All scenarios, though, result in Kal-El traveling through space toward Earth while pulling fragments of Krypton, made radioactive in the explosion, along with him. This radioactive debris became what we now know as kryptonite. Radioactivity in general can be dangerous to all living beings, Kryptonians or otherwise. On Earth, many substances emit radiation by undergoing one of several processes. Alpha decay occurs when the nucleus of a decaying atom emits alpha particles alpha particles are also called helium atoms, which are made of two protons and two neutrons.
The atom then ejects the electron and the antineutrino, keeping the proton. The ejected electron becomes a beta particle. Spontaneous fission occurs when an atom spontaneously splits into two atoms of two different elements, potentially ejecting neutrinos during this process. Atoms undergoing any of these processes have extra energy that must be released. They emit this energy in gamma rays , which are essentially electromagnetic pulses. Since Krypton was a massive planet, around times larger than Earth, the gravity was so great that average humans would be crushed under its gravitational pull.
So, it is plausible that the Kryptonians evolved to have anti-gravitational organs, which would allow them to function and live under the immense pressure. Some enthusiasts speculated about Superman's manipulation of Earth's magnetic field, others wonder if Superman's body could generate sub-atomic particles called gravitrons. What sounds most plausible to you?
Yes he can fly, yes he can lift buildings, but perhaps most impressive is that Superman can handle almost anything thrown at him literally! And this is because of two things: cells and radiation. It is thought that the people of Krypton had a much denser molecular structure and therefore, it would be extremely hard for anything to penetrate through their supremely compact molecules! It would be like having a body of Kevlar! Not only are Kryptonian cells very dense, but they can metabolize solar radiation.
The radiation given off by Krypton's red sun was too weak for Kryptonians to process. Yet, when Superman lands on Earth and into the light of our younger star, he is able to take the radiation from our yellow sun and metabolize it—the way a green plant converts light from the sun into energy through a process called Photosynthesis.
This extra boost from the sun gives Superman the ability for flight, super strength and invincibility. Superman is invincible! But, there is a BIG exception to that statement. This alien element is so well-known and engrained into pop-culture, that Microsoft Word recognizes it and can auto-correct to it for you! Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue.
See Subscription Options. Go Paperless with Digital. Superman is neither human nor bound by the laws of science, but there are still some fascinating facts to read up on before accepting this born-again hero.
Superman is basically a solar panel with red and blue tights. Superman is able to man-handle puny Earthlings and smash through buildings for two reasons. First, his home planet of Krypton had much more mass than Earth, making the surface gravity of the planet much higher. His muscles are overqualified for 1G. Living on Earth after growing up under the stress of intense gravity would be like you moving to the Moon you'd finally be able to dunk. The other reason Superman is so, well, super, is that his cells basically photosynthesize.
He doesn't use the yellow Sun of the Earth precisely like a plant, but more like a photovoltaic cell. In such a cell, the Sun's rays hit semiconductors made of some material like silicon and their interaction releases electrons. These flowing electrons create electricity. It's not exactly spelled out how Superman's cells use the Sun's energy, but his costume kind of looks like a solar panel, so we'll go with that.
Superman doesn't understand how time works. Famously, at the end of Superman: The Movie , Superman fantastically played by Christopher Reeve is so distraught by the death of Lois Lane that he tries to turn back time. He does this by flying around the Earth at unimaginable speed.
It's a valiant effort that works in the movie, but has no basis in physics. We have theories on how it might be possible to do so, but they all involve wormholes and black holes and other stuff that would probably kill you. If you want to travel forward in time, you just have to go really fast. If you go fast enough, according to Einstein, time will slow down for you. The faster you go, the slower you age. So if you did a Kessel run like Han Solo--a trip over many light-years in a few hours--you would only experience a few hours while the rest of the galaxy ages 40 years.
By flying really, really fast around the Earth, Superman will actually speed into the future, not the past. In fact, by the time he is done, he might return to find everyone he knew dead of old age. Superman is a time traveler. Before it blew up, Superman was sent to Earth from the planet Krypton-- 50 light years away. A little Kryptonian baby hurtling through space, Kal-El reached Earth in years the nerds disagree on the time.
To travel such a long distance trillion miles--in such a short time, the baby would have to warp the space-time continuum with his speed. Actually, such a speed, 25 times the speed of light, is physically impossible.
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