The most recent discovery by MIT is the self healing properties of metal. Imagine combining that with a robot with artificial intelligence. The T100 is getting real!

The concept metal repairs itself by extending. The exact type of force that snapped it in half in the first place can also be used to repair it. According to professor Michael Demkowicz:

“We had to go back and check. Instead of extending, [the crack] was closing up. First, we figured out that, indeed, nothing was wrong. The next question was: ‘Why is this happening?’”

Demkowicz and MIT grad student Guoqiang Xu actually discovered that this was just the tip of the iceberg. Their findings suggested that there is a mechanism which metal can heal its cracks under any applied stress.

In more practical applications, could discoveries like this birth new construction techniques? Very interesting!

Via MIT News