NATURE|Vol 453|22 May 2008 OPINION

1930s, Rotha and others used angled shots Urban’s design; a Zeiss microscope of the type unusual elegance and beauty. A 1997 green and rapid editing — techniques pioneered by used by Smith; a Marconi IV studio television and turquoise gown by Thierry Mugler, for Russian film directors and cinematographers camera used in the 1960s; a Moviola editing example, seems to be destined for a creature — to celebrate innovations such as aircraft, machine; and a 1930s Newman Sinclair cine that is part bird, part crustacean; long-sleeved telephone networks, electricity and express camera. with a flowing train, it consists almost entirely railways. Enthusiasm for technology remains a Chief curator of the Science Museum, Tim- of feathers, its middle a segmented carapace. strong driver of scientific film and television. othy Boon, has written a well-researched book Spider-Man stirs skiwear designer Spyder, The Depression of the 1930s stimulated that provides background detail for historians whose web-patterned race suits are on display, documentaries in which scientists identified of UK science film-making during this period. as well as Giorgio Armani, whose offerings social problems and proposed solutions. In Other researchers are tackling French, Russian include a 1990 beige evening dress sheathed in 1936, Enough to Eat? relayed the shocking and US depictions of science on film and tele- a delicate web of insect-adorned netting. conclusion of nutritionist John Orr, in a study vision, plundering those nations’ archives with Body armour also enthralls avant-garde entitled Food, Health and Income for the UK equal diligence. Once these studies are com- fashionistas. The shield of superheroes Ministry of Agriculture, that half the popula- plete, it would be valuable to combine them such as Iron Man — played in this spring’s tion of the United Kingdom was too poor to into a global account of science on screen. blockbuster by Robert Downey Jr, whose maintain a healthy diet. “My ambition for the show,” says Boon, “is LED-eyed fibreglass costume is on show In the exhibition, film and television clips that by seeing different types of science films, here — finds new forms in such ensembles are projected onto a screen, and hundreds people will become more informed consumers as Gareth Pugh’s 2007 leather-and-synthetic of other clips from 38 films can be accessed of science television now.” Hopefully, greater dress. With sleeves formed of shiny, trian- interactively though two computer stations. knowledge of how science programming devel- gular black panels, it resembles a solar-pow- Pieces of film-making equipment are also on oped will guide decisions about its future. ■ ered bat. Speaking of bats, the show does show: a Moy and Bastie cine camera made to Colin Martin is a writer based in London. a nice sideline on stylish dominatrix wear, as epitomized by Michelle Pfeiffer in stilet- tos and clawed black gloves in the 1992 film Batman Returns, whose Catwoman costume spawned slinky offshoots by Gianni Versace. Super clothes with special powers Superheroes can also inspire real-world sci- ence. The Flash, created in 1940, possessed Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy the power of super speed, as symbolized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, his sleek scarlet bodysuit. Several outfits on New York display may increase the speed of the wearer. Until 1 September 2008. The outer texture of Speedo’s Fastskin FS-Pro swimsuit mimics shark skin, which the com- pany claims reduces drag by around 4%. More Shazam! With a bolt of lightning, 12-year-old impressive is Dava Newman’s body-hugging, Billy Batson turns into Captain Marvel, a flexible BioSuit, a space suit that relies on the

superhero with the wisdom of Solomon, the mechanical counter-pressure provided by INC. AEROSPACE M. KELLETT/ATAIR D. strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, tight layers of material to protect the wearer the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles from the vacuum of space. Newman, a profes- and the speed of Mercury — legendary heroes sor of aeronautics and astronautics at the Mas- whose initials spell the magic command that sachusetts Institute of Technology, intends the gives Marvel his superhuman powers. With BioSuit to replace bulkier, gas-pressurized a similar spell, the Metropolitan Museum of space suits. Art in New York has transformed one of its Most impressive are the wing suits developed galleries into a shrine to modern mythical by Atair Aerospace. A pilot strapped to the rigid titans. Its new exhibition, Superheroes: Fashion wing suit — two polyethylene wings filled with and Fantasy, is craftily planted in the midst of jet fuel, powering turbines that provide almost its Greek and Roman art collection. Marble 500 newtons of thrust — can fly at speeds of up statues of Hercules, Diana and Perseus along to 350 kilometres per hour. Because the wing with amphorae depicting muscular run- suit’s wearer cannot be detected by radar, the ners and wrestlers surround their fantastic Sky-dive like a superhero in Atair’s soft wing suit. company is now developing a military model descendents: Superman, Wonder Woman, with which spies could jump out of an aero- Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. swimsuits, space suits and wing suits. plane in one country and fly to another. Inven- Extending our fascination with extremes of Superheroes might be mutants, armoured tor Daniel Preston, the founder of Atair, says he strength, endurance, speed and courage, the men, shape-shifters or gadgeteers; fashion has sky-dived hundreds of times in either the exhibition shows how the exaggerated forms designers draw inspiration from them all. rigid wing suit or a non-fuelled soft suit, which of superheroes are mirrored in haute cou- Mutants — usually the result of a lab acci- has fabric webbing between the legs and arms. ture. It also demonstrates how inventors have dent, genetic mishap or nuclear bomb blast No other experience so exactly captures life as incorporated aspects of superheroism — elas- — often appear in near-monstrous forms, a superhero, Preston says. “It’s as close as you ticity, rigidity and aerodynamic grace — into such as The Incredible Hulk. Designers have can get to being a bird.” ■ more practical kinds of clothing, such as transmuted these creations into garments of Josie Glausiusz is a writer based in New York.

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