The Science of Superheroes

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

The Science of Superheroes — page 5 — When Tony Stark is not in his Iron Man suit he is an engineer Superman's ability to see through walls or fly But science and technology allow humans to do these things Superheroes bring these scientific ideas to life Some are even scientists themselves Being Heroic Superheroes use their powers to help others They fight villains They prevent natural disasters They help

The Science of Superheroes — page 6 — people who are in trouble Superheroes are able to do amazing works because they choose to use their abilities for good In the real world humans have long used science to help others People have used science to cure diseases save people from disasters learn about the universe and much more Studying science can help us learn how scientific principles shown in superhero stories operate in the real world EXPLORE ONLINE Chapter One talks about the use of science in superhero stories The website below goes into more detail about this subject What information on the website is similar to the information in Chapter One What new information did you learn from the website Spider-Math and Bat-Physics mycorelibrary com science-of-superheroes 9

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