Team of physicists accidentally generate the shortest X-ray pulses ever observed

X-ray beams aren’t used just by doctors to see inside your body and tell whether you have a broken bone. More powerful beams made up of very short flashes of X-rays can help scientists peer into the structure of individual atoms and molecules and differentiate types of elements.

But getting an X-ray laser beam that delivers super short flashes to capture the fastest processes in nature isn’t easy – it’s a whole science in itself.

Radio waves, microwaves, the visible light you can see, ultraviolet light, and X-rays are all exactly the same phenomenon: electromagnetic waves of energy moving through space. What differentiates them is their wavelength. Waves in the X-ray range have short wavelengths, while radio waves and microwaves are much longer.

Different wavelengths of light are useful for different things. X-rays help doctors take snapshots of your body, while microwaves can heat up your lunch.
https://www.sott.net/article/502447-Team-of-physicists-accidentally-generate-the-shortest-X-ray-pulses-ever-observed

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