In Marvel comics, Thor is an alien from another planet. Humans
used to think he was a God! Thor is famous for his mighty hammer,
his super strength and his strange costume.
We can wear the costume, but can we copy Thor's science?
Thor travels using wormholes
Thor travels to Earth and other planets using the Bifrost
Bridge. The Bifrost Bridge is an Einstein-Rosen bridge, a type of
wormhole. Could wormholes exist in our universe?
Wormholes are a shortcut through
spacetime
Wormholes are a "shortcut" through spacetime. Think of spacetime
as a piece of paper. Fold that piece of paper in half. What's the
quickest way to get from one side to the other?
The quickest way is to travel in a straight line through the
paper, instead of going all the way round. If spacetime in our
universe is folded, then wormholes could be used to take shortcuts
through space.
Most scientists think that wormholes don't exist. We haven't
seen any evidence for them. However, some physicists are convinced
that wormholes are out there, we just haven't found them yet.
Perhaps one day wormholes will let us take shortcuts through space,
just like Thor.
Thor controls storms
Thor can control storms and make lightning using his
mighty hammer, Mjolnir. Thor uses Mjolnir to make storms that can
destroy whole cities. This would need a lot of energy!
During a thunderstorm, 500 million kilograms of water vapour are
lifted into the air. When the water condenses to form rain, it
releases more energy than an atomic bomb. What gives Thor's hammer
with the energy to control storms?
Could we make our own
lightning?
Although we can't control storms like Thor, some companies are
experimenting with artificial lightning. Applied Energetics and
Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems have both built a futuristic
electrolaser, also known as a lightning gun. The lightning gun can
be used as a weapon or to detonate bombs.
Thor fights the frost giants
In the film, the frost giants are tall human-like aliens that
live on a very cold planet called Jotunheim.
A planet like Jotunheim could exist in our universe. It might be
further from its sun that Earth is from our Sun. Or it might orbit
a less powerful star, which doesn't produce much heat energy.
If the planet was smaller and aliens did live there, the aliens
might be taller due to the planet's lower gravity.
Europa is small and icy like
Jotunheim (c) NASA/Johns
Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research
Institute
Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, looks like Jotunheim. It's
small, cold and icy. But scientists haven't found aliens there yet!
If there is alien life in our universe, it's more likely to be
bacteria than giant human-like aliens.
To find out more Superhero Science, see
Iron Man and
The Hulk.
Main image (c) bbaltimore