#marvel science

It is terrific that science was made relevant in the plot line of the first avengers movie as earthlings’ approach to formulate strategy in response to extraterrestrials threat. It was a big part of the story, and was portrayed as an active process throughout the movie. It adds a degree of realism and complexity to the story. Moreover, there are times in the movie where they made accurate references to real science. This scene is one of them. The conversation between Bruce and Tony is filled with scientific terminologies, but it serves more purposes than only to be perceived as ‘scientific’ by the audience. This particular dialogue actually makes scientific sense and, more importantly, it helps explaining the practical method that Bruce and Tony used to locate the tesseract.

At this point in the movie, we know that Loki is planning to use the tesseract  to create a wormhole to smuggle his chitauri army into the planet. In reality, wormholes, hypothetical shortcuts between two distant regions of space-time, only exist in theoretical physics, to date. No observational evidence for any wormholes currently exists, but mathematical solutions describing wormholes have long been known to be valid theoretical solutions to Einstein's field equations of General theory of Relativity. They are known as The Einstein-Rosen Bridge. They made an appearance in the MCU in the form of Bifrost in Asgard (Thor) and Devil’s Anus in planet Sakaar (Thor: Ragnarok).

Loki’s wormhole, however, is not what is described by Einstein’s field equations — i.e. our hypothetical wormhole. Rather, It is a rift in the fabric of space created with the power of tesseract, and the space gem inside it. The general concept is heavily fictional, but it’s been made clear that it needs a power source.

Erik Selvig planned to harness the cube’s nuclear energy to power itself, by fusing the atomic nuclei inside the tesseract, giving the cube enough energy for the space gem to form a wormhole. First of all, to ‘kick-start’ the nuclear fusion, he needs to overcome the coulomb barrier. 

This is where real science comes in.

In nuclear fusion, energy is produced when two atoms join together to form one. In a fusion reactor, hydrogen atoms come together to form helium atoms, neutrons and vast amounts of energy. It's the same type of reaction that powers hydrogen bombs and the sun. Hydrogen, heated to very high temperatures changes from a gas to a plasma in which the negatively-charged electrons are separated from the positively-charged atomic nuclei (ions).

Nuclear fusion doesn’t normally occur because the strongly repulsive electrostatic forces between the positively charged nuclei (Coulomb force) prevent them from getting close enough together to collide and fuse together. Therefore, it only occurs in extreme conditions.

In order for nuclear fusion to occur, the nuclei involved in the reaction must first overcome the electric repulsion to reach distances that are short enough from each other (~1 fm) for the strong nuclear force (which binds protons and neutrons together in atomic nuclei) between the nuclei to outweigh the repulsive Coulomb force, allowing the nuclei to fuse together. For this to happen, the nuclei must have sufficient (thermal) kinetic energy that exceed the Coulomb repulsion. When the temperature increases, the ions will move faster and eventually reach speeds high enough to bring the ions close enough together for the strong nuclear force to take over. The nuclei can then fuse, causing a release of energy.

The temperatures required to overcome the coulomb barrier for fusion to occur are extremely high (if temperature alone is considered in the process)  as to require extraordinary means for their achievement. Such thermally initiated reactions are commonly called thermonuclear fusion. With particle energies in the range of 1-10 keV, the temperatures are in the range 10^7-10^8 K. In the case of Loki’s tesseract, its element requires the temperature of 120 million Kelvin for the particles inside the nuclei to break through the coulomb barrier and undergo nuclear fusion.

In the core of the sun and other stars, the proton-proton cycle of fusion is presumed to proceed at a much lower temperature due to the fact that they generate a steady fusion reaction despite the insufficient temperature and pressure to normally overcome the Coulomb barrier. The critical ignition temperature for nuclear fusion in stars is lowered by the fact that some particles which have energies below the coulomb barrier can penetrate it through quantum tunneling. Quantum tunneling is the quantum mechanical phenomenon where a particle tunnels through a barrier that it classically could not surmount.

Earthbound reactors cannot achieve the high pressures of the sun’s interior. But temperatures much higher than the sun’s can be created to compensate for the lesser pressure. Currently, for fusion to occur on Earth, we need a temperature of at least 100 million degrees Celsius—six times hotter than the core of the sun.

