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Self-healing rubber bounces back

news.bbc.co.uk — A material that is able to self-repair even when it is sliced in two has been invented by French researchers.

Who dugg this? Made popular Feb 21, 2008

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  • rabidmonkey1, on 02/21/2008, -3/+44This just in: Scientist Invents Silly Putty
  • FTLJohnson, on 02/21/2008, -1/+38Flubber?
  • ablacksunrise, on 02/21/2008, -1/+31"So tell us Ludwik... how'd you come up with this?"

    "Well... I was peeing into some vegetable oil one day...."
  • yelnatz, on 02/21/2008, -3/+20One step closer to Skynet.
  • scootscr15, on 02/21/2008, -1/+14Children don't break their toys because the plastic they're made out of is shatter prone. The toys break due to poor quality joints or their extreme "blow-up-ability."
  • BuzzLightyear, on 02/21/2008, -1/+13Look at me still talking when there's science to do.
  • roadnottaken, on 02/21/2008, -1/+11Actually, that would be a *very* good use. Maybe condoms would "break" less often.
  • Yousei, on 02/21/2008, -1/+11I knew my urine collection was going to be worth something one of these days!
  • inactive, on 02/21/2008, -1/+10note:
    blowupabilty is measured in YV (yellow vans) with 1YV corresponding to the propensity to blow up an unmarked yellow van.

    most toys childrens toys today have been shown experimentally to have blowupability levels exceeding 9000 YV or more.
  • xdoppelgangerx, on 02/21/2008, -3/+11Best news about broken rubbers to date!
  • andyroo316, on 02/21/2008, -0/+6But you drink a component found in urine every single day. Nature is 'disgusting' if you look at it through a magnifying glass (literally and metaphorically), but drinking water won't ever harm you. And wearing this material won't harm you either - and if it ever gets to the public, you can be sure as hell it won't smell of anything whatsoever, just like every other piece of clothing you own.
  • 471776, on 02/21/2008, -0/+6They substitute the covalent bonding which occurs in normal rubber with hydrogen bonds. Covalent bonds are strong intra-molecular forces, whereas hydrogen bonds are weaker inter-molecular forces. However, several hydrogen bonds could potentially form between several small molecules, as opposed to fewer covalent bonds in large molecules.

    With this form of rubber, the small molecules themselves are not broken, just separated. This allows them to merge back together, much like water (which also owes it's properties to hydrogen bonding). It just takes longer because rubber is a solid instead of a liquid.

    Well, that's my take on it anyway.
  • lucutus, on 02/21/2008, -0/+5A rubber that heals it's self after it broke would be pointless. The damage is done, she's pregnant, your infected, and who would re-use a recently healed, slightly used rubber anyway? J/K
  • localzuk, on 02/21/2008, -0/+5That pet concern of the media is the pet concern of a huge number of people - myself included. Europe is quite keen on being green...
  • smurfsahoy, on 02/21/2008, -0/+5I would assume that the surface is treated with some sort of finishing process that seals it. Then when you slice it in half, only the fresh, unsealed surfaces can re bond.
  • tooli, on 02/21/2008, -0/+4nice invention, but why make the movie clip look like it's from 1912?
  • piratearggghhh, on 02/21/2008, -1/+5Chewing gum of the future in the most anticipated flavor.
  • androo002345, on 02/21/2008, -0/+4Joe: But, what's it made from?
    FTA: "...is made from vegetable oil and a component of urine."
    Joe: Urine. Wait...what?
  • inactive, on 02/21/2008, -0/+3Forget rubber, I want body parts doing that.....
  • brodieface, on 02/21/2008, -0/+3Blu Tack does this.
  • inactive, on 02/21/2008, -2/+5seems like a great idea, but what keeps it from "bonding" where it's not supposed to?

    if you accidentally left that strand in a crumpled heap on the floor, it seems like it would just merge into a useless tangled mass.
  • lintmonkey, on 02/21/2008, -0/+3And that guy over there is a new type of material that, when cut in half, joins back together like new. Go try it!
  • gummih, on 02/21/2008, -0/+3Exactly, but they are french so they'll call it Royal Putty Deluxe
  • chingy1788, on 02/21/2008, -1/+4urine is supposedly sterile...
  • Bojimha, on 06/09/2008, -0/+3I want a suit like Venom's made out of this stuff!
  • Terr01, on 02/21/2008, -0/+3Except in the case of the movie industry, which has adopted a car-based measurement based on a sedan with a near-empty gas tank travelling at 20 mph and hitting a fence post and instantly exploding into a glowing fireball visible for miles.

    Measures to reconcile the two systems by standards organizations (the Metric Kiloboom) have so far been resisted by their respective industries.
  • omnithought, on 02/21/2008, -0/+3Hmmm....getting nearer to self-healing skin. Where's John Connor?
  • lucutus, on 02/21/2008, -0/+3There may also be a time element involved in the only a fresh cut/break can heal but once exposed to air it cures after a while.
  • fatlip, on 02/21/2008, -0/+2anyone have a youtube mirror? stupid ***** BBC is the furthest thing from linux friendly there is
  • BillDoE, on 02/21/2008, -0/+2"Children are always breaking their toys. Wouldn't it be nice if you could put them back together so easily? "
    Yeah, but it's not so good when small parts break off and get swallowed. There may be some use for this, but toys? Nah.
  • inactive, on 02/21/2008, -1/+3I'm rubber, you're glue...
  • surKaz, on 02/21/2008, -0/+2@ stupiddumb.. Once?
  • lintmonkey, on 02/21/2008, -0/+2in-cre-dih-blay?
  • steviedee, on 02/21/2008, -0/+2I didn't know Robin Williams was French...
  • omenmedia, on 02/21/2008, -0/+2Dude, thanks for the laugh, seriously.
  • Sprung, on 02/21/2008, -0/+2W.....T.....F?
  • TBNK, on 02/21/2008, -0/+2Yea, I remember playing with playdough as a kid too...
  • 471776, on 02/21/2008, -0/+2That was me. Used to be a chem student.
  • DavidGX, on 02/21/2008, -1/+3Got something about your childhood YOU'D like to share?
  • augmental, on 02/21/2008, -0/+1RUBBER BUNS AND LIQUOR!!!!!
  • iguanapunk, on 02/21/2008, -0/+1Incrediblé! I hope they use this technology for condoms. Finally they will be 100% child proof.
  • ciriarte, on 02/21/2008, -0/+1Ohh look, it's a cute T-1000 made of rubber trying to kill me!
  • surKaz, on 02/21/2008, -0/+1Dugg for rhyming... "keen on being green".. Catchy. Could be a slogan.
  • maexus, on 02/21/2008, -0/+1Water stretches?
  • Stupidumb, on 02/21/2008, -0/+1So does water, the only problem is that it is not rubber.
  • Musicmonkey34, on 02/21/2008, -0/+1I hope the zombies dont get ahold of this re-attaching technology...
  • inactive, on 02/21/2008, -0/+1Long live Flubber!
  • Xocide, on 02/21/2008, -0/+1Big whoop...
  • lintmonkey, on 02/21/2008, -0/+1No, they only put the hands on the inside.
  • surKaz, on 02/21/2008, -0/+1Yes. Bleh. He's french.
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