When one thinks of a robot, the first association is probably a machine made of metal - or for some perhaps even modern robots in plastic housing or even with artificial skin. But you probably don't associate muscles with the machine. An international team of researchers has now developed artificial muscles that enable robots to move. The special highlight: the muscles are biobased and biodegradable.

Stability is probably the most important property of concrete. Reinforcements with steel or synthetic fibers serve to give the building material even more stability. But neither steel nor glass or carbon fibers are ecologically sustainable. A team of researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research (WKI) and Biberach University of Applied Sciences has now investigated whether natural fibers could be an alternative.

Do you know the smell of rapeseed fields? If so, then you know what indole smells like. Not only rapeseed produces this characteristic smelling molecule, but many microorganisms use it in their metabolism. In order for the microorganisms to form important compounds from it, they must first activate the indole. This is done by an enzyme called indole monooxygenase. Researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the University of Leipzig have now studied the structure and interaction of this enzyme with its substrate and the cofactor required for the reaction.

A sustainable bioeconomy pursues the goal of utilizing biomass as completely as possible while realizing as many material uses as possible. Usually, this is done in several successive processes that are bundled in biorefineries. But there is another way: with so-called torrefaction, a variety of products can be generated from biomass in just one step. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) have developed such a process. In Estonia, a start-up now tests the process in a first industrial-scale prototype.

Fallen leaves are an important habitat and food for millions of microorganisms. But contrary to previous assumptions, they are largely insignificant for life below the surface. An international team of researchers led by the University of Göttingen has now been able to show that the number of soil organisms depends crucially on whether there are living roots and their metabolic products.

It is not only Bundesliga clubs that rely on artificial turf for their playing surfaces. Smaller clubs also prefer the low-maintenance and weather-independent material and are making the necessary investments. There are already around 9,000 artificial turf pitches in Germany. But these have so far been based on fossil raw materials and contribute to microplastics entering the environment. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has calculated that artificial turf pitches in Europe are responsible for 16,000 tons of microplastics in the environment every year.

Whether in cosmetics, detergents or cleaning agents: Surfactants can be found in many products. Today, however, the molecules should not only be more effective and skin-friendly than in the past, but also biodegradable and produced from renewable raw materials. Researchers in the LipoPep joint project have taken up these challenges. Under the leadership of TH Köln, research has been conducted over the past three years into how renewable raw materials from native plants such as lupins, sunflowers and rapeseed can be used to produce surfactants.