A dragonfly unfolds its wings and whirrs off. A little further on, a butterfly spreads its wings and glides through the air. Both animals have learned to fly through evolution, but with different techniques. "This fascinated me even as a child," Harald Luksch remembers. "When I was a boy, I was outdoors a lot. At that time there was a desire to understand more about nature".
Every person in Germany drinks about 150 liters of coffee per year. And everyone prepares their coffee in a different way. Word has gotten around: Coffee is not just coffee. When exposed to air, coffee, whether powder or beans, loses its aroma and taste. In order to preserve both as fully as possible, the capsule was invented. In it, the coffee powder is hermetically sealed and can be stored in portions.
If it were up to Andrea Kruse, every farmer would have his own biorefinery. Waste materials such as grass, straw or wood would be broken down into their components in a mini plant and converted into new products such as platform chemicals. The idea of the Hohenheim chemist is by no means utopian. Such an on-farm plant was inaugurated at the end of October on the site of the experimental station at the University of Hohenheim on Unteren Lindenhof. "We still need about three years before all teething troubles are resolved.
Last summer, heat and drought have afflicted farmers in many places and caused enormous harvest losses. The damage caused to farmers in Germany was estimated by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture at 770 million euros.
Extreme weather conditions make plants more susceptible to disease and pest infestation. This also endangers wheat production in Germany and large parts of Europe.
For a long time, washing was the most energy- and time-consuming work in the household. Washing was done in a lye made of ash - ash, because the non-water-soluble substances mechanically helped scrubbing. In addition, the combination of water and ash produces a corrosive solution that causes the fibres to swell and decomposes the fats.
"Bio-based" sounds like a good thing to most people. However, regarding biofuels this has been the topic of heated discussions for many years now. Environmental economist Ruth Delzeit has been involved in this topic in one way or another since the beginning of her research career - and it has been a transformative experience, especially once she recognized how some politicians and journalists deal with research findings.
Nail polish in its present form is significantly more recent. Only in the 20's of the last century it became fashionable, inspired by the invention of the automobile lacquer. In fact, in the beginning, the same paint was simply used for cars and nails. A lot has changed in the meantime. The demands have increased. Nail varnishes should not only look beautiful, they should also keep the nails healthy.