Issue #2 of Captain Atom produced an above average amount of science for a single issue so I thought I might take a closer look at some of the science within as it was presented sequentially throughout the issue (there are lots of spoilers here by the way)
Volcanoes
Volcanoes are one of the staples of a disaster type of event in fiction. In this case there is a volcano in New York City, which as it is nowhere near to a volcanic area seems extremely unlikely. However, even with the suspension of that rather impossibility the exact manner in which Captain Atom dealt with is not really explained. Generally speaking though just diving into a volcano won’t do a whole lot as the real force of action is miles below the earth’s crust. I guess using the principles of comic book science it might be possible to stop one, but it would require a whole lot more effort than would be assumed as significant amounts of energy would be needed to change the flow of magma.
Verdict: Comic science
Chemical composition of the human body
After Nathaniel drags himself out of the volcano he is forced to reconstruct his physical body. Although his origin is later described it appears that underneath it all he is still part human. He thereafter goes through a list of the elements which comprise the human body. Granted he misses quite a few, though to be fair of the ones he missed most scientists are as of yet unsure what all of them do in our bodies.
Verdict: Good science
Intercepting cell phone messages (texts)
It stands to reason that if the character has some control over electromagnetic energy that he would be able to detect radio waves as well. When a cell phone sends a text though it is communicating in a pre-established set of programming where binary transmissions from one computer (the phone) are interpreted by another computer (at the phone company) and then sent to another computer (the other cell phone.) Intercepting voices on cell phones might be possible (if they weren’t encrypted) but unless he has the programming code in his head discerning texts he wouldn’t just hear a bunch of random static.
Verdict: Bad science
Superfluids
This is a fluid with zero viscosity and infinite thermal conductivity. The decision to push Captain Atom into a sphere full of this stuff is a good idea provided that they could produce the stuff (which would be very energy intensive.) Although it is comic book like in its presentation it does sort of make sense, something a real world scientist might try.
Verdict: Good science
The Quantum Field
Granted this is a common element of the Captain Atom story, but it does show up here. Though quantum fields seem unlikely as something which could be tapped into, as quantum researchers say “anyone who knows anything about quantum physics knows nothing about quantum physics.” So while unlikely this one gets a pass
Verdict: Comic science
Cancer fighting
In the climactic moment the Captain goes to the aid of a boy suffering from brain tumours. Although this was the high point of the issue from a plot sense it was the low point from a scientific sense. He talks about breaking down the cancer cells proton by proton. Put in one way there are far more than a billion of billion protons in 1 gram of hydrogen (in fact there are a lot more.) The time to break down one gram even if he could do something ridiculous like a million protons per second would still take several centuries. It would have been better to say he did it cell by cell or nucleus by nucleus.
Verdict: Bad science
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