #EnergyMaterials #solidstate #battery #ChemSky

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James Le Houx @thebeamline.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

I can completely vouch for Hans, in the lab or on the climbing wall. Definitely reach out if you've got a lead.

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The Surendranath Group 🥭 @interphases.org · 12/11/2024

No 🔋⚡ELECTROCHEMSKY⚡🔋 starter pack? That's fine, we'll make our own. go.bsky.app/7BokNKP

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Boaz Nash @boazhsan.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

I made a preliminary starter pack for accelerator and synchrotron light source scientists and engineers! go.bsky.app/Y22Fz4

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Gavin D. J. Harper @gavindjharper.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Battery Research people and those involved in the Battery Community. Trying to do my bit as everyone joins the X-odus and migrates to Blue Sky by curating #BattChat people. go.bsky.app/GKsPnAB Reply if you'd like to be in this starter pack. Trying to curate a resource as everyone rebuilds here.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 10/11/2024

I'm looking to grow some connectivity for materials scientists & engineers on BlueSky - if you identify in this grouping, I'd be happy to add you to this starter pack 🧪 go.bsky.app/U5wGm7M

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