Do you ever find yourself critiquing the portrayal of physics in movies and comics that are obviously fantasy-based? For example, do you find yourself wondering how Superman can generate enough energy to produce ocular heat-rays/lasers that can burn through steel and melt glass, but accept uncritically the notion that he can produce such phenomena in the first place?

Similarly, do you find yourself wondering how fast could Superman actually fly?

I do, and I love it. It drives my wife crazy [from my editor: "...because she lives in reality while I, on the other hand, do not."], because she doesn’t make it past those base assumptions that people like me are willing to swallow uncritically.

It’s a fascinating intellectual exercise. There are some physicists that also enjoy applying science to fantasy. Some of the things I’ve often wondered about:
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