Polymer, Heal Thyself

Now this is real science. No genome cracking here, no search for aliens that may not even exist. We're not even talking astronomical events light years from home - as if that's important. No, what we have here is something with a real and immediate

Now this is real science. No genome cracking here, no search for aliens that may not even exist. We're not even talking astronomical events light years from home - as if that's important. No, what we have here is something with a real and immediate benefit to humanity. Plastic that can heal itself.

Researchers at the University of Illinois in the US have finally attained their dream, a way to make rents in plastic and similar materials heal themselves without outside intervention. Basically it's a two part process. As the plastic breaks, the fracture causes micro-capsules suspended in the plastic to also break and release a monomer into the polymer matrix. Embedded alongside the capsules is a newly invented catalyst that causes the polymerisation process to begin, and there you have it - as the plastic breaks it reseals itself.

The applications are endless - car bumpers that fix themselves, airframes resistant to micro-fractures, spacecraft parts that don't need expensive maintenance, and sex toys that can last a lifetime.