As a result, the product was never commercialized, and plants cultivated for food and fiber throughout the nation remain vulnerable to frost damage.

FORBES: Commentary

"Although we can't yet comment on what caused this outage, past incidents were linked to both government-ordered shutdowns and damage to the infrastructure, which included fiber cuts and power outages, " Hubbard wrote.

CNN: Reports: Internet down in Syria

The material uses what the researchers are calling 'shape-memory' polymers and have a fiber optic network embedded within them which acts as the damage sensor as well as the heat delivery system.

ENGADGET: Shape-memory polymer knows when it's hurt, fixes itself