Submission + - Smart Salad Dressing to save Venice (telegraph.co.uk)
"This technology called programmable protocells is based on the chemistry of oil and water and has the special property of transforming carbon dioxide into a limestone-like substance."
The globules would form "solid pearls" of artificial limestone that could protect buildings from future damage.
This technology could be an alternative to the current plan to install a series of steel floodgates to control tidal movements in the lagoon surrounding Venice, if the oil could be directed to form carbonate deposits at their bases, and could distribute the load and slow or even stop the sinking.
A website called Future Venice set up to explore new technologies to save Venice future explains this idea more in details.