Marvel’s Thor may be based on Norse mythology or the children’s books but it does not mean everything in it is fictional. In the 2011 Thor movie, we’ve encountered a lot of scientific terminology, mostly from Dr. Jane Foster, a physicist.
It is super fun to learn science while enjoying a movie so we did everyone a favor and simplified all the complicated concepts. We break down all the scientific facts mentioned in the film that are deemed true and studies that actually exist in the field of science.
10 Einstein-Rosen Bridge
Jane Foster convinced her colleague, Dr. Erik Selvig, that the weird occurrence that happened in New Mexico was an Einstein-Rosen bridge. In the movie, the bridge is called Bifrost, a rainbow bridge that connects Asgard to other realms.
In layman’s term, the Einstein-Rosen bridge is a wormhole. Physicists Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen collaborated in 1935 and proposed the idea using the theory of relativity. They believe in the existence of bridges through space-time. These wormholes can theoretically transport an object from two different points without the hassle of time and distance.
9 Hubble Telescope
In the rooftop scene, Jane and Thor talked about scientific discoveries of man and how they are true in the realm of Asgard. Thor showed a picture of the Hubble telescope from Jane’s notebook, which he quirkily mispronounced as ‘hoo-ble’.
The Hubble telescope is one of the largest telescopes used by NASA. It was launched into the Earth’s low orbit in 1990 and is still being utilized today. The telescope is deemed to be a very important tool in research, especially for monitoring space occurrences.
8 Particle Data
Jane told Thor that whenever she worries about particle data, she comes up by the bonfire up in their rooftop. While there was no explanation mentioned in the film, it seems like the term is a very important aspect of Jane’s career, due to the fact that she stresses about it.
The Particle Data Group is basically a collaboration of international groups of particle physicists that collect and analyze research results. They publish reviews of significant discoveries relating to cosmology. In hindsight, Jane must be a member of this group since she studies astrophysics.
7 Gamma Radiation
Dr. Selvig mentioned about having a friend who is an expert in gamma radiation. Clearly, he was talking about Dr. Bruce Banner, a fellow scientist who was exposed to the same radiation that turned him into Hulk.
While we know that being exposed to gamma rays won’t turn anyone into a Hulk, it’s still a harmful element. Gamma radiation is an electromagnetic energy that comes from a radioactive decay of an atomic nucleus. In short, being exposed to it for a long period of time may cause damage to one’s health.
6 Southern Aurora
Before they found out what those weird lights in the atmosphere are, Dr. Selvig mentioned something about southern aurora. They may be pertaining to the southern lights or aurora australis, since the Bifrost’s appearance resembles those polar lights.
The southern light is a natural light display that can be seen in the sky especially in high-latitude regions such as the Antarctic and the Arctic. It is the result of disturbances in the atmosphere and when strong enough, it can alter the paths of the particles causing greenish or reddish light effects.
5 Magnetic Storm
Another theory mentioned regarding the whirlwind and Thor’s arrival is the magnetic storm. The storm caused tornado-like wind effects and sudden movement of the earth, along with lights coming from the sky, one can assume they are moving inside a magnetic field.
A magnetic storm is a temporary disturbance of the Earth’s region that contains magnetic field and is caused by a solar wind shock wave. It can also be an interaction of a mass of magnetic field energy with the Earth’s own magnetic field. Sounds cool, right?
4 Quantum Field Generator
In Thor: The Dark World, Jane was put under a Soul Forge, an Asgardian device that generated quantum fields to check on the patient’s physiology. Jane insisted that the device is called a quantum field generator and proceeded to display her knowledge of quantum physics.
Thus, a quantum field generator in theoretical physics is basically a device used to study quantum mechanics. The dark matter that fused with Jane could be likened to an element and the Soul Forge is the device used to examine it.
3 Convergence
Thor explained to Jane the similarities of the solar system and Asgard’s nine realms. He told her that once in a blue moon, planets align and create a singular portal that leads to one another, the main reason why Thor can travel to Earth.
While it’s a rare occurrence for all planets to align, two or three of them sometimes converge in what is called planetary conjunction. When planets align together, they are both seen in the sky and could be observed with the naked eye.
2 Ether
The ether is the reddish dark matter than fused with Jane when she was sucked in through a space-time passage during the approaching convergence. It is designed to act like a parasite that needs a host to thrive, and slowly kills it as it stays longer inside.
Ether is an obsolete concept in physics under Einstein’s theory of relativity. The puzzle of dark matter presents a mysterious substance claimed to explain why galaxies have more invisible mass than visible matters. Therefore, they assumed that ether is a field rather than a substance.
1 Gravimetric Spikes
When Dr. Selvig was in the asylum, he discussed to the other patients that he has created a device that can stabilize the effects of the converge. It’s the device that Darcy and her intern were carrying across the field right before the attack.
In physics, the gravimetric anomaly is the difference between acceleration of gravity on the planet’s surface. Thus, the device they invented in the film is supposedly meant to counter the effects of the upcoming convergence so that Earth will not suffer from the impending dangers.