Spider-Man and the Decay Rate Algorithm

In Sony Picture's upcoming film, "The Amazing Spider-Man," you'll find some real and interesting science behind Peter Parker and his webs. University of Minnesota professor Jim Kakalios served as the science consultant on the new film, giving the filmmakers a factual perspective on the physics of wall crawling and the tensile strength of spider's webbing. In addition, Kakalios contributed an equation called the Decay Rate Algorithm, which is at the center of a few major plot points throughout the film.

Hi. I'm Jim Kakalios, physics
professor at the University

of Minnesota, and one of
the science consultants

for the new Sony film
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.

[MUSIC] Thanks to the National
Academy of Science's Science

and Entertainment Exchange
program, Hollywood calls

on scientists like me to help
them create a believable,

fake reality.

Whether it's the quantum physics
behind WATCHMEN's Dr. Manhattan

or Tony Stark's lab in
IRON MAN, Hollywood know

that any time the audience is
questioning what they are seeing

on screen, is a moment when
they aren't paying attention

to the story.

At the University of
Minnesota, I teach a class

on superhero science, which led

to my writing a popular
science book,

the Physics of Superheroes.

For THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN,
I consulted on the physics

of wall crawling and the tensile
strength of spider's webbing.

But I know what you're really
wondering about the movie...

is there any math?

The filmmaker's asked me to
create an equation relating

to cell regeneration
and human mortality,

called the "Decay
Rate Algorithm".

Naturally, I thought of
the Gompertz equation.

Have you ever wondered why no
one lives to be 350 years old -

and few make it past 115?

You might think that if you
make it to say 25 years old

that you would have
a constant chance

of dying in any given year.

But just as some people can
play the lottery repeatedly

and not win, out of
billions of people

on the planet there would be
some who are very, very old.

Why doesn't this happen?

Think of it as a "death lottery"
where no one really wants

to win, but we all
do eventually.

Unlike a real lottery,
the longer you live,

the greater your chances
of eventually "winning."

My colleague at Minnesota,

Professor Boris Shklovskii
- Hi, Boris - Hi, Jim.

Figured out why this is so in a
physics paper he published a few

years ago.

Imagine defective cells
in your body as criminals,

and your immune cells
as cops on the beat.

When you are young, it is as
if there are a lot of cops

on the street, and
it's very difficult

for the defective
cells to reproduce

and form a lethal population.

As we age, it is as if a series
of budget cuts reduce the number

of patrolmen, and
eventually crime wins out.

This for me is the
beauty of science.

Patterns await discovery
in nature.

In the laboratory,
in telescopes,

even in actuarial tables.