SELF-HEALING WITHOUT INTERVENTION

There are many movies where there is some sort of self-healing goo that comes from a spray can enabling the Sci Fi hero to gets lasered or slashed and yet keep going. What do you think, possible, or impossible. Well, we humans will still have to wait awhile, but scientists in Spain are now reporting the existence of a self-healing polymer that without any intervention heals itself. This assists the lifetime of plastic parts both in manufacturing parts such as electrical components and also for personal use in homes.

While I do not usually shine a light on topics below the exosphere, I do if there are benefits that reach out into the universe. In this case, there are. You are a space explorer who is stationed at the first colony on Mars. There is a huge collapse in the underground housing being developed and the only person with surgical experience is beside you when the beam comes down and slashes you both open. Let’s assume we have ion propulsion, Earth is still about 45 days away but both of you are going to bleed out. Enter a can of fix-it! Just spray it on the skin and it self-seals the damaged area until such time as it scn be slowly dealt with.

With some upgrades it may eventually help you grow a new whatever part was damaged, repair internal damage etc., but first this invention and its concepts need to be applied to a more human need. Consider the strides we have made in recent years with meta-materials. Achieving some combinations never believed to be possible. (I am speaking of the Strength & Durability – combine to form a TRUE bullet-proof material!) Self-healing polymers that can achieve instant healing without the introduction of a catalyst of any kind are bound to offer us some sort of map!

Scientists managed to prepare these ‘elastomers’ from common polymeric starting materials and for minimal cost.

So what are we talking about? How much healing actually occurs? There is a video that displays the regeneration that occurs. With a 97% healing efficiency after a sample being cut in two by a razor blade, the polymer is seen behaving much like a Velcro sealant or adhesive. And check this out, the material can be stretched (manually) but it won’t break.

While this break though is so advanced it is Sci Fi, it is the ability to arrive at one incredible discovery that should push us on to the inevitable next!

.