New materials will replace magnets made of scarce rare earth metals Hard disks, but also many other electronic components can not do without rare earth magnets. © Kerrik / istock Read out Instead of neodymium and Co: New magnetic materials could replace high-tech magnets made of rare-earth metals in the future.

Shredding smartphones contains the contained quantities of valuable raw materials A cell phone is shredded in the blender - to determine its content of precious metals. © University of Plymouth Read out Brachial method: When a mobile phone is shredded in a blender, that is not always sensationalism - it can also serve research.

Calcium carbonate forms a previously unknown hydrous crystal variant The newly discovered calcium carbonate hemihydrate forms tiny acicular crystals. © Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces / Zhaoyong Zou Read out Surprise at the Allerwelts Mineral: Researchers have discovered a previously unknown crystal form of lime.

Online tool shows correlation of local NO2 levels with traffic emissions A new online calculator shows local nitrogen oxide levels and the necessary reductions in traffic emissions © Forschungszentrum Jülich Read out More insight in the value jungle: With an online tool, you can now look up how high the nitrogen oxide emissions are at your place of residence - for each measuring point.

Scanner makes burial mounds of woodchucks visible under the bark Here the drills of the book printer (Ips typographus) are clearly visible, but in the forest the infestation is often recognized too late. A new Teraherzt scanner could help. © DavorLovincic / iStock Read out Help in the fight against the wood pest: In the future, an infestation of trees by bark beetles could be detected easier and faster - using a portable terahertz scanner.

Biomolecules are more effective and stable than previous technical solutions By combining different peptide molecules, digital information can be encoded - and this molecule storage could be more effective and durable than current data storage. © Michael J. Fink Read out A teaspoon full of world knowledge: In the future, the knowledge of entire libraries could be stored in particularly stable biomolecules - in peptides.

Mobile device analyzes the shelf life of meat, vegetables and co Are the tomatoes still edible? This could betray a small scanner in the future. © Fraunhofer IOSB Read out Can you still eat that? Answers to this frequently asked question could be provided by a small food scanner in the future. The device developed in Germany uses infrared analyzes to determine whether a product is still durable - or belongs to the bin.

Educational system reconstructs intelligible acoustic language from brainwaves A new AI system translates brain signals into audible, understandable language © Metamorworks / iStock Read out Speech from Brain Signals: Researchers have developed a system that translates a human's thoughts into audible and understandable language.

Nanocellulose hydrogel as a device for biomedical implants The framework for a new ear - from the 3-D printer © Empa Read out Printed implant: In future, a hydrogel from the 3D printer could form scaffolds for medical implants - for example, cartilage replacement in ears or knee joints. The new implant scaffolds are made of nanocellulose, a material derived from wood.

Demonstration plant demonstrates practical feasibility of sun-to-liquid technology This solar panel provides the energy for the conversion of CO2 and water from the air to synthesis gas. © ETH Zurich / Alessandro Della Bella Read out It only requires sunlight and air: on the roof of ETH Zurich, a solar refinery produces high-energy synthesis gas only from sunlight and air - and demonstrates the practical feasibility of this "sun-to-liquid" technology.

Nanogold converts CO2 into methane and desalinates seawater - only with the help of sunlight Nanogold-filled beads not only absorb sunlight extremely effectively, they could also catalyze the conversion of CO2 into methane. © Royal Society of Chemistry / Chemical Science Read out Gold can convert CO2 into the fuel methane - only with the help of water and sunlight, as an experiment shows.

Where did the uranium dusts of the Nazi nuclear program come from? This is one of the 664 uranium cubes used by Heisenberg and his team in Haigerloch's experimental reactor in 1945. But where was the rest? © John T. Consoli / University of Maryland Read out Lost legacy of the German nuclear project: When the Allies dismantled the Nazi test reactor in Haigerloch in 1945, they took along a large part of the uranium cubes.

Heating with activated charcoal converts plastic residues into kerosene and diesel Plastic refuse kerosene could improve the carbon footprint of the fuel and reduce the waste problem. © Chalabala / iStock Read out PET bottle becomes aviation fuel: Researchers have found a way to produce aviation fuel and diesel fuel from PET bottles and other plastic waste.

New synthetic route effectively converts cellulose into high-performance fuel So far, aircraft mostly fill up with kerosene. But a new bio-fuel from plant remains could soon become economically competitive. © Chalabala / iStock) Read out Airborne biofuel: Researchers have developed a synthetic route that produces high-performance fuel for aircraft from plant waste - from straw, corn stalks or sawdust.

Thermoelectric material could power portable electronics and smart wear Do fitness armbands soon lack rechargeable batteries? BsWei / thinkstock Read out Instead of battery or battery: Researchers have developed a material that can only generate electricity by using body heat. Its cotton fabric and a conductive polymer exploits the temperature difference between the skin and its surroundings, generating voltages of around 20 millivolts through thermoelectric effects

For the first time, physicists unambiguously prove a supercontest body With this experimental setup Stuttgart physicists have for the first time generated a supercontest body - a superposition of crystal and superfluid. © University of Stuttgart, Wolfram Scheible Read out Finally proven: physicists have for the first time created an exotic state of matter in which material is solid and superfluous at the same time.

Exotic nickel compounds could indicate a whole new class of superconductors By deliberately transforming a perovskite nickel oxide into a new, strontium-containing crystal structure, the researchers generated a new kind of supralreiter. © Danfeng Li / SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University Read out Exotic crystal: Researchers have first demonstrated superconducting properties in a nickel oxide.

New workshops for girls at the science center experimenta in Heilbronn Girls are excited about the natural sciences and the Girls Day workshops are scheduled to take place in the Science Center experimenta in Heilbronn. © experimenta gGmbH Read out Sometimes without boys: with the Girls 'Day Academy and the Girls' Day College, the Experimenta Science Center in Heilbronn specifically promotes girls in science and technology.

technology Physicists have also discovered particles from four quarks at CERN near Geneva and at Fermilab in the USA. Fermilab Read out Particle physicists are discovering more and more exotic particles with more than three quarks © iStock / scinexx Growth in the particle zoo In Search of the Secret of Tetraquark and Co The smallest building blocks of matter give up puzzles - today more than ever.

In Search of the Secret of Tetraquark and Co Particle physicists are discovering more and more exotic particles with more than three quarks iStock / scinexx Read out The smallest building blocks of matter give up puzzles - today more than ever. For just in recent years, physicists have discovered some subatomic particles that do not fit into the usual scheme