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Can You Break Into Superman’s Fortress of Solitude?

If you are the most powerful person on the planet, you are undoubtedly going to make some powerful enemies. And you can’t just throw on a pair of glasses and hide forever. Eventually, even someone like Superman would need a place to stash himself and all his super stuff. Kal-El’s famous “Fortress of Solitude” is exactly the kind of place you’d want, and he keeps it under lock and key. But I’m not sure his fortress is as secure as he thinks…

This thought experiment was brought to my attention on Twitter. It’s specifically about the Fortress’ peculiar security system seen in All-Star Superman. Instead of some space-age Luthor-deterrent, Superman has but a simple house key placed under a mat. It’s ingenious, he explains to Lois Lane, because the key is made from “dwarf star” material, and therefore weighs “half a million tons.” The Kryptonian is the only person on Earth who can lift it.

Or is he? In my latest episode of Because Science, we run the numbers.

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