The Device in Your Junk Drawer Contains Real Gold. Scientists Just Found a Way to Get It Out With Cheese Waste

ETH Zurich researchers led by professor Raffaele Mezzenga developed a whey-protein amyloid aerogel that pulls gold ions out of acid-dissolved electronic waste.

In lab tests, the team recovered a 450-milligram nugget of 22-carat gold from metal parts taken from 20 old computer motherboards, with the work published in 2024 in Advanced Materials. The timing matters […]