Self-correcting metropolises by 2050? Researchers are attempting to create cities that can heal themselves in the same way living organisms do by 2050, according to FT Rethink (watch, runtime: 2:33). A breakthrough by a microbiologist at Delft University and expert on self-healing bio-concrete, Hendrik Jonkers, has unveiled a special type of bacteria able to lay dormant when mixed with concrete, but is brought to life by water. So “if cracks appear, they excrete calcites, better known as limestone, which fixes the damage.” Although this seems like tech from the distant future, the materials and tools have already made it to the global commercial market — the value of which is expected to grow about thirty-fold to some USD 4 bn from USD 120 mn by 2025.