Bushes in a car work like knees or elbows in the human body. They absorb the shocks from bumps and divots in the road, prevent metal-to-metal contact and control the movement of the joints within the car.
Bushes used to be made from rubber that wore out and caused soggy, vague car handling and contributed to premature tyre wear.
Polyurethane is not a new discovery but most definitely a good choice if you are considering changing any bushes. SuperFlex is just one company that manufactures bushes using stainless steel crush tubes.
Other manufacturers available. Having called Superflex directly and since they were very helpful I bought directly from them.