Unfortunately, we have yet to figure out how to coax particles to undergo the quantum tunneling process. If we do, we will be able to allow the fusion process to proceed at lower temperatures than that which would be required at pressures attainable in the laboratory.

To return to Selvig’s plan, he needs to heat the cube up to 120 Million Kelvin to break through the coulomb barrier needed to fuse the nuclei of atoms inside the cube and generate energy to activate the tesseract. Bruce Banner and Tony Stark figured that only a small number of nuclear reactors are able to to carry out a nuclear reaction that requires that much amount of heat and initial energy, such as one of Stark Industries’. This became an advantage in narrowing down the possible locations of the tesseract, in addition to Banner’s approach by tracing its electromagnetic radiation. The exception to this rule would be if Selvig is able to coax particles inside the cube to undergo the quantum tunneling process, which means that the fusion process could happen in lower temperature, and can be carried out in more common nuclear reactors.

How do they make it threadlike to put it into clothes?

Can you use a vibranium machine to make something out of vibranium???

Dissecting Iron Man Suit - An Engineering Analysis

Structural, energy, and thermal analysis of Iron Man Suits specifically Mark I to Mark XLVI which have the following capabilities in common: external armor, supersonic flight, hovering, weaponry, and decoy flares.

1. STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS 

Wear Resistant and Shock Absorbent Exoskeleton  The physical protective value of exoskeleton is its ability to resist any penetrative loads as well as any shock loads. However, the whole thickness of exoskeleton panels should not be too hard because it will pass on the external impact load into the suit’s internal hardware, or even the human body inside it. All of this can be achieved by combining more than one materials; a hard material on the outside and the soft material on the inside

Hard Outer Layer for Penetrative Loads The materials needed for the exoskeleton’s outer layer should be hard and tactile. Titanium Alloy would be an ideal choice. Fiber glass has good tensile strength but not good shear strength, while titanium has both .Titanium Alloy is not only much stronger, but is also lighter than steel, which will provide more fluidity of movement compared to any heavy material counterparts.

Ductile Inner Layer for Shock Loads There should be a soft inner linings behind titanium panels to serve as shock absorbent. Sorbothane is a material that is extremely soft and has the ability to convert shock loads into heat transfer at a molecular level. It is a proprietary, visco-elastic polymer. Visco-elastic means that a material exhibits properties of both liquids (viscous solutions) and solids (elastic materials).

Sorbothane is a thermoset, polyether-based, polyurethane material. Sorbothane combines shock absorption, good memory, vibration isolation and vibration damping characteristics. In addition, Sorbothane is a very effective acoustic damper and absorber. Even if one drops an egg from the top of a building into a bed of sorbothane, this remarkable material is soft enough to cushion the impact and would not allow the egg to break.

This technique of having a hard material on the outside and the soft material on the inside is not new. It has been used for centuries in Japan for making samurai swords. The hardness of its outer layer give the swords its cutting edge and penetrative power, and its ductility allows it to absorb shock loads when it strikes or struck. 

2. ENERGY ANALYSIS : Hovering Capability

Hovering using thrusters (aka repulsors) requires tremendous amount of energy, particularly when the suit is used for a long duration. Energy usage for hovering is dependent upon the hovering methods

Magnetic Levitation requires no energy at all, but is limited to the presence of magnetic field.

Ducted and Open Propellers (helicopter blades). Several human powered helicopters have been made overtime that have achieved flight. It has been experimentally recorded that a 78 kg person in a 58 kg copter requires only 1.1 kW to climb using helicopter blades, and only 60 Watts to maintain altitude.

