A lecturer has developed a system for detecting and plugging leaks in pipelines which could save the oil and water industries millions of pounds.
It is based on the way the human body naturally stops wounds bleeding.
Ian McEwan, from Aberdeen, got a paper cut while reading a research document on a train and had a “Eureka” moment. He has developed a way of introducing artificial platelets to pipelines that mimic those in blood which congeal around a cut to stem the flow.”