Superman watch out! Science boffins crack formula for 'kryptonite'

THE radioactive substance which robs Superman of his powers might just become a reality.

  BREAKTHROUGH: Boffins say they are close to creating the only substance deadly  

  to Superman

Until now, kryptonite has been confined to comic books, cartoons and movies.

But science geeks claim to have cracked the formula for a "real life" equivalent.

In the comics, Kryptonite crystals - famed for being Superman's only weakness - were created from the remains of Superman's native planet, Krypton.

Krypton is also a naturally-occurring element here on earth - but found as a gas.

It has always been considered too volatile to create actual crystals.

But brainboxes at the Polish Academy of Sciences have synthesised a compound of oxygen and krypton under extreme pressure, producing krypton oxide.

And the breakthrough has given scientists hope that the same process could be used to bond atoms of krypton to another element for the very first time.

  RADIOACTIVE: Kryptonite is Superman's only weakness

Ok, so it's not exactly the same toxic green substance employed by Lex Luthor, nemesis of Clark Kent and his alter ego.

Academy researchers Dr Patrick Zaleski-Ejgierd and PhD student Pawel Lata, based in Polish capital Warsaw unveiled their findings in a new report.

Dr Zaleski-Ejgierd said: "In the convention of the comic book it should be called not so much kryptonite as kryptoxide.

"So if Superman's reading this, he can stay calm - at the moment there's no cause for panic!

"Our krypton monoxide, KrO, probably does not exist in nature.

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   with Kryptonite

"According to current knowledge, deep in the interiors of planets, that is, the only place where there sufficient pressure for its synthesis, oxygen does not exist, nor even more so, does krypton."

The research appears in the journal Scientific Reports.