Jet Thrust is the least energy-efficient method. Because thrust-to-weight ratio needs to be greater than 1 to achieve lift-off, a Jet-pack requires over 1KN of thrust force, depending on the weight of the jet and the person. If wings are attached to the jet-pack, horizontal flight can be achieved with thrust to weight ratio lower than 1, thus improving the duration of the flight and its range.There have been jet-packs made in the past, most iconic display of it was in 1994 Olympics opening ceremony. The fuel used in the jet-pack was mostly hydrogen peroxide. It provides thrust at low temperature compared to other fuels. However, it has low energy density of 810 Wh/kg, giving the jet-packs up to only 30 seconds of flight-time. Jet’s flight time is limited even by using energy-rich fossil fuel. Yves Rossy (aka Jet Man) has successfully used kerosene oil in his flight, but the thruster jets have to be pushed away from the body for safety. His suit allows only several minutes of flight. In addition, if a heavier suit (greater than 25 kg) is used, hydraulics are needed, which would require additional energy and slow down mobility. The Iron Monger suit was an example of hydraulic-driven mobility suit.

3. POWER SOURCE

Tony Stark manages the suit’s energy requirements, including thermal management and artificial intelligence system, through the fictional arc reactor. The reactor is able to provides almost limitless clean energy despite being a very small device. In real life, the only thing that has an energy density comparable to the arc reactor, and would meet all the energy requirements of the suit would be nuclear power. Uranium (fission) energy density is 80.620.000 MJ/kg. However, nuclear power is not suitable to be harnessed in a manned suit, since it generates a tremendous amount of heat.

A more practical solution would be a battery energy-storage. If lithium batteries are used on propeller blades, minutes-long flight time can be achieved. Furthermore, these batteries can readily power suit’s electrical devices / electronics requirements. Lithium ion battery has energy density of 150 Wh/kg (0.5 MJ/kg). Fossil fuel, on the other hand, have a much higher energy density than batteries, but would require a clunky generator to power the suit’s electrical requirements.

Lithium sulfur batteries have 5 times more energy density compared to lithium ion batteries. Lithium sulfur packs had already powered the longest unmanned flight for more than 30 hours. Unless we discover something like an arc-reactor, lithium sulfur batteries could be just the thing to power up the suit. The downside is, it requires hours of charging for just minutes of usage.

There is an alternative option, though not a 'reactor' proper. A compact and high-output generator (standard car alternators crank out 50-70 amps at 12 volts for years, and some can go as high as 150 amps) could be spun by a small and strong output electric motor (all alternators have to do is spin). That motor can be powered by a high density battery like used for electric bikes in the 1500w to 2500w range at 20 something volts. This would power a strong and small motor at 3500 to 4000 rpm for hours. That's more than enough to create power for a number of systems, if they're built to take advantage of the amperage. And with new constructions of carbon arrays coming out every day, one or more of those could bring a meaningful electric output increase in an otherwise standard generator, even above what we have in cars now.

4. THERMAL MANAGEMENT 

The suit cannot be hermetically sealed. Human body heat evaporates water from the skin. Therefore, air ventilation is necessary to remove them. It is also needed to maintain a good supply of oxygen. So, there must be a structure inside the exoskeleton that allows air flow. This would prevent any internal condensation to settle and will also remove buildup of body heat. The layer of sorbothene would act both as a thermal and an electrical insulator. This means that extreme external temperature would not be transferred to the inner layer. The suit would not get too hot or too cold from the outer environment. There should be small fans to draw and pull air from the ambient in controlled amount, and should be able to exchange hot air. With the technology available today, the thermal management of the suit is easily manageable. There are also solid state devices such as thermal pads and thermoelectric generators. Thermoelectric generators can surfaces hot or cold depending on the polarity of the electric current and thus can be an integral component of the suit for controlling the internal temperature.

Source (x)

Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing (B.A.R.F.) 

“A method of hijacking the hippocampus to clear traumatic memories.”

The B.A.R.F. relies on an implant installed on a pair of glasses that connects with the user’s hippocampus, allowing it to find a certain traumatic memory and alter it before projecting that memory onto an external infrastructure. Through the altered projection, the user is able to successfully re-experience and hopefully work through overcoming traumatic experiences. (mcu wiki)

Although the theoretical foundation for memory alteration technique proposed in B.A.R.F. is fragile at best, it may have another feature that we overlooked ― allowing its users to re-experience their past. On this matter, not only did Tony Stark create a device with an underlying concept that agrees with fundamental neuroscience, he might also be one step ahead of our current understanding of how human brains form and store long-term memories.

