"Superman violates the laws of physics!" (I will never live that down.)

Science geeks sometimes miss the bigger picture. Many years ago, my wife and I viewed the Superman movie with Christopher Reeve, which featured a scene wherein Superman sees Lois Lane being crushed in an earthquake, and so he flies around the earth faster than the speed of light so he can go back in time and rescue Lois just before she is crushed.

My immediate response to this was, “That couldn’t happen; nothing can move faster than the speed of light.” My wife’s response was to start giggling without pause. She had to explain to me that the concept of Superman was a gross violation of physical law. (“X-ray” vision, a man who flies, anyone?) My wife has dined out on this story.

The video below has actual scientists responding pretty much like I did. (play time 1:05.)

So imagine her reaction to this excerpt of the Superman Theory episode from the TV show The Big Bang Theory! (play time 1:42.)

And thanks, Jon, I think, for sharing this.