ORLANDO, Fla. — A group at the University of Central Florida hopes their research makes cars less alluring to crooks stealing pricey catalytic converters from cars.

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At UCF, catalytic converters have been a focus for the police department. They had a string of thieves ripping off the car parts for the expensive, precious metals inside UCF.

In 2022, public data shows that, nationwide, thefts were 540% higher than all of 2020.

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As a result, UCF researchers are working to lessen the metals needed in the car parts, and get the same results using just single atoms of platinum.

See the full story in the video above.

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VIDEO: UCF police crack down on catalytic converter thefts with new initiative VIDEO: UCF police crack down on catalytic converter thefts with new initiative (Alexa Lorenzo, WFTV.com/WFTV)

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