National Geographic Kids USA - June, July 2017

BY KAREN DE SEVE

STRONG MAN

Captain Underpants is strong enough

to lift an entire building with one hand.

Ordinary humans aren’t as mighty, but the

Allegheny mound ant can lift up to several

thousand times its body weight. The tiny

insects are superstrong because their bodies are so light.

Inside their exoskeletons, or the hard covering that protects

their bodies, their muscles don’t need to provide much sup-

port. They can apply their strength to lifting heavy objects.

TAKING FLIGHT

A mysterious gooey substance—aka

lunch from the school cafeteria—gives

Captain Underpants the power to fly.

In real life, leftovers don’t allow people

to soar. But jet-powered wings do. Pilot

Yves Rossy uses his to fly to heights of 17,000 feet. The

wings get their boost from four small engines, which enable

Rossy to reach speeds of 200 miles an hour. Unlike Captain

Underpants, though, Rossy takes flight fully dressed.

THE TRUTH BEHIND

THE NEW MOVIE

ook out, Professor

Poopypants! Captain

Underpants is on a

mission to defeat

your evil plan to get rid

of laughter in the world.

At least, that’s what

grumpy Principal Krupp

thinkshe’s doing after

he’s hypnotized into

believing he’s a super-

hero in the movieCaptain

Underpants: The First Epic

Movie.Basedonthebook

series by Dav Pilkey,

the film is packed with

zany superpowers and

plenty of potty humor. But

how realistic are the silly

stunts in real life?Nat

Geo Kidsflew behind the

scenes for answers.

C

aptain Und

e

The First Epic Movie

L

ALLEGHENY

MOUND ANT YVES ROSSY

26 JUNE / JULY 2017