The science behind spiderman
There are three main science related attributes of Spider-Man that make him who he is. How closely linked is this to actual science? In all honesty, it is closer than you think and the filmmakers have gotten a surprising amount of science correct but in the end it is still quite exaggerated.
spider-man
The radioactive spider that bites Peter Parker transfers its irradiated venom and overtakes his immune system causing new mutations to take place within his body. These mutations are more commonly recognised as Spider-Man's 'powers'.
Firstly we must assume that the irradiated spider venom is extremely toxic, similar to a virus, which either tricks Parker’s immune system into accepting the foreign virus or overtakes it completely. Without this assumption Parker would never make this transformation and the virus would do more harm than good. The radiation must significantly alter the spider’s DNA whilst allowing for it to insert into the hosts - Parker's DNA. Additionally this transformation is shown to have a positive effect on Parker's DNA where in reality the uptake of foreign DNA can lead to diseases such as cancer [17].
For this transformation to happen the irradiated venom would have to covert the DNA of every cell of Parker's body so that the mutations owing to the supposed 'super powers' are expressed. [17] In addition the mutated spider DNA in theory does not contain genes that alters Parker's appearance.
Firstly we must assume that the irradiated spider venom is extremely toxic, similar to a virus, which either tricks Parker’s immune system into accepting the foreign virus or overtakes it completely. Without this assumption Parker would never make this transformation and the virus would do more harm than good. The radiation must significantly alter the spider’s DNA whilst allowing for it to insert into the hosts - Parker's DNA. Additionally this transformation is shown to have a positive effect on Parker's DNA where in reality the uptake of foreign DNA can lead to diseases such as cancer [17].
For this transformation to happen the irradiated venom would have to covert the DNA of every cell of Parker's body so that the mutations owing to the supposed 'super powers' are expressed. [17] In addition the mutated spider DNA in theory does not contain genes that alters Parker's appearance.
The web
One of the key powers that Peter Parker possesses is the ability to shoot webbing from his wrists. This webbing has the strength to not only carry his own weight and swing across the cityscape but to even stop moving trains in its tracks. This may be a slight exaggeration on the actual strength of spider's webs though the tensile strength has been found to be quite substantial owing to the existence of a protein-based fiber which has not yet been identified [17].
It has been said that spider's webs are stronger than steel where three Leicester physics students tested this theory in relation to Spider-Man's abilities.
They calculated Spider-Man’s webbing to be able to hold 300,000 newtons where the toughness was approximately 500 MJ per cubic meter. This is extremely strong even when compared to Darwin’s bark spider which has 520 MJ per cubic meter 18].
Another important quality to consider is that Spider-Man is able to shoot eight five millimetre thick strands of webbing. Realistically speaking, it would be near impossible for a spider to produce and shoot out silk strands that thick.[19]
They calculated Spider-Man’s webbing to be able to hold 300,000 newtons where the toughness was approximately 500 MJ per cubic meter. This is extremely strong even when compared to Darwin’s bark spider which has 520 MJ per cubic meter 18].
Another important quality to consider is that Spider-Man is able to shoot eight five millimetre thick strands of webbing. Realistically speaking, it would be near impossible for a spider to produce and shoot out silk strands that thick.[19]
Wall Crawling
Parker’s wall crawling abilities are explained by the presence of hair like fibers on his hands and feet. Such hairs are commonly found on spiders except they are actually all over the body. Using this knowledge research has allowed the development of a tape 10 times stickier than spiders and gecko feet. This tape is made of microscopic carbon nanotubes attached to plastic and acts in a similar manner to the hair found on spider’s feet. These carbon nanotubes act like Velcro and can potentially allow people to scale walls and buildings if built into a specialised suit[20]
Spider senses
The final ability Spider-Man possesses is the ability to sense his surroundings with ‘spider senses’ where this allows him to be aware of when danger when it is near. This is due to a combination of three factors, Parker’s extreme sensitivity to vibrations in the atmosphere, electro/magnetoreception and super-fast reflexes. These innate sensors allows for ‘omni-directional x-ray vision’ so that he becomes omnipresent ("all seeing") of his surroundings.[21] In reality, nothing close has been discovered or developed though who is to say that it won’t be possible in the future.