Why can’t anyone lift Thor’s hammer? The simple answer, as Thor himself points out, is that they aren’t worthy. Or there’s some kind of hyper-advanced science going on. Tony Stark thinks that Mjölnir responds to the god’s fingerprints. I suggested the same, combined with some kind of gravity-altering tech, when I tackled the question on Because Science. But that is all just speculation. One geek has taken it a step further and implemented fingerprint-recognizing technology on a real Mjölnir no one can lift.

A new video from Sufficiently Advanced (above) shows the mortal way to make Thor’s hammer. By combining a powerful electromagnet and a fingerprint scanner inside a replica Mjölnir, Sufficiently Advanced had a unliftable magnet that only detaches upon sensing the fingerprints of he or she who is worthy. Of course, it’s restricted to metallic surfaces, but the results look just like the scene in Age of Ultron:

This might be the most technically advanced and accurate fan-made prop I’ve ever seen. It’s fitting then that the channel’s name, “sufficiently advanced,” references the famous Arthur C. Clarke quote, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” That’s exactly how Asgardian tech is described in the Marvel universe.

I want to see the lines of would-be Thors at conventions eager to try their hand at worthiness.

—

IMAGES: Sufficiently Advanced

How does Thor fly anyway? I explain in an episode of Because Science below: