AI-powered robots help tackle Europe’s growing e-waste problem

Just outside the historic German town of Goslar, a sprawling industrial complex receives an endless stream of discarded electronics. On arrival, this electronic waste is laboriously prepared for recycling.  Electrocycling GmbH is one of the largest e-waste recycling facilities in Europe. Every year, it processes up to 80 000 tonnes of electronic waste, which comes in […]

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Taking the heat off: breakthrough cooling technology tackles climate challenge

As a young engineering student contemplating the direction of his doctoral research, Jaka Tušek knew he wanted to push the boundaries of science. “I wanted to work on breakthroughs, tackle something new that hasn’t been done before.” Today, the Slovenian researcher is on the cusp of the first major breakthrough in cooling technologies in the […]

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More comfort, less carbon: Clearing hurdles to deep building renovation across Europe

Dr Marika Rošā, an expert on energy efficiency from the Technical University in Riga, wishes that everyone would just stop talking about it. “I think the term energy efficiency shouldn’t be used anymore because people don’t care about it.”  Her colleague Nicholas Stancioff, the founder of NGO Ēkubirojs, which is behind the so-called deep renovation of […]

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Pain and perception – exploring the mind-body connection in treating chronic pain

In a small room at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, a woman wearing a virtual reality headset is busy stacking virtual books onto a virtual bookcase. Every time she bends down, electrodes deliver a sharp zap of electricity to her lower back under the watchful eyes of a researcher tracking her performance, reactions and eye […]

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