Neil DeGrasse Tyson Explains Thor’s Hammer

By Rudie Obias | Updated

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has often times bridged the gap between science and science fiction. Whether it’s pointing out the scientific plot holes in movies like The Avengers or Prometheus, Tyson strives to make science as accessible as geek culture.

So we were pumped when Neil deGrasse Tyson took to Twitter to weigh in on the strength of Thor’s hammer, Mjölnir. Read his tweet below.

The good people at Slate took Mr. Tyson’s claim and ran with it. Considering the maximum weight of an elephant is about 15,000 pounds, Thor’s Mjölnir would weigh in at a whopping 4.5 quadrillion pounds. Now that’s heavy!

Tyson later tweeted photographic evidence of Thor’s Mjölnir to back up his claim. Tyson must be a strong guy to lift Mjölnir, seeing that The Hulk had trouble picking it up in The Avengers. Check out Neil deGrasse Tyson’s TwitPic below.

Thor

This isn’t the first time Neil deGrasse Tyson has weighed in on comic book folklore. Back in 2012, Neil deGrasse Tyson appeared in an issue of Action Comics. In the issue, Tyson explained that the star system LHS 2520 housed Superman’s proper birth planet, Krypton.

Neil deGrasse Tyson also stated that the original Starship Enterprise from Star Trek was the best starship of all-time, because of how it changed the entire landscape of science fiction when it was introduced in the 1960s.