A urinely,Why not use it to make children's toys? Children are always breaking their toys.

February 20, 2008 7:02 PM

What do you get when you mix vegetable oil and urine? No, it's not tome fetish -- well, not yet, anyway. It's self-healing rubber, of course. (Via.)
posted by Astro Zombie (33 comments total)

Tome? I don't know what that means either. I meant "a new."
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:03 PM on February 20

Vegetable oil + urine + video camera + internet access = profit
posted by Balisong at 7:06 PM on February 20

Cool! (I love the Beeb's science coverage.)
posted by GrammarMoses at 7:09 PM on February 20

From tires to condoms, this could revolutionize the world.

"Just piss on it!" will be the new mantra.
posted by Balisong at 7:09 PM on February 20

Artificial ligaments are gonna be awesome.
posted by oddman at 7:09 PM on February 20

"Children are always breaking their toys. Wouldn't it be nice if you could put them back together so easily?"

Children also get their (broken) toys dirty. Somehow I suspect this would interrupt the healing process. How could you keep the toy's molecules from bonding with lint, slobber, etc.? Still cool, though.
posted by heatherann at 7:11 PM on February 20

Well that is just really cool.
posted by nola at 7:12 PM on February 20

Did you mean to link here?
posted by googly at 7:16 PM on February 20

AZ, how'd you get 'tome' from 'a new'?
posted by item at 7:16 PM on February 20

'Tome' means something like 'book'.
posted by pompomtom at 7:19 PM on February 20

I think I may have meant "some," now that I look at it.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:23 PM on February 20

This reminds me of that scene in Blood Meridian when the Judge makes gunpowder. If only he'd known about the rubber, there could have been a whole other scene.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:28 PM on February 20 [2 favorites]

This would make a great stash case for jenkem.
posted by whir at 7:30 PM on February 20

Is this different from cold welding?
posted by Anything at 7:59 PM on February 20

Man, I was hoping it was literally just vegetable oil + pee because I was going to start experimenting tonight.
posted by LeeJay at 8:14 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]

I love the Beeb's science coverage.

Really? Or are you being sarcastic? I hope it's the latter. I hate how sloppy and simplified their coverage is. I know there's a lot of bad science journalism, but theirs is some of the worst. For example:

The as-yet-unnamed material - a form of artificial rubber - is made from vegetable oil and a component of urine.

Really? That's it? Care to tell us what that compound is, or are the masses to stupid to know? Turns out it's urea, the nitrogen of which is important for this technology to work. A couple of other articles mention this, but not The Beeb.

Then, the rest of the article is full of nondescript analogies like "tiny hands," which totally sidestep the issues of presenting some fairly simple (at least, to get a superficial understanding of) science. Just googling a bit, I found a couple of better links: Xin-Hua gives a bit of an explanation as to how it actually works, and drops some science terms that an interested person could google to get a better understanding (not sure if this story is a reprint from elsewhere). Ars Technica also explains a little of the science behind it, and provides a little bit of context as to why this is novel. They also get major bonus points for linking to the abstract.
posted by !Jim at 8:42 PM on February 20 [5 favorites]

What is all this SCIENCE you speak of? I want tiny hands!
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:51 PM on February 20

[I] are the masses to stupid to know? Turns out it's urea, the nitrogen of which is important for this technology to work. [/I]

You don't want the masses messing around with urea. Mix it with some diesel fuel and BOOM!
posted by Balisong at 8:56 PM on February 20

I used to quote SCIENCE, but then I was silenced all my life.
posted by never used baby shoes at 8:58 PM on February 20

Is there anything urine can't do?
posted by Sailormom at 9:11 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]

I wonder what Stephen Hawking would say about somethin that once broken, rejoins anew?
posted by samsara at 9:13 PM on February 20

They should call it Serious Putty.
posted by Citizen Premier at 9:15 PM on February 20 [6 favorites]

So how easy would this be to make at home?
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:32 PM on February 20

Gotta tell you... just tried it, and... not so hot. Well, it's hot burning, but not hot hot.
posted by 80onelove at 9:39 PM on February 20

Ureaka!
posted by Tube at 9:50 PM on February 20 [3 favorites]

This is fantastic news. I suffer from gout, so making ligaments and cartilage replacements out of this stuff would make me a piss-driven Wolverine. I'd regenerate no matter what you did to me.
posted by boo_radley at 9:54 PM on February 20 [3 favorites]

^^

?
posted by [son] QUAALUDE at 10:24 PM on February 20

WARNING: this comment contains absolutely no SCIENCE! STOP READING THIS COMMENT!

THERE IS NO SCIENCE IN IT!
posted by tehloki at 1:00 AM on February 21

What is all this SCIENCE you speak of? I want tiny hands!

/applauds Astro Zombie
posted by Sparx at 2:23 AM on February 21

What we need more of is SCIENCE.
posted by kcds at 5:14 AM on February 21

And here I thought it was going to be salad dressing.
posted by louche mustachio at 6:41 AM on February 21

Professor Ludwig Leibler needs to invest in a color video camera, so his demonstrations look less like Tool videos.
posted by Mr_Zero at 8:13 AM on February 21

Apparently writing the word "science" in allcaps creates epic lullz. Observe: SCIENCE.

See how hard you're laughing?
posted by !Jim at 3:55 PM on February 24