Yes, Superman’s kryptonite is (sort of) real
Superman’s only major weakness—aside from bright red capes—is kryptonite. The fictional mineral was first described in 1943 during an episode of The Adventures of Superman radio serial, but it would take another six decades before fans learned its chemical ingredients. In the 2006 film Superman Returns, kryptonite was finally described as an amalgamation of “sodium-lithium-boron-silicate-hydroxide with fluorine.” In a bit of cosmic coincidence, international regulators also officially recognized a nearly identical material that same year—and like its comic book mineral dopplegänger, jadarite may have major ramifications for Earth’s inhabitants. In 2004, workers at a drill site in Serbia’s Jadar Valley extracted a white, earthy silicate material unlike any previously documented mineral. Subsequent analysis from the Natural History Museum in London and Canada’s National Research Council confirmed its unique composition, and in 2006, experts announced jadarite to the world. As luck would have it, Lex Luthor stole a sample of kryptonite labeled...