The Science of Superheroes

The Science of Superheroes — page 1

The Science of Superheroes — page 2 — CHAPTER ONE SUPERHEROES AND SCIENCE A subway train speeds down the tracks out of feet against the ties on the tracks The wood control Spider-Man jumps in front bracing his splinters The train keeps moving The hero spreads himself out on the front of the train He slings multiple webs from each hand that cling to the buildings on each side The train begins to slow down It finally comes to a stop beyond the end of the tracks Superheroes amazing feats often seem to defy the laws of physics 5

The Science of Superheroes — page 3 — The safe passengers are looking down at the river far below In this heart-pounding scene from Spider-Man 2 Spider-Man saves the day stopping the train with his high-strength spiderwebs Viewers may think this is just science fiction Some physics students decided to do some tests to see if this scene could be real The students calculated the force needed to stop the train Next they studied the strength of a web created by a Darwin’s bark spider The students found that the superhero’s silk could indeed have stopped the runaway train Part Fact Part Fiction Whether through reading a comic book or watching a movie people are drawn to superhero stories Often these stories are partly realistic and partly fantasy Many show otherwise normal people doing extraordinary things For example in the Superman comic books when he isn’t wearing his superhero outfit Superman looks like a normal person But 6

The Science of Superheroes — page 4 — he is actually from a planet called Krypton He has superpowers He is much stronger and faster than people on Earth Superman the Hulk Spider-Man and many other superheroes possess special abilities ordinary people do not have Others such as Iron Man are very intelligent and have highly developed technology Superheroes have unbelievable abilities but many superhero abilities are based on real scientific ideas Of course no one has actually come from the imaginary planet Krypton No human naturally possesses Science and Entertainment The Science and Entertainment Exchange is a program of the National Academy of Sciences Through this program film and TV writers and producers gain easy access to top scientists and engineers The scientists help writers create accurate storylines They show that science is an exciting adventure The Exchange helps filmmakers build new journeys that are based on real science It helps bridge the gap between creative arts and the real world 7

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