London, June 7 (IANS) Now smart materials can turn hard or soft within seconds, according to a startling new discovery.

 
 Similarly, hard and brittle matter can become soft and malleable as required, thanks to the electric signals that regulate this amazing transformation.
 
 These findings could make future intelligent materials with the ability of self-healing, smoothing out flaws autonomously, the journal Science reports.
 
 Jorg Weissmuller, professor and materials scientist at Germany's  Technical University of Hamburg and the Helmholtz Centre Geesthacht, is credited with this development, working with colleagues from the Institute for Metal Research in Shenyang, China.
 
 Weissmuller, 51, referred to his fundamental research as “a breakthrough in the material sciences” which opened the door to a multitude of diverse applications, according to a Helmholtz statement.
 
 The closest analogy is with the firmness of a boiled egg that can be adjusted at will through the cooking time. Some decisions are, however, irrevocable - a hard-boiled egg can never be converted back into a soft-boiled one.
 
 Similar issues arise in the making of structural materials such as metals and alloys. Their properties are set once and for all during production.
 
 This forces engineers to make compromises in the selection of the mechanical properties of a material. Greater strength is inevitably accompanied with increased brittleness and a reduction of the damage tolerance.