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+--- Thread: Glass where Cracks Heal Themselves (/thread-4704.html)
Glass where Cracks Heal Themselves - Yazata - Dec 28, 2017
From the U. of Tokyo, in Japan. It's glass made out of something called polyether thiourea (sounds organic) rather than more common mineral glass. When it's broken, the broken surfaces re-form chemical bonds and cracks in the glass heal. Just hold the broken pieces together and the crack goes away. The healed cracks are strong too and can take almost as much stress as unbroken glass.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/self-healing-glass-cracking-discovery-japan-030226371.html
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2017/12/13/science.aam7588.full
(Subsequent edit: thiourea is organic. It's urea with a sulfur atom instead of an oxygen atom. Chemists use it in organic symtheses.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiourea
RE: Glass where Cracks Heal Themselves - C C - Jan 5, 2018
The most distant forecast of smart and self-repairing materials would seem to desire us engulfed in an artificial environment that exhibits pseudo-biological capacities. Almost akin to those very early-era cartoons where buildings, cars, and household appliances have animated faces and could interact with the talking bipedal cats, dogs, pigs, etc; and mend themselves or escape danger if need arises.
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RE: Glass where Cracks Heal Themselves - Zinjanthropos - Jan 5, 2018
philosophical question: Is something that fixes itself truly unbreakable?