# Science errors in Batman the Brave and the Bold. Why can’t they get these things right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811 "2013-05-08T16:17:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/1 "2013-05-08T16:17:31Z")
The bad guy (Major Force) has stolen a quantum vacuum energy backpack, to power it up he flies to a nuclear power plant. He hovers over a cooling tower and uses the quantum vacuum energy backpack to collect the gas coming from the tower. This charges up the backpack so he can suck the all the atomic power out of Captain Atom, overpower Batman and Aquaman, attack the Whitehouse and set fire to tanks etc. The gas that comes out of cooling towers is _water!_ Do the writers know nothing? Losers! Anyone else spotted any other dodgy science in this show? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/2 "2013-05-08T16:29:13Z")
Moved MPSIMS --\> Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/3 "2013-05-08T16:30:45Z")
It’s COMIC BOOK science. It allows people to become smaller than oxygen atoms and still breathe. It allows for Aquaman to be perfectly healthy when he’s been out of water for 59 Minutes and 59 Seconds, but, one second later, dead. You can travel through time by flying around the earth faster than light, and whether you go to the future or the past depends on whether or not you’re flying clockwise or counterclockwise. And this show (which is now solely in reruns) is Silver Age, so there’s even less emphasis on reality. Earth-Prime physics (as our physics is called) just isn’t relevant: imagination is. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/4 "2013-05-08T16:35:39Z")
> [@Small\_Clanger](#): > > The bad guy (Major Force) has stolen a quantum vacuum energy backpack… And _this_ isn’t a problem for you? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/5 "2013-05-08T16:39:29Z")
> [@Small\_Clanger](#): > > The gas that comes out of cooling towers is _water!_ Do the writers know nothing? No, they probably didn’t know that. > [@](#): > > Why can’t they get these things right? Because for the most part, they don’t care. They’re telling stories, not writing science textbooks. They may aim for a certain level of plausibility if it’s a worthwhile investment of their time, but if it’s not, they won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/6 "2013-05-08T16:43:49Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] And _this_ isn’t a problem for you? [/QUOTE] Well, you can let the odd little thing slide. I didn’t understand why a main battle tank burned like it was made out of straw though, what was that about? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/7 "2013-05-08T16:46:44Z")
> [@Small\_Clanger](#): > > Well, you can let the odd little thing slide. > > I didn’t understand why a main battle tank burned like it was made out of straw though, what was that about? Cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/8 "2013-05-08T16:50:52Z")
All ‘Entertainment’ Universes (Batman, Avengers, House, The Cosby Show, for varied examples) exist in alternate universes where the Laws of Physics (and other shit) are not the same as they are in this universe. Just keep that in your brain and it won’t explode when a wooden rowboat does on some TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/9 "2013-05-08T17:08:57Z")
When the Flash suddenly goes from rest to Mach 1, I can accept that his muscle tissue is capable of the necessary acceleration. What I don’t get is how his skeleton (subject, like all matter, to inertia) isn’t left behind. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/10 "2013-05-08T17:14:13Z")
Can someone explain to me how Superman can pick up a battleship? I think his hands would just punch through the hull as he tried to lift it. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/11 "2013-05-08T17:19:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Can someone explain to me how Superman can pick up a battleship? I think his hands would just punch through the hull as he tried to lift it. Tactile telekinesis. He is really lifting and supporting it with his mind, but he needs to mimic the physical act to focus the (mostly subconscious) psychic power. But you knew that already. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/12 "2013-05-08T18:15:52Z")
… I can no longer tell the straight-faced posts from the whooshing. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/13 "2013-05-08T18:19:36Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Tactile telekinesis. He is really lifting and supporting it with his mind, but he needs to mimic the physical act to focus the (mostly subconscious) psychic power. > > But you knew that already. That was two reboots ago. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/14 "2013-05-08T18:20:43Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > … I can no longer tell the straight-faced posts from the whooshing. That would be The Flash. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/15 "2013-05-08T18:37:05Z")
In the Batman movie, the Penguin disguised as Commodore Schmidlapp gets into the Batcave and lets loose some disintegrated goons by reintegrating them with water. He mistakenly uses the heavy water used for the Batcave’s atomic piles instead of the soft drinking water, which produces disastrous results for the goons. My question is why would Batman have the heavy water come out of the same dispenser as the drinking water and is just changed by a flip of the switch? I mean, come on! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/16 "2013-05-08T19:38:43Z")
The Batcave is like Congress - not subject to EPA or OSHA regulations. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/17 "2013-05-08T19:43:20Z")
Because, if you’ve got atomic piles, sometimes you need relief in a hurry! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/18 "2013-05-08T19:45:45Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The Batcave is […] not subject to EPA or OSHA regulations. \ You think you’re writing me up for _what?_ \ ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/19 "2013-05-08T20:44:52Z")
There was an episode of the Super Friends where a guy came to earth to steal our gravity, because his planet had none. He’d point a gizmo at a building, pull the trigger to suck up the gravity, and the building would rip itself free of the ground, shooting straight up into the air. Accept the progress that has been made in cartoon physics. Things could be so much worse. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811/20 "2013-05-08T22:22:33Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > When the Flash suddenly goes from rest to Mach 1, I can accept that his muscle tissue is capable of the necessary acceleration. What I don’t get is how his skeleton (subject, like all matter, to inertia) isn’t left behind. Flash isn’t fast because of his muscles being capable of it, he’s fast because he’s connected to the Speed Force. Not that I get why his skeleton should be left behind either way, but basically, a wizard did it. (Or whatever the hell Mopee was) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-errors-in-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-why-can-t-they-get-these-things-right/657811.md?page=2)