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Iron Man the Movie - The Technology Within

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I have watched Iron Man in theater about a week ago but until now, I'm still thinking about those awesome scientific and technological elements that can be seen throughout the film. The movie has it all just name it- military technology, robotics, electronics, and some really powerful computers. Iron Man is a fictional Marvel Comics character, although some of the techie stuff that are mentioned or found inside the film really exists.

To those who have seen the movie and want to know what's real and what's fiction, read these exciting Iron Man facts that I have collected:

Stark Industries
Stark Industries, owned and run by billionaire Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man), is a fictional multi-billion dollar business. Howard Stark, Tony's father, founded it. According to Forbes 25 Largest Fictional Companies, it had estimated sales of $20.3 billion. In the movie, Stark Industries has a logo similar to that of Lockheed Martin and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as SIA.

MIT
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the school where Tony Stark graduated summa cum laude in electrical engineering at the age of 17 is of course real. MIT is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is known for its strong emphasis on scientific and technological research. The GNU project and free software movement originated at MIT.

Arc Reactor
The arc reactor, buried inside Stark's chest, is a fictional, extremely efficient power supply that produces vast amounts of energy without consuming typical fuel or producing significant waste heat, though its output is finite and can be depleted. This was necessary to allow the Iron Man suit to exhibit the vast strength and flying speed.

Iron Man Suit

A powered exoskeleton (Iron Man's robotic suit), is a powered mobile machine consisting primarily of a skeleton-like framework, and a power supply that provides at least part of the activation-energy for limb movement.

In reality, working examples of powered exoskeletons have been constructed but are not currently widely deployed. Various problems remain to be solved, including suitable power-supply. The United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and other organizations have researched exoskeletons for combat for decades, but progress has been limited and the actual utility of such systems in combat is still debated (with no systems known to have reached more than prototype status).

Jericho Missile
Jericho missile, an advanced and highly powerful cluster bombs made by Stark Industries is fictional. However, a less powerful cluster munitions are real and are used in today's military. They are air-dropped or ground-launched munitions that eject a number of smaller submunitions ("bomblets"). The most common types are intended to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles.

F-22 Raptor
The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is a fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology. It is primarily an air superiority fighter, but has multiple capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence roles. The United States Air Force considers the F-22 a critical component of the U.S. strike force. In the movie, a pair of F-22 is sent after Stark--one is damaged during the chase.

S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division) is a fictional intelligence agency. The acronym originally stood for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division. It was changed in 1991 to Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage Logistics Directorate.

Miscellaneous observation:
I've noticed Tony Stark using an Apple Cinema Display in one of the scenes. Also, Peeper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) hacked a computer that's probably Dell, I think (correct me if I'm wrong). Any further movie observations are welcomed here. Just leave your comments below.

4 comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 18, 2008

    Tony Stark was using two Apple Cinema Display 30 on his main desk. He also had some dell 30 monitors that he was watching when he was fixing his hot road car. Hopefully his main computer was an mac pro because that is a very good computer if you're interested by running 8 "30 inch" diaplays!!

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  2. Those are great. I am interested in the robotics/computer use in the movie. Such as his three dimensional, interactive drawing board, the robotic arms he had as assistants in his garage, and the basic program abilities of JARVIS (e.g. giving weather, ocean information, and design assistance when making the suit)

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  3. AnonymousJuly 09, 2009

    Linux budyy. that's the answer to it All.
    -vaxamEnterprise.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 27, 2010

    what are those blue things that he moves around in his garage when creating prototypes...and are those real

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