Materials That Repair Themselves

Intelligent materials that repair themselves? Nissan has just come out with an automobile paint for its new X-Trail SUV that can heal itself of minor scratches. Imagine many other applications of this idea of "self-repair" to a multitude of other materials, situations, systems.

• clothing
• metals
• home siding
• flooring
• glass, esp. windshields

Or extend the idea a little like the military is doing with future battlefield uniforms, to "repair" the thing contained by the materials. Future military uniforms may "respond" to rips and punctures by administering first aid compounds to help wounds clot or inject antidotes in case of chemical or biological attacks. And what about metal fatigue in aircraft bodies.