Is It Possible To Build An Iron Man Suit?
The Chicago Tribune asked James Kakalios, a University of Minnesota physics professor, if it is possible to build an Iron Man armor based on existing technology. Kakalios said a cybernetic helmet and super strong metal armor were possible, but repulsor rays, a practical central power source on the armor, and jet boots were not.
One problem that kept coming up in the construction of this theoretical armor? Incorporating a light, mobile, super-powerful “battery” to run things such as the repulsor rays. Kakalios says: “To make a beam “powerful enough to melt a fist-size hole through a half-inch steel plate would require an energy pulse of over 2 gigawatts of power, greater than the output of a nuclear power plant.”
But give Tony Stark a bunch of scraps in a cave, and he’d figure it out!
2 gigawatts?! Travelling through time only needs 1.21!
Hey, but we can get close enough, right? I think it’s a matter of “when,” not “if.” It’s not going to have repulsor rays or jetboots, but I’d still take one.