Sure, we’re all about the Flash these days, thanks to The CW’s awesome new series focused on a young Barry Allen ... but do those superpowers really translate into real life that well?

A physics paper published at the University of Leicester in the U.K. digs into all the math of the Flash’s superpower, focusing specifically on a scene from early in the show’s run (which featured heavily in the trailers) that had the Flash saving a biker who was going to be hit by a car.

The full study is admittedly heavy on the science, but if you have a brain for numbers it’s worth checking out. Basically: They find that the Flash’s speed by intervening to save the cyclist would realistically do more damage than just letting the guy get hit by the car, since the Flash is moving so much faster. The conclusion recommends that the Flash lower his speed before making contact with someone to prevent injuries.

Of course, these physicists don’t take the Flash’s comic-book power of the Speed Force into account, so it’s kind of a moot point. But it’s still interesting to see these comic-book-y concepts broken down in real-life physics. So, in conclusion — good thing the Speed Force was created, and that this is all fiction, anyway.

(Via io9, Physics Special Topics)