Ludwik Leibler and a team of scientists at the Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Education Institution in Paris have created a new kind of self-healing rubber. The material, made from fatty acids and urea, stretches like your old fashioned mom and pop rubber, but when it snaps, it can fuse itself back together using hydrogen bonds. The applications for such a material are myriad. Not only could it be used in breakable toys or as an adhesive, but it would also make for an invincible superweapon in the arsenal of any elementary school bully. Also, it could be used to make an alternately safe and terribly unsafe brand of condom. More details here.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Super Rubber
