If you’re into comic books and super heroes, you are probably pretty excited about the next Avengers movie slated to hit theaters this Friday (May 1). My husband and I saw the trailer for Avengers Age of Ultron last night and we squealed like giddy kids on Christmas morning. Well, I did. He was a little cooler in his response.
Poking through my email this morning, I was a little apprehensive about watching the current Reactions video from the American Chemical Society. The video puts Avengers science to the test. What if they exposed huge errors that would sully my viewing experience? Well, it turns out that Marvel's The Avengers combine amazing abilities with amazing science.
Sure, there are some creative license applications. For example, the video surmises that Tony Stark’s suit isn’t really made of a gold titanium alloy. It’s probably made of a nickel-titanium alloy called nitinol – which is strong but light and can be reformed after taking damage. But the science behind his arc reactors is pretty spot-on.
And science can sort of explain why Black Widow, Captain America and Wolverine age slowly and heal quickly. The answer: souped-up white blood cells called macrophage help heal wounds.
Watch the short video for more Avengers science.
Traci Purdum is Chemical Processing’s digital editor and Marvel fan girl. You can bet that she will be at the movie theater this weekend. Email her at [email protected].