From what we know today, Hippocampus does not store long-term memories, although it is essential to their formations. Hippoccampus forms and stores a new short-term memory. For example it forms a short-term memory of a recent experience. Those memories are later “consolidated”, gradually transferred to long-term storage in the neocortex (the part of the brain also responsible for cognitive functions such as attention and planning) and disappearing from the hippocampus. The long-term memories remain “silent” for about two weeks before reaching a mature state. In other word, long-term episodic memories (memories of specific events) are stored outside the hippocampus. This theory is known as the standard model.

A more recent model, the multiple trace model, suggests that traces of episodic memories remain in the hippocampus. These traces may store details of the memory, while the more general outlines are stored in the neocortex.  Kitamura, one of the lead researchers studying this model, says he believes that some trace of memory may stay in the hippocampus indefinitely, storing details that are retrieved only occasionally. “To discriminate two similar episodes, this silent memory cells may reactivate and people can retrieve the detailed episodic memory, even at very remote time points,” he says.

To return to the subject, both theories of memory formation model state that the B.A.R.F could not clear traumatic events by targeting only the hippoccampus. it should, instead, interfere mostly with part of the neurocortex to achieve its psychological therapeutic goal. Re-experiencing memories, however, is a different matter. If we operate under the assumption that the multiple trace model of memory formation is true, it may be possible that the B.A.R.F could retrieve the detailed episodic memory, even at very remote points by accessing the traces of episodic memories in hippoccampus, and allow the users to re-experience their past, but not modify them without involving the neocortex. Any alterations made during the process would theoretically create a new memory formation with a new chain of events, and leave the old memories intact.

In conclusion, by accessing traces of memory cells in hippoccampus, the B.A.R.F. may allow its users to re-experience past memories, but not alter them.

In helping the users to overcome traumatic experiences, the B.A.R.F. can still hold therapeutic value by means of desensitization and habituation. The user re-experiencing traumatic memories is expected to confront their fears and develop a normal coping mechanism by adapting better to the repeated exposure in a controlled environment. In contrast with hypnotherapy, the B.A.R.F. utilizes realistic reconstruction of memory instead of manifactured imagination, although both methods work in a closely similar mechanism. It is very important that the re-experiencing process took place under a close supervision of medical professional or psychiatrist. 

On several interviews, the Russo brothers hinted that this feature of Tony Stark’s B.A.R.F. will probably be used in the upcoming Avengers movie.

Source : MIT news

On the technology front of MCU's Iron Man, there are a lot of speculations regarding Tony’s iron man armor and arc reactor in the upcoming Avengers Infinity War movie. One of them is coming from BTS photos that show inconsistent placement of his arc reactor. The reactor sits firmly on Tony’s chest in some photos, but it is seen on top of his shirt in some others. The arc reactor is then thought to be removable. 

Another speculation adds different BTS photos into the equation. Tony is shown both in his tracksuit (with all his CGI markers on it) and in the iron man armor on the same shooting scene. If the arc reactor really is removable and Tony places it on his tracksuit, it might be possible that the iron-man armor is not coming from his skin, it’s coming from his tracksuit. 

Interestingly, the U.S. military is currently developing an advanced combat exoskeleton prototypes, scheduled to launch in 2018, that works in somewhat similar fashion. The new military combat exoskeleton T.A.L.O.S.  will have body armor that makes use of a liquid that solidifies in milliseconds, and a tiny, powerful engine for recharging the suit's systems.

Unlike the metallic, clunky old generations of Iron Man’s suit, the military exoskeleton will be made with a “liquid body armor” that transforms into solid within milliseconds when a magnetic field or an electric current is applied through the material. This will allow the military operators to move with great mobility.

Essentially, what’s being designed is a suit of armor that remains soft and malleable during normal operations, but hardens instantaneously at the point of contact—deflecting and dispersing the immense destructive energy produced by a hit from an enemy round or shrapnel. 

Similarly, if Tony Stark’s Infinity War tracksuit is made with liquid body armor, it will  remains soft and malleable during normal operations, but hardens instantaneously when electric current from his arc reactor is applied to it. Therefore, Tony could produce his bleeding edge armor from his tracksuit whenever necessary, without losing mobility or wasting too much energy from carrying it around.