Super Powers, and the laws of science(s)

[Agnew420]

The other night a few friends and I were discussing the various super powers in comic books and how they might relate to evolution, mutation and the various laws of science themselves.
It started out with my question about Superman coming from Krypton and that not just because of Earth's Yellow Sun, but the fact that Krypton had a heavier gravity, being a cause for Superman's powers. Then someone pointed out that if Superman stayed on Earth for too long he would experience a loss of bone mass and density as well as a loss of muscle mass. This was explained by an astronaut being in space for six months, and having severe degeneration in her bone density. Supes has been on Earth for almost his entire life, give or take half a year.
We then went on to discuss the Flash and how even with super speed, would he have super fast reflexes, the abilty to read super fast (Impulse in Teen Titans), and a super fast metabolism (same Teen Titans story), ie healing ability. His knees, ankles and hips would wear down super fast, as would his muscles. They would most likely explode from use. And his skin would burn off due to heat and friction. This begs the question of how much does the Speed Force aid the various incarnations of the Flash with his powers, and what are those powers limited/ not limited to.
Please feel free to expound upon the two examples and add your own. Remember we were also talking about evolution and how that might play into ability, mutations, and also breeding or genetic manipulation. {think about how a horse and a donkey can have a baby (mule), but the offspring is almost always sterile to protect against such things} or {certain breeds of dogs and how they got that way (ie Teacup Poodles, mini Dobermans etc/ and also that science is making it possible in the future for a couple to determine their child's eye and hair color, gender and possible genetic diposition, as some people think there may be a gene that causes people to be violent, gay etc}

[Brian Cronin]

They have explained the Flash thing by claiming that he has an aura around him that protects him from heat and friction.

-Brian

[Agentum]

And Flash don't send out shockwaves when he is running around fast, or else people would die when he came running.

But Suerman is shown to break the soundbarrier so i guess he would send out shockwaves then?

And yes austronauts today is training hard in space to be able to stay out in space longer, and still they loose bone and muscle mass.
But before they knew this there were austronauts that colapsed when they was in the earth gravitation again.

[sgt pepper]

To say that the offspring is sterile "to protect against such things" is, I think, a misinterpretation of science. To personify nature or selection as having a desire "to protect" against anything cannot be supported.

[Mark Wallace]

The other night a few friends and I were discussing the various super powers in comic books and how they might relate to evolution, mutation and the various laws of science themselves.

Gawd, I could write books on this topic; it's way to big for a bulletin board.

I settle for "suspension of disbelief" where the super-dupers' powers are concerned, but prefer to see the world they live in behave scientifically "legally".

[sgt pepper]

There is a book, I believe it's called "The Science of Superheroes" which you might find interesting.

Personally, I only look for believability of character and believability of place (one of the artists' most important jobs) in the stories and not believability of superpowers.

[suedenim]

There's also a very nice documentary, "The Science of Superman," that I TiVoed recently, I think from the National Geographic Channel, and it might still be showing. It addresses a lot of these issues with real-world science, and Mark Waid is on it, perhaps the reason it's surprisingly comics-literate (for example, the evolution and fluctuation of Superman's powers are accurately described.)

And while it doesn't have much to do with the science stuff, I was impressed that they used illustrative footage from pretty much every Superman movie or TV show, not just Superman Returns. The Fleischer cartoons, Justice League, The Adventures of Superman, the Chris Reeve movies, Smallville, Lois and Clark. Which is kinda neat in and of itself.

[Agnew420]

To say that the offspring is sterile "to protect against such things" is, I think, a misinterpretation of science. To personify nature or selection as having a desire "to protect" against anything cannot be supported.

I also agree on your point, i just couldn't think of the proper terminology. I believe it has to do with a preservation of sorts, due to the varying side effects of two species co-mingling. Although there may be scientific proof to substantiate that a Cromagnon being and a Neaderthal were similar enough in genetic makeup to 1) be attracted enough to each other to attempt the mating ritual and 2) successfully create a hybrid of the two species. I saw this on TLC or the Discovery Channel. I would guess that by combining the two species, much like when two different breeds of dogs or cats mate they create a special offspring that can attain the best qualities of both breeds. Such as a "mutt" if you will, usually lives longer and has fewer health problems then a dog that has been specially bred for generations. And although I know you may wonder what this has to do with super powers, think about this. If a being could take the best of her mother's and father's genetics and hypothetically weed out the bad genetics (ie high cholesterol, cancers, growth annomalies, learning disabilities etc) then wouldn't that sort of make for a "mutant" human. Think of how the X-Men got their powers. Or May Parker, Peter's daughter. She inherited her father's genetic spider-like traits, plus there were some added powers she gained as well.

[TheTen-EyedMan]

It's the need to explain superpowers that sucks the fun out of comics.

Like with that Science of Superman documentary. What was the point of telling us that Superman couldn't exist in real life.

Was it just a way for Mark Waid to show off his physics background?

We get it Mark...you're a nerd.

[Tommy]

My big pet peeve is phasing. Writers are incapable of understanding that power.

First off change in Density has nothing to do with walking through a wall. Gas can not pass through a solid.

Secondly unphaseing and lodging two solids into each other should spark off a nuclear reaction.

[BizarroBeachHead]

Secondly unphaseing and lodging two solids into each other should spark off a nuclear reaction.

You should be happy to know that at least ONE writer understands! Mike Carey, in the recent Ultimate Fantastic Four #2, makes reffrence to this:

"It seems that if you teleport an object--even a very small one--into any sort of solid matter, you get a spontaneous explosion of huge magnitude."

Though it's not technically about phasing but rather teleportation, the principle is the same.

[Reptisaurus!]

My big pet peeve is phasing. Writers are incapable of understanding that power.

First off change in Density has nothing to do with walking through a wall. Gas can not pass through a solid.

But couldn't you find a substance *less* dense than gas that could? Theoretically, in the real world, I'd wager that "Substance X" here couldn't maintain internal cohesion, but it's close enough for comic physics.

[Mark Wallace]

But couldn't you find a substance *less* dense than gas that could? Theoretically, in the real world, I'd wager that "Substance X" here couldn't maintain internal cohesion, but it's close enough for comic physics.

It's not the density, it's the Strong force. You can't make the subatomic particles of one atom/molecule pass through the orbital space of the subatomic particles of another atom/molecule, no matter how much vacant space there seems to be there.

But suspend any disbelief; Kitty does it anyway.

[Shadow ES]

It's not the density, it's the Strong force. You can't make the subatomic particles of one atom/molecule pass through the orbital space of the subatomic particles of another atom/molecule, no matter how much vacant space there seems to be there.

The electromagnetic force would play a bigger role than the strong force. The strong force is attractive.

[Agnew420]

Let's say that part of "phasing" meant that the subject, Kitty Pride, would attain the likeness of the molecules she was passing through. If a solid body of mass could attain that, then would it be possible? And another thing to think of would be this. If that were the case, that you wouldn't necessarily be phasing so much as becoming part of the structure/ solid object that you were passing through, would you need to understand the atomic structure of whatever you phased through?