Research in Germany

Konradsreuth/Hof, Germany – After two and a half years of intensive research and development, the project partners of the RecyTube research project drew a positive conclusion at the end of June during a final meeting at Rohleder in Konradsreuth. Funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, the project aimed to transform textile production waste into high-quality new materials and applications, thereby opening up new pathways for a sustainable circular economy in the textile industry. Although the project has now officially concluded, many of its developments and ideas will continue to be pursued in the coming months.

The number of burn accidents rises in summer. These often result in serious injuries. To ensure your barbecue evening doesn’t end in disaster, there are a few rules you should follow. The director of the Lower Saxony Centre for Severe Burn Injuries at the MHH explains where the dangers lie and what to do in an emergency

- TUM researchers are using drones on the Aeolian island of Vulcano and on Mount Etna to measure gases above volcanic fields. - The measurements produce a map showing gas concentrations at each location. - The ratio of carbon dioxide to sulfur dioxide is an important indicator of impending eruptions.

Many companies rely on AI for recruitment. A new study shows that job applicants mostly trust the avatars conducting their interviews – but only until they receive a rejection. How fair this decision is perceived to be depends on the avatars’ identity characteristics. The test subjects who felt treated the most unfairly were not those who differed most from the avatar – but rather those who matched it in either gender or skin color.

Worldwide, discarded electronic toys, computers, or smartphones are becoming increasingly massive amounts of electronic waste. The basis for electronic circuits are printed circuit boards (PCB), which are typically made of glass fiber-reinforced fossil epoxy resin, making them difficult to recycle, let alone biodegrade. A team from TU Bergakademie Freiberg has now presented a fully compostable alternative made from the mycelium of the Aspergillus niger fungus, a byproduct of industrial citric acid production.

Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), together with Wismut GmbH and Spanish scientists from the University of Granada, have demonstrated for the first time that bacteria can convert uranium dissolved in water into a stable chemical compound when they have access to glycerol as a food source. In the process, uranium assumes a chemical state that had only previously been known as a transient state. The results have been published in the journal Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-72560-z) and are relevant to future research on the use of bacteria for environmental remediation.