READ MOREHealing chemicals arrive via capillaries (the red and blue vertical lines) and form a gel that seals the gap
A new plastic that "heals itself" has been designed, meaning your cracked phone screen or broken tennis racquet could mend its own wounds.
The polymer automatically patches holes 3cm wide, 100 times bigger than before.
Inspired by the human blood clotting system, it contains a network of capillaries that deliver healing chemicals to damaged areas.
The new material, created by engineers at the University of Illinois, isdescribed in Science journal.
For decades scientists have dreamed of plastics that heal themselves like human skin.
Cracks in water pipes and car bonnets would seal up. Satellites could repair their own damage. Broken electronic chips in laptops and mobile phones would spontaneously sort out their own problems.
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