Scientists at the University of Southern Mississippi have developed a new polyurethane coating for automotive paint that can heal scratches automatically when exposed to sunlight, according to Discovery.

"We have developed a new macromolecule," said Marek Urban, who, along with Biswajit Ghosh, wrote the paper detailing the technology in the latest issue of the journal Science. "When the polymer is damaged and exposed to sunlight, it is capable of repairing itself, and could be applied to many systems."

Here's how it works: While the new coating is 99.99 percent polyurethane, the remaining 0.01 percent is either a four-molecule oxetane ring or a long rod of chitosan, the report said. Those materials break apart when exposed to ultraviolet light, and then bond with each other across the damaged area, repairing a scratch within an hour.

The scientists are still doing long-term testing but said that the material can be produced in a variety of colors. The coating could also work on iPhones, iPods, and other gadgets in addition to automotive paint applications.