Self-healing concrete

CONCRETE is known for being strong and has been used for building as far back as 2000 years ago by the Romans! However, there is one weakness in concrete … cracks!

Cracks occur in concrete as it dries which allows water and chemicals to seep in and corrode the structure and also weaken the stability. For such a solution, researchers at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have come up with their invention of self-healing concrete!

Researchers discovered bacteria which could survive in harsh conditions until coming into contact with water as well as producing spores without food or oxygen for almost 200 years!

When moisture hits the bacteria, and with the help of calcium lactate, it transforms into a calcite (an ingredient in limestone) which helps mend the cracks. This bacteria and calcium lactate are packed into tiny capsules and then mixed into the concrete.

This self-healing concrete will be available to the world for the first time later this year, however, its price will be high but to cut the cost, scientists are now trying to create a solution using sugar instead of the calcium lactate.

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HAVE you ever seen a two-toned lobster? No, no one has seen it until it became the internet sensation a few days back and the world got to know about this rare two-toned lobster which has been caught off the coast of Maine.

The lobster is part orange, part brown, and could be close to ‘one of a kind,’ according to some researchers.

The rare catch was discovered in a tank at the Pine Point Fishermen’s Co-Op in Scarborough. It resembles a split lobster, which is typically orange on one side and brown on the other, split down the middle. But this one has a unique pattern. Only its tail is split down the middle. Its body is all brown. One claw is orange, and one claw is brown.

According to research by the Lobster Institute, the chance of finding a split-coloured lobster is one in 50 million. The institute reports that only the albino lobster is rarer, with the chances of catching it at one in 100 million.