Today’s Solutions: June 21, 2025

The thunk-whumma-whumpa-whuppa sound of a tire puncturing and losing pressure at freeway speeds is unmistakable. However, if Goodyear has its way humanity might not have to endure the filthy, sweaty, swear-inducing process of swapping rubber on the shoulder of American roads ever again.

This week, Goodyear introduced its latest “stretch concept” tire, the ReCharge, which theoretically never needs replacing or even rotating because it can replace worn treads from the inside.

The idea is essentially the same as making PlayDoh spaghetti. However, instead of squishing semi-edible “dough” through a child-size pasta press, ReCharge tires extrude a high-tech compound of renewable materials including dandelion rubber and synthetic spider silk. The mixture is fed through a series of fine pipes out to the surface of the wheel where they dry, cure and set into brand new, fully-functional treads.

These offer a more environmentally responsible alternative to the standard tire composition of today, which requires the addition of either carbon black or silica to shore up the structural capabilities of petroleum rubber. In this case, the synthetic spider silk can help augment the natural properties of dandelion rubber to reduce wear and extend the functional life of the tire.

What’s more, this concept tire is reportedly structurally designed so that it doesn’t need to be pressurized so it’ll never go flat. Instead of relying on air pressure, the replacement tread solution would be stored in replaceable canisters within the wheel hub.

Goodyear’s innovation is definitely incredible, but it will certainly take some years before this new tire system hits the market. When it does though, we’ll be celebrating the end of flat tires.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

How to perk up your plants with used coffee grounds

Coffee grounds are great for making DIY body scrubs, but did you know they can also help perk up your plants? Just like people, ...

Read More

3 Functional foods for all-day energy

You have a busy life, and now that the weather is nicer and Covid-19 restrictions are loosening up, you will likely find yourself with ...

Read More

Australia draws up plans for marine reserve the size of Germany

The Australian government intends to designate a marine reserve in the Southern Ocean the size of Germany, bolstering protections for millions of penguins and ...

Read More

Shopping cart handles are an unexpected ally in the fight against heart arrhy...

Liverpool John Moores University researchers fitted a device into the handles of shopping trolleys to monitor for atrial fibrillation (AF), a common heart arrhythmia ...

Read More