As we've discussed more times than I care to recall, the US educational system does not do a good job of producing scientifically-literate adults, and the media isn't a force for clarity in the sciences either. Two physicists from the University of Central Florida are now saying the combination of the two makes everything that much worse. They claim that as Hollywood mixes realistic special effects with the physically absurd, they're leaving a scientifically-illiterate public completely bewildered about what's actually possible here in the real world.

In a paper (PDF) published in the ever-popular Praxis der Naturwissenschaften Physik, they lay out their case as follows: "often the absurdity is hard to detect by people not very ?uent in science literacy and untrained in critical thinking. In this way, Hollywood is reinforcing (or even creating) incorrect scientific attitudes that can have negative results for the society." They then go on to list a fine collection of the ways in which Hollywood's sending scientific literacy down the toilet. Some examples:

Gravity takes a vacation in Speed: There's a gap in a freeway bridge with a relatively flat surface. A bus, traveling about 70 mph, crosses that gap, flying along an apparently horizontal path. Gravity was apparently taking a well-deserved break.

There's a gap in a freeway bridge with a relatively flat surface. A bus, traveling about 70 mph, crosses that gap, flying along an apparently horizontal path. Gravity was apparently taking a well-deserved break. Spider-Man's military genius fails vector math: The Green Goblin cut the cables on the Roosevelt Island Tram but held the loose end to keep it from plunging into the East River. Although he was well positioned to handle the vertical component of the force, the horizontal portion of the pull from the tram car would have wrenched him sideways and into the river.

The Green Goblin cut the cables on the Roosevelt Island Tram but held the loose end to keep it from plunging into the East River. Although he was well positioned to handle the vertical component of the force, the horizontal portion of the pull from the tram car would have wrenched him sideways and into the river. The Core rings hollow: On their way towards the center of the earth, the crew takes a break 700 miles beneath the surface. Oddly, gravity is normal, despite the fact that a significant fraction of the Earth's mass is now above them. Meanwhile, a dead crewman's body sinks into molten rock, despite the relatively low density of its primary component, water.

On their way towards the center of the earth, the crew takes a break 700 miles beneath the surface. Oddly, gravity is normal, despite the fact that a significant fraction of the Earth's mass is now above them. Meanwhile, a dead crewman's body sinks into molten rock, despite the relatively low density of its primary component, water. The X-Men make a last food stand: A rough estimate of the calories Magneto had to consume to fuel the magnetic fields that moved the Golden Gate Bridge? 4.8 million, the equivalent to burning of 1,350 pounds of fat. Dieters, take note.

A rough estimate of the calories Magneto had to consume to fuel the magnetic fields that moved the Golden Gate Bridge? 4.8 million, the equivalent to burning of 1,350 pounds of fat. Dieters, take note. Superman... uh, gets lots of stuff wrong: The authors, in describing a scene where Superman induces the Earth to reverse its rotation in order to have time move backwards, say it about as well as anyone could: "There are few scenes in all of movies ever produced that rewrite so many physics laws as this one does." The most basic mistake? Superman flies in the opposite direction from where he needs to go to reverse the Earth's rotation.

There are a few others sprinkled in, but it gives you a pretty good taste. In an informal poll here in the Orbiting Headquarters (which, for your information, obeys both gravity and Newtonian mechanics), the following items rated highly in the "annoying departures from reality" department:

Pretty much anything that happened in Mission to Mars and Sphere.

Any time any show involving a crime lab (and there are a lot of those) does something involving DNA, the answers arrive within minutes. Reality suggests hours or days are more likely.

Lasers producing visible beams of light. This would include just about any movie with a laser that's not used to play with a cat. Yes, they can reflect off dust particles, but in most cases, the dust would have to be too thick to actually see anything else in the room. And there's not much dust in most areas of space.

Anything that makes a noise in a vacuum. Which covers just about every movie set in space aside from 2001.

Any time Star Trek tried to do biology. They may have been awful with all the other areas of science, but I'm a biologist, and I know they were awful with this. Note to film and TV producers: science grad students work for peanuts. Buy one.

Feel free to add your own entries in the discussion.

Let's face it: most movies require a certain suspension of disbelief. But we're constantly bombarded by discussions of movie plotlines stretching that ability past its breaking point. I can't say I've ever seen an equivalent discussion of how ignoring the basic properties of reality can do the same.