  The neutron capture cross section of the unstable s-process branching nucleus
185W has been derived from experimental data of the inverse 186W(g,n)185W
photodisintegration taken with monochromatic photon beams from laser Compton
scattering. The result of sigma = 553 +- 60 mb at kT = 30 keV leads to a
relatively high effective neutron density in the classical s-process of N_n =
4.7 \times 10^8 cm^-3. A realistic model for the s-process in thermally pulsing
AGB stars overestimates the abundance of 186Os significantly because of the
relatively small neutron capture cross section of 185W.
