Various models were used by or for federal agencies to process data on fallout shelters, atmospheric pollutants, medical records, postal mail volume, and other surveys. The machines also were used to scan microfilms of archival weather data and special films made in underwater instruments. Among census-related applications, the machines collected data on which the nation's unemployment figures were based for more than 30 years. The technology is used, for example, to analyze protein structures as a basis for designing new drugs. But back in 1961, this research tool was little more than a curiosity outside of NIST, where the first regular experiments using synchrotron light were carried out.
Synchrotron radiation is emitted by electrons that are accelerated in a magnetic field.
In the early 1950s, NIST found itself with an electron accelerator that another federal lab did not want. The results startled scientists around the world and influenced the direction of atomic physics for some time. The research also affected fields such as astrophysics, where the new processes had to be taken into account in stellar models. Perhaps most importantly, Madden and Codling proved how useful synchrotron radiation could be. An upgraded SURF remains in operation today, supporting work by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the microelectronics industry.