X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHY OF NON-CRYSTALS has been carried out by a group at Stony Brook. X rays have long been used to determine the structure of crystalline objects: when the waves strike periodic arrays of atoms or molecules the waves diffract into patterns which, when analyzed by Fourier-transformation algorithms, provide a map of the sample's structure with approximately angstrom resolution. In the Stony Brook experiment x rays are shone onto a non-crystalline micron-sized specimen (a tiny array of letters spelled out with 100-nm gold nanoparticles). By pushing the algorithms a bit, images could be formed from the x rays scattered from this patently non-crystal object. The resolution, about 75 nm, is not nearly as good as for traditional x-ray crystallography, but still much better than could be achieved with visible light. The researchers believe their method can be applied to imaging biological specimens at the level of cells or even subcelluar objects. (Miao et al., Nature, 22 July 1999.)