Very rarely, a major innovation can come about by accident or mistake.
This phenomenon is called serendipity and has brought us one of the most revolutionary products of our time.
Are we talking about the French Tarte Tatin, the famous upside-down apple tart discovered by accident by the Tatin sisters?
No, as delicious as it might be, it’s not Tarte Tatin we’re talking about here – it’s the work of a student at the university of Tokyo.
While preparing a glue, Yu Yanagisawa concocted a new miraculous material: self-healing glass.
Although similar self-healing materials already exist, they need a temperature of at least 120°C to work.
This new polymer – known as polyether-thioureas – regenerates when it is simply pressed together by hand for 30 seconds.
The major challenge was to combine high mechanical robustness with healing ability, which our young student managed to do without even trying.
So go ahead and make mistakes – you never know, you might be an undiscovered genius!
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