Easy Repair: Novel structural model heals with heat
The capacity of biological tissues to heal after being wounded is one of their most enviable traits. In recent years, materials scientists have been trying to emulate this capability by developing synthetic self-healing or easily mendable materials for products ranging from aerospace parts to athletic gear (SN: 2/17/01, p. 101: Scientists develop self-healing composites).
Now, Mila Boncheva and George Whitesides of Harvard University are tapping the vertebral spine for inspiration. Using millimeter-scale polymer beads for vertebrae and thin elastic threads for muscles and ligaments, the researchers have created spinelike structures that can deform drastically, even become damaged, yet still return to their original forms. The researchers describe two of these structures in the June 16 Angewandte Chemie International Edition.