The legend of Thor appears to have been stuck by reality.
An engineer in the U.S. has built a real-life version of Thor's hammer, MjoInir, which only he can lift.
The device works using a strong electromagnet and a finger print scanner.
Taking the tools of the Norse gods to the street, creator Allen Pan tested the MjoInir out on the unassuming inhabitants of Venice Beach, California.
Sure enough, only Pan could lift it. Thor has competition.
Pan pulled off the trick by building a microwave oven transformer electromagnet into the hammer's head and using a touch sensor in the handle, attached to a solid state relay -- essentially a switching device.
Every time someone held the hammer, it switched the electromagnets on and made it impossible to lift the device off a metal surface.
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However Pan, or Thor as we should probably call him, keyed the handle to his thumbprint allowing him to switch off the hammer and lift it.
All hail Pan.