Newswise — April 30, 2012 - Warrendale, PA (USA)- There is some serious science going on in the comic book movie, The Avengers, opening May 4, according to an article recently published in JOM, the technical journal of The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS). The Open Access article, “The Super Materials of the Super Heroes,” is available for download here.
The JOM article specifically examines the materials that define the powers of Captain America, Ironman, and a host of other comic characters. Among the “real world” scientists featured in the piece is Suveen N. Mathaudhu, program manager, Synthesis and Processing of Materials, U.S. Army Research Office (ARO), and a recognized leader in technical program development at TMS.
In the JOM article, he discusses how fictional weapons, such as Ironman’s armor and Captain America’s shield, are actually within the realm of possibility thanks to new and emerging technologies. “We have control over the atomic world that we didn’t have 20 years ago,” he notes. “Through high-end microscopy tools, we can visualize and manipulate the very microstructure of a material to achieve ultrahigh strength and other truly amazing characteristics. The next frontier is the ability to accurately predict how we can create materials with specific properties—a true materials by design capability.”
Also featured in the article is the National Academy of Sciences’ Science and Entertainment Exchange, which provided scientific consultation on The Avengers movie.
Interviews with Mathaudhu and representatives from the Exchange can be arranged through the TMS.
About TMS TMS is the professional organization encompassing the entire range of materials science and engineering, from minerals processing and primary metals production to basic research and the advanced applications of materials. Included among its professional and student members are metallurgical and materials engineers, scientists, researchers, educators and administrators from more than 70 countries on six continents. For more information on TMS, visit our Web site.
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