A "self-healing" asphalt, Erik Schlangen, TEDxDelft, October 2012
Summary:
The TED talk was about a specially made asphalt that is capable of "healing itself". The way that it works starts with the way the asphalt is made. By this I mean that instead of just making the asphalt a solid layer it is instead made so there are pores in it. This allows for filtration of rain water and also silences most noise from the road. What makes the asphalt self healing is what holds it together. Between all the pores there are small connections made of some material that is mostly steel because steel is a great conductor of heat. Using steel as a conductor makes it so that in hot or warm weather, those steel bonds melt a bit to hold the asphalt back in place.
I would recommend this to people that are interested in engineering, infrastructure, or even chemistry. I personally thought this was quite intriguing since it makes roads last at least twice as long and stay in better shape.
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