If you are a person that drops your phone almost a million times a day, then this is for you. There’s no need to worry over having a cracked phone screen because researchers have created a phone screen that can fix itself. That’s right! No more cracked phone screens. A few students at the iSchool have said that the struggle was real, but when they found out about the new technology, they were ecstatic and so relieved that they didn’t have to worry about dropping their phones.

Scientists at University of California created a new phone screen that can fix itself! Not only can the screen fix itself, but it will be able to conduct electricity and fix more than just cracks and cuts.  Say goodbye to cracked phone screens because by 2020, almost all smart phones will have this feature.

This self-repairing material is made up of a stretchable polymer (a substance with a molecular structure consisting of a large number of similar units bonded together). The self-healing aspect is enabled by the particular ions and molecules being attracted to each other. It is reported that the material can stretch up to 50 times its original size. It features a special type of bond called an ion-dipole interaction, which is a force between charged ions and polar molecules. This means that when the material breaks or has a scratch, the ions and molecules attract to each other to heal the material. According to Business Insider, the researchers at the University of California say the material can stitch itself back together in less than 24 hours after being torn apart, with its charged ions and polar molecules attracting and aligning to complete the repair.

As well as being used in phone screens, the material could also be used in batteries. The University of California Riverside is currently developing a self-healing lithium ion battery that could help dropped phones last even longer.

Sophomore Christine Pak says, “Wow, that’s actually so helpful, because I always drop my phone and get little cracks in my screen that are so annoying. Plus, it’s super expensive to fix your phone because you either have to replace the cracked screen or the entire phone. I really do hope that Apple will adopt this material because I really don’t want to switch my phone.”

Students are definitely pleased with this new invention. Another sophomore, Kai Moore says, “I’m surprised they haven’t invented this already. Considering that the Moto phones and Galaxy phones have this material on the back, I wonder why they didn’t put it on the front. But I think it’s really helpful especially for people who are clumsy like me. I mean people are on their phones almost everyday and the chances of dropping it in a busy street or just doing whatever are high, so this is actually really helpful.”

“Almost everyday I seem to drop my phone and I get so scared that it might break because the glass is so fragile. But with this new technology, I won’t have to worry about that anymore!” Exclaimed John Tillman, freshmen at the iSchool.

As stated above, this new technology will be extremely helpful as we move towards the future. The year 2020 is just a few years away, and soon almost everyone with a smartphone will be walking around with self-repairing screens.