Superheroes and particle physics: the dynamic duo

From Iron Man to The Flash and astrophysicists to particle physicists, superheroes and physicists help shape each other's worlds. Iron Man 2, the second installment in the Iron Man movie franchise, finds the hero Tony Stark in a bit of a pickle: The "arc reactor" in Stark's chest (which generates magnetic fields to halt the movement of shrapnel in his body) is powered by palladium, which is slowly poisoning him. Stark must find a different material to run the reactor if he hopes to survive. But ...