Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Discovery.

Time flies when you're learning super cool stuff.

I'm Nate.

And I'm Callie. If you're dropping in for the first time welcome to

curiosity where we aim to blow your mind by helping you to grow your mind. If you're

a loyal listener, welcome back. Today you'll learn about how metal was

discovered to be able to heal itself, a potential cure for

sensitive teeth, and the truth about sports supplements.

Without further ado, let's satisfy some curiosity.

As long as humans have been using metals to build things,

we've had to deal with metal fatigue,

which is what happens when miniscule cracks

and metals start to grow into not so miniscule cracks. But researchers studying metal fatigue have just made a

totally accidental discovery that could change the way we understand metals. Turns out,

metal has the ability to heal itself. That sounds crazy, I'll be honest.

That's what made it so unexpected.

So let's talk about metal fatigue for a second because it's a massive problem that engineers spend a huge amount of time trying to solve.

I'll say, I'm not so eager to drive over a bridge with metal fatigue, you know what I mean?

Well, bridges are actually a great example.

So fatigue starts as these tiny cracks that grow when the metal is put through repetitive stress.

Like the thumping of a million car tires over a bump on a bridge.

Exactly. And we think of metal as being incredibly strong, and of course it is.

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