Any Sufficiently Advanced Technology Is Indistinguishable From Magic!!

[+ Gar1eth]

Thursday October 15, 2015

Engineer builds replica of Thor's hammer that only he can lift!!

http://i.cbc.ca/1.3273172.1444937966!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/thor-hammer-replica.jpg

California electrical engineer Allen Pan has created a working replica of the Thor's hammer. (Left: Sufficiently Accurate/YouTube, Right: Allen Pan )

 

Listen 6:37

California engineer Allen Pan has built a working replica of Thor's hammer that only he can pick up. A video of Pan getting people in California to try and lift the hammer has been shared millions of times.

 

Pan came up with the idea after watching a trailer for the latest Avengers movie, the series that popularized the Norse god of thunder.

 

"There was this great scene where all the superheroes were hanging out and they're trying to lift Thor's hammer. Thor's hammer traditionally can only be lifted by someone who is worthy -- that being Thor, " Pan tells As it Happens host Carol Off. "Tony Stark, who is sort of the engineer genius of the group, throws out a theory that it's printed ... like you need your thumbprint."

 

So, Pan thought: "There must be a technological solution to this supposedly magical object." Well, he was right.

 

Pan bought a Halloween costume version of Thor's hammer online. Then, he filled it with what he calls,"the electronic guts."

 

 

 

At the bottom of the hammer, there is a large electromagnet that is activated when someone puts a hand on the handle. For the hammer to work, it must be on a metal surface.

 

The trick is the thumbprint sensor that only recognizes Pan's prints. When Pan puts his hand on the handle, the electromagnet deactivates.

 

 

 

http://i.cbc.ca/1.3271711.1444956140!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_620/mjolnir-without-the-shell.jpg

(Sufficiently Advanced/YouTube)

 

 

 

After building it, Pan took the hammer out to Venice Beach to test it out. His original plan was to find "monstrous, gigantic, mutant men" at Muscle Beach, the infamous public workout area. But, since it was the middle of a weekday, Pan wasn't able to find anyone.

 

 

 

"I figured that working out was their day job, but apparently not."

 

 

 

Pan ended up recruiting people on the boardwalk to test out the hammer. At first, there was some hesitation because people were afraid that the hammer would shock them.

 

"Once we were able to get a few people to try, we were able to gather a small crowd," he says. "We got a lot of great attempts I think."

 

Eventually, some people figured out how the hammer worked. You can see how that plays out in Pan's video below.

 

 

 

 

Gman