Salmon Sperm and Recycling REEs

2014-05-04 13.35.12What a quirky and exciting development for sustainability: a way to extract and recycle the rare earth elements we need for green technologies, like wind turbines.

It’s time to scrape that salmon semen off your plate, because it’s got a much better use than tickling your taste buds (yes, fish sperm is actually a delicacy in Japan). This unusual magical ingredient could help us extract and recycle rare earth elements from ore and a variety of other materials, such as magnets or old electronics. Not only would this process be significantly cheaper than traditional chemical extraction methods, but it’s also much better for the environment.

Read more: Salmon Sperm Could Help Us Recycle Rare Earth Elements | IFLScience.