Your skin heals after a scratch. What if our roads, bridges and cities could self-repair after getting damaged, too? In this TED talk I describe a new class of materials — animate matter — with the potential to sense damage, self-heal and even biodegrade when the job is done. Humanity’s next great leap isn’t making more stuff— it’s making stuff that doesn’t fall apart. You can watch the talk here.

If you want to read more on the science and get involved, I co-wrote a roadmap for animate matter here.