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From deadly laser beams to women covered in gold paint, the James Bond movies certainly contain some of the most spectacular sets in modern cinema.
But even die-hard Bond fans often wonder if the beloved blockbuster’s various stunts and plotlines are based in reality.
Thankfully, a new book has finally made the distinction between what’s scientifically accurate and what’s completely fanciful.
British chemist and author Dr. Catherine Harkup has written all 25 James Bond films produced by Aeon Productions, from 1962’s Dr. No to 2021’s No Time to Die. Researched.
In this book, she debunks some of the strangest and most bizarre settings involving fictional spies, while others she says are surprisingly scientifically sound.
Suffocation due to gold paint
One of the most memorable scenes in the entire James Bond series is undoubtedly in “Goldfinger” (1964).
In a Florida hotel, Bond (played by Sean Connery) discovers the corpse of Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton), covered head to toe in gold paint.
In the next scene, Bond explains to his MI6 boss M that “paint on the body suffocates people unless you leave a small bare area at the base of the spine so the skin can breathe.”
However, as Dr. Harkup reveals, this is not scientifically accurate at all, despite speculation from Bond fans.
In reality, only about 2 percent of your body’s oxygen supply is absorbed through your skin, so blocking your skin with paint won’t stop you from breathing.
The only way we can suffocate from paint is if it interferes with our main breathing routes: our mouths and noses.
“The image of Masterson’s golden body lying in a hotel bed has become so ingrained in popular culture that the idea of death by skin asphyxiation has become accepted as fact, even if it is nonsense,” Dr. Harkup said. It has said.
More than 40 years later, the scene was recreated in the 2008 Bond film Quantum of Solace, starring Daniel Craig.
Reenacting the original scene, Bond finds his MI6 agent and lover Strawberry Fields dead, covered in oil.
However, this scene is more believable considering that the character was not only covered in oil, but drowned in the oil.
deadly laser
Later in Goldfinger, Bond wakes up to find himself tied to a table by the film’s eponymous villain, played by Gerd Froebe.
Goldfinger presses the switch and a bright red laser beam begins to travel towards Bond’s crotch.
Goldfinger explains that his “industrial laser,” which emits “extraordinary light not seen in nature,” can “project a spot at close range on the moon or through solid metal.”
As Dr. Harkup points out, the laser cuts through the secret agent in short order, cutting through “one of the most sensitive parts of Bond’s anatomy to a second degree” before finally reaching his vital organs. It will start the minute.
While it’s true that lasers can cut through flesh and metal, they probably wouldn’t have looked like the red lasers coming from the villain’s contraption.
In fact, it’s supposed to be infrared light, invisible to the human eye, but in that case it wouldn’t have been visible to moviegoers.
“The red light from Goldfinger’s laser is almost completely reflected by metal, and it is not strong enough to cut into Bond’s body,” the expert says.
A bullet in the head
When villain Leonard (Robert Carlyle) is introduced in The World Is Not Enough (1999), he has a bullet in his brain.
But he’s still alive, and aside from a nasty scar, the only side effect seems to be the loss of his primary senses: touch, smell, and pain.
As MI6 doctors explained, the bullet continues to pass through a part of the brain called the medulla oblongata, albeit very slowly, causing loss of sensation.
She says: “He can push himself longer and harder than the average man.” The bullet will kill him, but he will grow stronger every day until he dies. ”
So is this possible at all?
In short: no.
Dr. Harkup calls this “a huge exaggeration for the benefit of 007’s fantasy world.”
Aside from the fact that there’s no reason for a bullet to penetrate soft tissue, the bullet doesn’t “dig a neat little tunnel” into the brain, as shown in the movie.
In addition, the bullet’s path of destruction will have consequences not only such as a “drastic change in personality” and a decline in senses.
“The damage is likely to be extensive and disrupt not only the areas involved in pain perception, but also several other important functions,” Dr. Harkup says.
headphone electrocution
Near the beginning of For Your Eyes Only (1981), MI6 dispatches a helicopter to pick up 007 (Roger Moore) on an emergency mission.
Unfortunately, the pilot’s headphones had been modified by the evil Blofeld to deliver lethal electric shocks so he could sabotage the aircraft.
The electric shock is caused by a cartoon-like blue flash, which Dr. Harkup says is a type of “reliable electrocution.”
She explains that Blofeld could have easily tampered with the pilot’s headphones to expose a few wires and connect them to a high-voltage power source.
“The path between the two earphones could send an electrical current to the brain, and even if it didn’t kill the unlucky pilot instantly, it could interfere with the nerve signals that control breathing and render him unconscious.”
Additionally, in the real world, there have been some tragic reports of people being electrocuted by headphones while connected to a cell phone charger, likely due to defective equipment.
crocodile run
“Live and Let Die” (1973) contains an eerie but memorable sequence characteristic of the Roger Moore era.
In the Deep South, Bond is left to be eaten by a crocodile, but the hero escapes by running along the animal’s back to safety.
While this is indeed possible, Dr. Harkup does not recommend it.
Amazingly, the stunt was performed using a real crocodile – not by Moore, but by stuntman Ross Kananga, owner of a crocodile farm and self-proclaimed crocodile wrestler.
The scene required five takes, including one in which the crocodile breaks Kananga’s heel and rips his pants, causing multiple injuries (one of which required 193 stitches).
“One of them turned around and whipped me in the head and actually bit the heel of my shoe,” Moore later recalled.
“If it were me, it would have been the whole leg.”
As Dr. Harkup points out, these “seemingly impossible scenarios” can be made possible through the expertise and collaborative efforts of filmmakers as well as brave stuntmen.
nanobot
The latest Bond film, No Time to Die, was completed just before the coronavirus pandemic, but key elements of the story are eerily similar to the deadly coronavirus.
MI6 is secretly working on the ultimate biological weapon: tiny programmable devices called nanobots, about the size of red blood cells and invisible to the naked eye.
Nanobots can be programmed to recognize the DNA profile and kill selected individuals or groups of individuals with the same genetic profile.
As a result, people infected with nanobots will not be able to hug or even touch their family members.
Fortunately, chemists say such pesky little bots don’t exist in the real world, and are unlikely to exist any time soon.
Apart from the fact that nanobots cannot pass through the skin and infect someone, they are likely to be physically broken down once inside the body.
Moreover, assembling very small devices by human workers or automated processes is beyond today’s technological capabilities.
Dr Kathryn Harkup tackles scenes from all 25 Bond films in her new book, Superspy Science: Science, Death and Technology in the World of James Bond, published in paperback by Bloomsbury.
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