• Question: @Scientists! Have you ever watched Iron Man 1, 2 or 3 and ever thought... What IS that Arc Reactor made from in his chest... And can we make one? (Without killing ourselves with Palladium or any other toxic substance...)

    Asked by Dr_Kamikaze5 to Áine, Ciarán, Eoin, Lydia, Victoria on 17 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Lydia Bach

      Lydia Bach answered on 17 Nov 2014:


      Hey,

      yeah I was asking myself that too. I always thought it was pure energy from fusion in a reactor? I don’t know what material Stalk is using though?

    • Photo: Ciarán O'Brien

      Ciarán O'Brien answered on 18 Nov 2014:


      I’ve often wondered what that arc reactor was made from myself. My best guess right now is “Magic, because there’s no way you could generate that much energy from something that small”.

      But scientists are doing some really cool things with eneregy storage. I remember reading about some physicists who were able to use really strong electromagnets to trap light in a loop for a little while. That could potentially lead to some small batteries capable of holding really massive amounts of electricity.

      If we ever get the hang of something like that, you might be able to build something a little bit like Tony Stark’s arc reactor…

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